Prayers That Get God's Attention
Nehemiah 1:5-11
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, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king.
Video for this Sunday’s service can be view @ Sunday, November 13, 2022
Prayers that Get God’s Attention
In my early college years, I was with a group of students that had gathered together with a leader from the Navigators to spend some time praying for God to work powerfully to transform our campus. I had not been attending the Navigator meetings and was invited as a guest. I quickly discovered that one of their practices they started with was to recite Scripture they had memorized. Each person took a turn sharing a verse they had memorized and why that was important to them.
When it finally came to my turn, the leader said I could “pass” if I wanted to, since I was just coming for the first time. I felt all eyes on me and wanted to make a good impression. So I decided to quote the whole of Psalm 1 that I’d memorized in 9thgrade. I could tell some of the other students were impressed. We finished that exercise and spent the rest of the time praying together.
Later that evening, I was walking around the grounds of our college feeling pretty proud of my ability to quote more scripture than those of this group. I continued to pray that God would break through to many students about their need for Him. Then this reminder from my reading in Isaiah came flooding into my mind…
Listen now! The Lord isn’t too weak to save you. And he isn’t getting deaf! He can hear you when you call! But the trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you and will not listen anymore. (Isaiah 59:1-2)
I instantly came to the realization that my desire to impress was more important than my desire to see lives changed by the love of Jesus. A wave of conviction washed over me and I was deeply grieved. I confessed my failure and asked God to help me keep him first and foremost in my life. This discipline of pushing out my agenda by focusing on who God is has made a life-changing difference in me!
This Sunday we will put into practice what Nehemiah learned about prayers that get God’s attention!
“We must know before we can love. In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.”
Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
Grateful for you,
John