Learning to Pray Like Nehemiah: Asking God to “Remember”

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. 

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.

With these familiar words we exult in the endlessness of eternity which we will together enjoy in heaven in the presence of our God and Savior. Even after tens of thousands of years of worshipping and serving God, we will have done nothing to exhaust any of the “time” we have left to do the same. There will be no hour glass expiring the sands of time. There will be no calendar to mark off the diminishing days. The duration of eternity is endless; and since it will never come to an end, we will never approach a point at which we have fewer days left than we’ve already spent. 

But not only will we have “no less days to sing God’s praise,” we also will have no fewer reasons to do so! God is infinite. He is boundless. He is without limit. Thus, we can never exhaust what can be known of Him. We can never reach a point at which we can say of knowing God, “been there, done that.” The knowledge of His being is inexhaustible because He is infinite in His being. This is an incredible truth that we would do well to meditate upon more frequently. Fellow Christian, let us take time even today to marvel at this wondrous God who calls us His own!

Consider one more thing: God is infinite in His Being. That being the case, He is also infinite in all the attributes of His being. Such reasoning helps form the basis for all the “omni’s” traditionally associated with God: His omnipotence (“all-powerful”); His omnipresence (“everywhere present”); and His omnibenevolence (goodness). Since God is infinite in His being, He is therefore infinite in all the attributes of His being. So, if God is infinite, and God is love, then God is infinitely loving: His love is boundless. If God is infinite, and God is just, God is infinitely just: His justice is without limit. The same is true for God’s wisdom and knowledge: God is infinite, and God is wise, therefore God is infinitely wise. This is called “omnisapience.” Or, in terms of God’s knowledge, which is also infinite, we say that God is “omniscient.” 

Now if God is omniscient – infinitely knowledgeable – that means that he cannot learn something new. If he were to learn something new, that would mean that he previously did not know what it was that he supposedly learned, and was therefore not all-knowing. But God is infinitely knowing, so He knows all things that can be known and knows them from all eternity. He does not “acquire” knowledge as we do. He does not “learn” as we do. He very simply “knows” and He “knows all things.” On the flip side, not only does God not “learn” things, he also does not “forget” things. Again, if God were to “forget,” that would mean that His knowledge of things was somehow deficient, just as it is with you when you forget someone’s name or where you left your car keys. But God does not forget, and therefore he never needs to “remember.” Or does He? 

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Throughout Scripture we read about God “remembering” things. For instance, after God flooded the earth in judgment, the Scripture says that “God remembered Noah.” Had he overlooked him there in the ark? Later, while the children of Israel were suffering under the yoke of slavery in Egypt, we read that “God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” After 400 years, had God forgotten? Similarly, the psalmist prayed: “Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.” Did God need to be reminded that He possessed these personal attributes? In the New Testament, while Jesus hung on the cross dying for the sins of the world, one of the thieves who was crucified next to him cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Was the thief concerned that Jesus’ physical suffering might induce a lapse of memory? 

Obviously, in each one of these examples, as well as many others which could be cited, the answer is emphatically “no.” God does not have bouts of forgetfulness such that he constantly needs reminders. The truth is, when one calls upon God to “remember,” he is appealing to God to act either upon a specific promise or in accordance with His unchanging nature. For example, in interceding for the rebellious Israelites who were prostrating themselves before a golden calf that they themselves had fashioned, Moses called upon God to “remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” Moses was not reminding God of something He had forgotten. He was petitioning God to “remember the covenant” – that is, to take note of and to act on Israel’s behalf in accordance with the promises He had already made concerning them. 

Not only God, but we are also called upon in Scripture to “remember.”  For instance, we are exhorted to “remember Lot’s wife” and to “remember our leaders.” These exhortations are not simply about us “recalling” the names of people or details of events, but beyond that to refocus upon them in such a way as to learn from the example, or to understand our responsibility to the shepherds placed in authority over us. When it comes to us humans, we must admit the real possibility of actual forgetfulness, either in terms of innocent  absentmindedness or a more willful neglect. But such is not the case with an omniscient God. When we ask God “to remember,” we are asking Him to take notice and to act in accordance with His covenant promises or His revealed nature. This is precisely how Nehemiah prayed throughout the course of the book that bears his name. So with our remaining time, let us consider three of Nehemiah’s prayers for God to “remember him.”

Ask God to “Remember His Word”

First, Nehemiah prayed that God would “remember His word,” specifically the promises made to His people Israel. In prayerful preparation for the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, Nehemiah prayed that God would “Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.” God, as promised, had brought destruction on Judah for her persistent idolatry. But God had also promised restoration for a humbled, repentant people. It is that promise of restoration that Nehemiah now asked God to “remember” or to “act upon.” 

