January 10, 2023
Effective Praying Requires Placing Our Trust In God’s Character
Nehemiah - “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of unfailing love with those who love Him and obey His commands.” (Nehemiah 1:5)
DAILY DEVOTION
In today’s scripture, Nehemiah started his prayer by focusing on the identity and the greatness of God. He did this by acknowledging God’s position. Nehemiah begins by addressing the Lord as the “God of heaven.” In doing this, he acknowledges the identity and greatness of God. That is called praise. When we proclaim who God is and share about His greatness, we are praising Him.
Nehemiah continued his focus on the identity and the greatness of God by affirming God’s power. In his prayer, Nehemiah calls God the “great and awesome God.” In this part, it’s as if Nehemiah is saying, “God, I know our situation is a mess, but I’m taking the time to remind myself that You are in control. I know the problems in Jerusalem may be great, but You are greater. You are bigger than what is going on. It is no surprise to You and You are not overwhelmed by it at all.” When we declare God’s greatness, we are reminding ourselves of God’s greatness as much as we are praising God. It builds our faith to remember that God is in control and that He is much larger than any troublesome situation we may encounter.
Finally, Nehemiah continued his focus on the identity and the greatness of God by appropriating God’s promises. He acknowledged God as the One “who keeps His covenant of unfailing love with those who love Him and obey His commands.” Nehemiah is beginning this prayer by acknowledging God and by getting the right perspective of God himself. He’s reminding the Lord (and himself) that God is faithful to those who love and obey Him. When we acknowledge God’s faithfulness, we are both worshiping Him and reminding ourselves of His faithfulness.
Nehemiah praised the Lord and then presented his request. We should do the same when we are asking God to work. Our prayer should be based on His character. It should sound something like this: “God, You are the Lord! You are great and holy and awesome. You have been so faithful and loving and merciful. I’m fully expecting You to answer this prayer because of who You are. You can handle the problem before me."
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY
Practice praising the Lord by writing out a list of how great and faithful He is and has been. If you’re leading your family through the prayer and fasting emphasis, play a game where you go from person to person and say an attribute of the Lord for each letter of the alphabet.
(ex. A - God is awesome, B - He is beautiful, C - God is creative…)
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, You are a great and awesome God. You are compassionate and forgiving and so faithful to me. As I pray, help me remember to always praise You and remember your greatness and faithfulness.
Today is Day Three of the Prayer and Fasting emphasis. If you haven’t yet begun to participate, it’s not too late to start. If you’ve fallen behind, make up your mind to get back on track. To request a prayer partner or to download our prayer and fasting guide, see celebrationchurch.org/prayerfasting