Nehemiah #3: Praise Prayers
Nehemiah, after days of mourning and fasting is ready to bring all his loving concern for Jerusalem to God in prayer. Unexpectedly his prayer begins with praise! One would expect him to emphasise the plight of Jerusalem and that he would try to twist God's arm with the magnitude of the need, but Nehemiah begins with praise and the praise is both affirmation and theology.It is affirmation because as one begins to take one's eyes off one's circumstances and onto God, one becomes ready to believe that our prayers will be answered. When he spends time in praise, Nehemiah is reassured about God's character, power, and faithfulness - thus validating the effort of prayer. Prayer is not wasted when we come to such an awesome God.
The prayer is also an act of theologising. The Israelites had been through a crisis: The Babylonians had destroyed their city and their temple and this had two implications: Firstly, the temple had been the centre of their worship and now they felt far away from God. Secondly, the victory of the Babylonians had made them feel as though God had rejected them or forgotten them and that He was a weak God. (In those times, if my nation defeated your nation then my God was bigger than yours.) Nehemiah's praise is an antidote to these two problems. He affirms that God is not stuck in our man-made temple but the God of Heaven and that He is great and awesome. And God's covenant love is always available for those who love and obey Him. So, if one feels far away from God, guess who moved? (We'll see how to move back later in the prayer.)
It may feel awkward to begin a prayer with praise when one is not feeling great or positive, but it does help us get our perspective sorted out. Steve Wiggins says "Take the biggest thing that's got you down and stand it upright next to God - anyone can see who's bigger now."
| O Lord, God of Heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and obey His commands... (Nehemiah1:5) |