Similarly, what might we today ask God to remember on our behalf? What are some things that God’s word promises to us that we wish for Him to act upon? Consider a few examples. The writer of Hebrews prayed that God would “equip us with everything good that we may do his will.” Do you have a heart to live your life in accordance with the will of God but find that a lack of certain provisions or opportunities are preventing you from fulfilling that will? Ask God today to “remember” you, that is, that He may fully equip you for the performance of His will. 

Or what about this: God promised through the pen of James that He would give wisdom to all who need and ask for it in faith. Today, for whatever reason you have need of divine wisdom, ask God to “remember” that particular promise and grant you the wisdom you need to live your life skillfully and in a way that honors him.  Or perhaps, as is the case with many of our brethren around the world, you are suffering for the name of Christ. Peter wrote: “if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” There is such a thing as suffering as a Christian, which is distinct from the general suffering experienced by all. If such affliction describes you, then pray this morning that God would “remember” you in your suffering, as well as His promise that He may be glorified in and through your sufferings on His behalf. 

The bottom line is this: just as Nehemiah called upon God to “remember” His word of restoration as spoken through Moses, so we too should ask God to “remember” His promises made on our behalf. Since God is the One who made the promises, it is clearly His desire to also fulfill them. But some promises are fulfilled conditionally: You have not because you ask not. 

Ask God to “Remember the Opposition”

Second, Nehemiah prayed for God to “remember the opposition.” That is, he asked God to remember the evil deeds of those who stood resolutely opposed to him and were intentionally disruptive of his efforts to reestablish the returning remnant. Concerning these Nehemiah thus prayed: “Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did.” Again, it is not that God had absent-mindedly forgotten the malevolence of Nehemiah’s enemies. Rather, Nehemiah was asking that God hold them accountable for what they had done. God is a God of justice, and Nehemiah was praying for God to act accordingly. We see this in the New Testament as well. The Apostle Paul said this to Timothy when similarly faced with ungodly opposition: “Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.” This Alexander vigorously opposed Paul in word and deed. While not seeking personal revenge, Paul nevertheless expressed confidence that God would deal justly with this troublemaker.

A servant of the Lord will find himself faced with opposition. All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Peter warned us not to be surprised at the fiery trial that surrounds us as though some strange thing were happening. It’s not an unusual thing for a committed partner in the gospel to be opposed by the world; it’s exactly how Jesus said it would be. But it is not for us to avenge ourselves. Nehemiah did not take on his enemies in his own strength. He wisely uncovered their plots and courageously resisted their threats, but first and foremost he turned to God. He put his trust in the God of justice to take note of their evil ways. He asked God “to remember” them. 

Ask God to “Remember Your Service”

The third and final thing that Nehemiah asked God to remember was his own record of faithful service. This was actually the most frequent “prayer of remembrance” that Nehemiah offered to God. Examples of this are…

5:19    Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.

13:31 Remember me, O my God, for good.

Nehemiah asked God to pay heed to the good works that he had done for the sake of God’s people. To ask God to “remember” him was to ask God to reward him accordingly. Notice that Nehemiah was not “blowing his trumpet” before others to be seen by others for his good deeds. He was crying out to God, who sees in secret, to reward him in accordance with God’s promise to reward those who honor Him and seek the blessing of His people. We understand that we are not saved by good works; but we are saved for good works. Throughout the New Testament we are exhorted to be zealous for good works, not to earn our way to heaven, but to give evidence to the goodness and salvation of the Lord in our lives. God promises eternal reward for the good works that we have done by His grace and for His glory. Thus, it is quite proper to ask God – privately – to “remember” us for the good that we have done. Like Nehemiah, we can secretly ask God that He would take note of our efforts to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Obviously, this is not a prayer to be offered publicly – that is, unless we crave the recognition of others as our only reward. But we should cry out to God in confidentiality, that He might “remember” us and the good that He has wrought through our lives.

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So there are at least three things that today we can call upon God “to remember” on our behalf: that He would remember His word and fulfill its promises  in and through us; that He would “remember” any suffering we have incurred in the name of Christ; and that He would “remember” the good works that we have done by the power of His grace operating in us. 

These are all prayers of faith. These are all humble petitions made to God in confident recognition of the surety of His promises, the nature of His perfect justice, and the overflow of His goodness in bountifully rewarding His children. 

Amen.