We come to our fourth and final look at prayer in the book of Nehemiah. Over the three previous posts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) we witnessed prayer as a central feature of Nehemiah’s work of rebuilding the wall. Beginning with his initial prayer for God to restore the city and the people, to his prayerful response in the face of determined opposition, to the lengthy and moving public confession in chapter nine, Nehemiah’s life was lived and his work was accomplished in humble recognition of and dependency upon God. Today we will look at one final aspect of Nehemiah’s prayer life, his frequent petitions for God to “remember.”
Does God Require Memory Aids?
First, we have to ask: by asking God to remember, are we implying that He somehow forgot? The answer, of course, is “no.” The Bible teaches that God is omniscient; that is, His knowledge is infinite.
Psalm 147:5 – “his understanding is beyond measure.”
Isaiah 40:28 – “his understanding is unsearchable.”
Romans 11:33 – “his judgments are unsearchable and his ways inscrutable”
Hebrews 4:13 – “no creature is hidden from his sight”
God Himself is a Being without limits. That is, He is “infinite,” which simply means that He has no boundaries. No limitations can be assigned to His essence. Considering this divine reality, here might be a good place to ask: have you ever allowed yourself to be really impacted by the last words to that most famous hymn of all, Amazing Grace?
When we’ve been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.