Nehemiah 1:5

Then I said: "LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments ~ Nehemiah 1:5

 

This is a heart-prayer. You know, those prayers that arise from hearing crushing news, or finding oneself in the midst of a heart-wrenching experience. It is one of those prayers you will remember forever, as the movement from your heart toward God sprang up from deep within for mercy and grace. Not that all our prayers are not important, but there are a certain few that fit into this category of Nehemiah’s prayer. This prayer is a call from Nehemiah, not to the host of heaven with the sun in it as the Persians prayed, but to the Creator God of the heavens and earth. Only this God can be called “terrible” or “awesome” and great, for He is the King above all gods! It is to this God Nehemiah turned, for as he says, this is the God which keeps covenants of love for those who love Him and obey Him, and right now, Nehemiah is remembering all God’s promises. Right now, many in our world are praying for the end of covid19, for a vaccine which will eradicate, or at least control this virus which is rampaging this earth’s inhabitants. Social distancing is working, but it is not the permanent solution.  I receive many forwards from well meaning people to have me pray at a certain time because the Pope will be praying then, or at another time because all that receive this mailing will be praying along with me. I don’t want to pray because I am told to pray, or because the Pope will be praying, I want to pray to the covenant God I believe in because I trust Him, love Him, and believe that He will hear my prayer requesting His mercy and grace be upon this world. Nehemiah prayed for Jerusalem, for its restoration, for God to send someone to help God’s city. He confessed the sins of the people before God, and he reminded God of His promises to the Israelite people. This the prayer we need to pray today. Forgive our land, forgive us our sins, our disobedience, our forgetfulness of You. Heal our land and our people. Jesus died that we might all be saved, in this life and in eternity. Save us, O Lord, we pray!

Pastor Julia


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