Author: Southside Church

  • DAY 5 | FRIDAY | Pray

    Consider Nehemiah’s first response to the news of the ruined walls of Jerusalem.

    Nehemiah writes in Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT);

    “In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God                                                                         of heaven.”

    Nehemiah was stirred with a vision to rebuild the walls when he heard about their condition and prayed.

    In his prayer Nehemiah:

    • Confessed the sins of Israel, including his own. (Nehemiah.1:6-7).
    • He asked God to show favor to His people (Nehemiah 1:8-10).
    • He prayed for success as he planned to approach King Artaxerxes for permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:11).

    Following Nehemiah’s prayer as a guide, you can come before God in prayer for our vision to build a people who belong. Start with the serenity prayer on page…… and then follow the guide below.

    A Prayer Guide:

    Confession and repentance:

    1 John 1:9 (NIV) – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

    Mercy:

    Psalm 51: 1 (NIV) – Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love

    Gods’ mercy is an active, faithful commitment to love, forgive and restore His people.

    Pray for Gods mercy to cover our church.

    His favour upon our leadership and our journey building a people who belong.

    Pray His protection over our unity and His wisdom in our decision making as we navigate the vision.

    Surrendered plans:

    Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

    Nehemiah prayed for success as he planned to approach King Artaxerxes for permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He was surrendering his plan to God and asking God to make the path straight by giving him favor with the king.

    Submit our vision to God in prayer and ask Him to go before us, making the path straight.

    Ask God for His favor upon us with the people involved in resourcing our vision.

    Confess your trust in God over everything else and share with God the specific things in your life that you are surrendering to Him in this season.

  • DAY 4 | THURSDAY | Paricipate with people


    What we prioritise in our lives is expressed through our practical living.

    This means our vision needs to move from our hearts and toward our hands where we can work toward achieving measurable goals.

    Nehemiah’s vision of a secure and thriving community was expressed through his practical act of rebuilding the city walls together with God’s people. So, how can we express the priority of building a people who belong in a practical way?

    By building a space in which God can work with us so that we become a more connected community of people who belong, just as the restored walls of Jerusalem created a safe space in which the Israelites could belong and thrive for generations.

    This is our wall of Jerusalem to rebuild in this season of our journey together, and it will involve partnering in the work together with our time, talents and treasure.

    In Philippians 1:3-8 (AMP) Paul the apostle thanks the church for their “participation and partnership [both your comforting fellowship and gracious contributions] in [advancing] the good news”

    The word partnership here is a Greek word, koinonia, often translated ‘fellowship’. It means a sharing in something, participating in something divine and eternal.

    This partnership could be seen through the way the Israelites rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem together.

    Nehemiah 3:1-4 (NIV) describes people partnering when,

    • Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. 
    • The men of Jericho built the adjoining section,
    • Zakkur son of Imri built next to them.
    • The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah.
    • Meremoth, repaired the next section.
    • Next to him Meshullam, made repairs, and next to him
    • Zadok also made repairs.

    If you and I were to partner in building together, what next step could I take? The answer is: bring your brick! That’s how the Israelites did it in alignment with their vision.

    Like Eliashib, Hananel and Zadok each contributed to rebuilding the walls as we read earlier in Nehemiah 3, so too you and I bring our brick to contribute to building the space God has given us a vision for. And that brick is represented by your financial contribution over and above your tithe toward achieving the total sum of R300 000 to complete the work.

    My prayer response:

    Ask God to guide you in preparing your contribution toward building the walls as a partner in Southside Church.

    Pray for our miracle offering services on Sunday the 4th of May and Gods provision of more than we could ask or imagine in resources.

    Acknowledge that all provision comes from God and surrender your trust to Him for the areas in your life in which you need provision.

    My daily practice:

    Adopt an attitude of gratitude.

    As you go through your day recognize the many blessings Gods given you that you may usually overlook. Think about your job, or your health.

    As you come to the end of your day pray back to God with gratitude for the many blessings you recognized he bestows upon your life.

    Gratitude makes what we have enough and helps us see Gods provision in our personal lives. “I am blessed to be a blessing.” (Genesis.12:2)

    Because I am blessed, I can bring my brick in being a blessing to others.

