Nehemiah's story continues and leads to a point until Israel repents. This post is going to focus on repentance and redemption. I believe that repentance is a necessary part of prayer and of life. I also believe that when we truly repent God completely restores us. Israel had made many mistakes, as all of us have, and yet they laid their mistakes down in prayer. I wanted to share part of their prayer as I think it inspires all of us to be honest with God and admit our failings. One unique thing about Christianity is that we have redemption from sin. We have restoration. That is a gift from God. I hope this challenges me, and all of you to be real with God and with each other. We fail, but we are forgiven.
Part of Israel's Prayer: (Nehemiah 9: 6-8, 33-34)
"You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; the host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Cananite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous. . . . Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings you gave them. "
The prayer is a lot longer than what I shared and it can be found in its entirety in the Bible. The prayer recalls what God has done in the lives of the Israelites. It goes on to talk about what is happening with them now due to their sin and how they seek freedom.
If you would like to comment or share about prayer, repentance, or Nehemiah please do, I would love to hear from you:)
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