“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: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,” NIV

Over the next few days we will be looking at Nehemiah’s prayer as recorded in the rest of this chapter. The first thing to note is that it’s a prayer grounded in the greatness of God.

Jesus said this is how we should pray:

‘’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…’’ Matthew 6:9. Remember, God is great, and to be revered.

We read in Acts 4:24, that in a time of persecution, the early Christians prayed along these lines:

‘…they raised their voices together in prayer to God. ‘’Sovereign Lord,’’ they said, ‘’you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them…’’ ‘

 That was their starting point. They had a profound awareness of the greatness of the God to Whom they prayed.

Many years ago, J.B. Phillips wrote a book entitled, ‘Your God is too small.’

Probably more than a couple of decades on from that publication, Canon John Young wrote, ‘Your God is still too small.’

I suppose our grasp of God’s greatness will always lie somewhere in the valleys of understanding, rather than on the heights. At best, we know ‘’in part’’. But what becomes clear as you read through Nehemiah’s prayer is that he was soaked in the Bible as he knew it at the time. I believe the more we meditate on God’s Word and turn it into prayer, the more aware we will become of ‘How great is our God.’ Such an understanding is foundational to all believing prayer.

PRAYER: Almighty God, I know you will always be infinitely greater than my limited understanding. But I pray you will open the eyes of my heart that I may see you more clearly. I want to grow in the knowledge of my God.