February 22 Petition Mission

“When [the enemies] heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed…they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God…” (Neh 4:7-9).

Anger is one of our chief enemies, often disguised as hurt feelings, malicious thoughts, or snide remarks. Fred Buechner writes: “Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontation still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving backā€”in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself.”

Remember: “the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (Jas 1:20). Like Nehemiah, redirect the passion into prayer. If God is for us, who can stand against us?