Nehemiah 5:19/ A God-fearing Prayer
Nehemiah 5:19/ A God-fearing Prayer
"Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people." Nehemiah 5:19
This is a God-fearing prayer. Nehemiah prays this prayer after opposing Jewish oppressors, eradicating the unethical interest charges, and sacrificing his own comforts to bless the people of Israel. He has called people to Godliness and exhibited Godliness because he fears God.
The Hebrew word for "remember" here means, "to keep in mind for attention or consideration." So, Nehemiah is not asking for favor or acceptance from God, he has that already. Rather, this is the prayer of a man who longs to please God with his love for others.
The fear of God always overflows into Godly love for others. That is because in fearing God we want to honor His commands and those commands include loving people. Nehemiah prays, "Remember for my good, O my God …" because he wants God to be pleased with his love for others.
Do you think about pleasing God much?
Is your faith overflowing into love for others so that when God looks at your life He is pleased?
I am asking because Nehemiah cared deeply about this and I suspect that we should too. Look how often he prayed these God-fearing prayers as he served the people of Israel:
"Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service." Nehemiah 13:14
"Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love." Nehemiah 13:22
"and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good." Nehemiah 13:31
We do not pray these types of prayers to be accepted by God. We are graciously accepted through our faith in Jesus Christ. We pray these prayers because—having already been accepted by God—we want to please Him in response to all that was done for us on the cross!
Lord, graciously empower us with faith (fear, honor, reverence, respect, esteem) that overflows into love for others. Help us aim to please you with our lives having already been accepted by you through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Show us who to love. Show us how to love. We want to please you, Lord. Thank you for accepting us as we are and calling us to more. We trust you to grant us more faith and move us to more love for others. Amen.
If you want to dig deeper into this, need help, need prayer, or have questions—please reach out to us here: Roots Help & Prayer Form
With love,
Pastor Kevin