  • DAY 3 | WEDNESDAY | Clarify Purpose

    An area of focus is about where God is inviting us to participate as a body with Him as He builds His church now. Just as a builder would focus on certain areas of a structure in completing it, so too does God call us to areas of focus in His work of building the church in certain seasons.

     At one point in Jesus’ mission, for example, he called his disciples to specifically focus on evangelism in Luke 10:1-2. That was a specific area of focus for a specific time in Jesus preparation of his people.

    We believe that God has called us, in this season of our journey as a church to a specific focus. 

    We believe that focus is – building a people who belong. Belonging to God’s Kingdom and His church means we are fully known, fully loved, and never alone. It’s an identity, a mission, and a family.

    AND

    Where we belong, we are able to build and live out a life which leaves a legacy.

    It was in their belonging as God’s people that the Israelites, working under Nehemiah’s vision, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem together, leaving a legacy for others. And their legacy protected the “belonging” of future generations.

    My personal legacy is lived out through the kingdom community I belong to.

    “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

                                                                                                             Helen Keller

    Consider the significance of belonging to a church community and how important it is in your personal life and the legacy you will leave for others. Consider how Jesus described the father’s embrace of the prodigal son in belonging (Luke.15: 11 – 28), even when he had been so rebellious and sinful. Are we allowing ourselves to belong within our church community and are we building safe spaces for prodigal sons and daughters to “come home” because our focus is building a people who belong.

    My Prayer Response:

    Share with God your gratitude for belonging to Him as His child in His Kingdom.

    Confess to your Heavenly Father the things that make you feel unworthy of belonging to Him.

    Ask God to help you to accept your belonging and live from His love and not for His approval.

    Ask God to help you in building a people who belong with your church community and commit yourself to Him in this journey.

    My daily practice:

    As someone who belongs to Gods kingdom and is part of our church, think about an individual in our congregation you appreciate.

    Pray for them and then send them a message sharing your appreciation for them and encouraging them with a scripture verse or kind words.

    Recognize that you are part of something precious.

    Remember that your legacy is lived out through this kingdom community you are part of.

  • DAY 2 | TUESDAY | Identify your distractions

    When we start intentionally taking steps in the Spirit, the enemy takes note. With every level there’s another devil.

    And as we explore this truth, we see an example of it in the Book of Nehemiah, where this man, inspired with a vision from God, chose to lead God’s people to take steps to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

    Nehemiah experienced opposition from three men attempting to stop his steps as he rebuilt the walls. The names of those opposing him were Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, and each one of them had a different tactic.

    1. Sanballat mocked Nehemiah’s attempts at rebuilding and tried to distract him.
      • Don’t let the enemy’s mockery of the size of your step stop you from walking.
    2. Tobiah attempted to sabotage Nehemiah’s progress.  
      • Protect your progress by taking a step even when you haven’t perfected things.
    3. Geshem falsely accused Nehemiah and intimidated him.
      • Don’t let the enemy’s accusations convince you that you can’t get back up because God’s grace has run out.

    In Nehemiah 6:3 (NIV) Nehemiah responds to those trying to distract him from his walk in a war of words by saying, “Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”

    The work God was doing would only stop if Nehemiah stopped walking. Nehemiah’s response to the enemy was, “You won’t stop me from taking my next step in God’s purpose!” and because of that, the walls were completed, Gods people could belong in the safety of the city and a legacy was left for generations.

    My prayer response:

    • The enemy may mock the size of your step stop you from walking.
    • The enemy may attempt to sabotage your progress by making you feel you’re not perfect.
    • The enemy might try and intimidate you with false accusations.

    Invite Jesus to come into those areas of your life in which you are struggling to walk in the Spirit or feeling the enemy’s opposition against you.

    Pray back to God, a declaration of faith based on the following scriptures:

    • Isaiah 54:17 (NLT)
      “no weapon turned against you will succeed.”
    • Romans 8:31 (NLT)
    • “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?”
    • Romans 8:37 (NLT)
    • “despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

    My daily practice

    Be mindful today of the moments, spaces and places in which you feel most distracted or discouraged from walking in the spirit. In those moments allow yourself to pause and remember the verses you declared in your prayer for the day:

    • “no weapon turned against me will succeed.”
    • “If God is for me, who can ever be against me?”
    • “despite all these things, overwhelming victory is mine through Christ, who loves me.”

    Then make a conscious decision to keep instep with the Spirit instead of allowing the distractions to derail you.