Moving Hearts

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.
— Nehemiah 2:4

Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014. | (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)

Did you know the Lord can move the heart of a king? Or a prime minister? Or a president? The Bible says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes" (Proverbs 21:1).

The Bible tells the story of Nehemiah, who was cupbearer to the king of Persia. A cupbearer tasted all of the king's food in case someone was trying to poison him. But in reality, Nehemiah was more than that. Being in such close proximity to the king, the cupbearer would end up being a counselor to the king. So the position of cupbearer became one of great influence. And someone in that situation wouldn't have wanted to do anything to jeopardize it.

Nehemiah, however, was a Jew. He had heard about how the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins, and his heart went out to his fellow Jews. He thought that perhaps God had put him where he was to do something good for his people. Yet to approach the king and incur his disfavor could cost him his life.

As Nehemiah pondered all this, it made him sad. The king noticed this one day and asked Nehemiah why he was depressed, so Nehemiah explained what was bothering him. Then the king said, "What do you request?"

I love what happened next: "So I [Nehemiah] prayed to the God of heaven" (Nehemiah 2:4). No doubt it was one of those prayers on the fly, the kind you pray when you're suddenly summoned to the boss's or principal's office. Nehemiah prayed, and the Lord moved the king's heart.

We need to pray for those who are in authority over us. Pray that God would help them make the right decisions and guide and lead their steps.

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000 Used with Permission