A Great Way To Start The Day

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
      in the morning I lay my requests before you
      and wait in expectation.

Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

How do you start the day? Like David, do you start the day in prayer? Do you make your requests known to God? Do you wait expectantly for His answer? You can. How do you start your day?

Praying In Adversity

They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed."

But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."

Nehemiah 6:9 (NIV)

When times got tough while rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, Nehemiah prayed. When his enemies taunted him, Nehemiah prayed. When the enemies taunted and tried to get under his skin and make him think he and his workers would get weak, Nehemiah prayed that God would strengthen his hands. It all seems so simple. When times get tough: pray. When you don't have the strength to carry on: pray that God wil strengthen you. It's all so straightforward. All I have to do is remember... OK, that part is sometimes hard...

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.