Remembering Who We Pray To

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said:

"O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 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 house, 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.

Nehemiah 1:4-7 (NIV)

Nehemiah prayed earnestly to God. In doing so, he demonstrates a few things about God that we need to keep in mind when we're praying to God.

• He humbles himself. Before even opening up his mouth, Nehemiah humbles himself through mourning and fasting. I don't want to prescribe specific methods here, but humbling yourself before God before you open your mouth - good idea!
• He remembers God's majesty. He recognizes God lives in heaven. He recognizes God is awesome.
• He remembers God's faithfulness. God keeps His covenants. He is faithful.
• He remembers God's attentiveness. He knows God hears him. He knows God sees what's going on.
• He remembers God's forgiveness. He confesses his sin and the sins of the people to God. Would he do so if he didn't trust in God's forgiveness.

Too often, my prayers are simply Dear God, thank You for what You've done for me. Here's my prayer list. Grant me Your blessing. I love You, God. Amen. If I take time to humble myself and to remember the God to whom I am praying, how much richer would my prayers be? How much easier would it be for me to hear His voice? Nehemiah has reminded me. Now I need to remember.