Pause in prayer for a moment, and slowly pray these words:
“O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments” (Ne 1:5).
Sometimes, when we pray “Our Father, who art in heaven“, we hurry too much. Nehemiah’s prayer might help us slow down and ponder anew how great and awesome God is. We might better appreciate God’s faithfulness. Perhaps we would also be humbled by the necessity of obeying God’s commandments.
We start a series on Nehemiah this week. We begin where he began, and where we should always begin, in prayer. Through prayer Nehemiah understood what God had put into his heart (2:12). In sharing Nehemiah’s prayers we discover what is in God’s heart. We better understand God’s purposes for us. Our Lord is building a community of people, empowered by the Spirit to know, love and obey the God of Heaven.
If you are looking for ways to grow in faith you might find the “Engaging in Meaningful Worship” guidelines useful. Pick up a copy at the Help Desk (or here) and commit to them for the next 5 weeks.
God Bless,
Sean