Prayer in Action, Day 44 Remember the sin. As we are closing out this final section of the book of Nehemiah, read Nehemiah 13:23-31. Yesterday we saw how Nehemiah wanted God to remember him for the things he had done to defend God. Today we see the reminder that God is going to remember our shortcomings and our sin. Nehemiah reminds God that these people have sinned against him yeah. Now, God never forgets anything. However, we need to understand that God will always remember our sins. Unless we have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior and he covers our sin with his sacrifice, God will still look at us…

Prayer in Action, Day 43 Mercy for upholding God’s standard. Read Nehemiah 13:15-22. As Nehemiah continued to reinforce the standard that God has set, he continues to encounter resistance. People continue to pressure the Israelites to go against what God has commanded. So Nehemiah takes a hard stand and enforces God’s standards, even when the people don’t like it. There may be several times when people are struggling with God’s standards, but that doesn’t mean that the standards should change. In fact, that is when we need to reinforce those standards even more. Nehemiah prays and asks God for mercy. Because of the stand that he is taking, it’s entirely…

Prayer in Action, Day 42 Plan in place. Read Nehemiah 13:12-14. While the people had gone through the time of disobedience that Nehemiah addressed in yesterday’s verses, now he is putting a plan in place to make sure that the disobedience doesn’t continue. While he is doing these things and ensuring that God’s will is being followed, he calls out the specific obedience and and asks that God remembers him. When we know what obedience to God should look lile, and we do it, we should celebrate and give God the glory. He is deserving if the obedience and also the glory for the obedience. Are we thanking God for…

Prayer in Action, Day 41 Don’t neglect the house of the Lord. Read Nehemiah 13:1-11. While Nehemiah left to go back to the king and report on the progress, unfortunately things did not go exactly as planned. The commitments that the people had made ended up getting forgotten, and as a result, the house of the Lord was neglected as well. The people had made a commitment to make sure that they were taking care of God’s house, but they went back on their promise. What promises have we gone back on? What have we told the Lord that we would do that we are not currently doing? Just like…

Prayer in Action, Day 40 They did the work. Read Nehemiah 12:44-47. The people did the work they were expected to do. And not only that, they did the work in the way that they were supposed to do it. They weren’t trying to find shortcuts around instead they followed the instructions that had had been left them. When we think about the book of Nehemiah and the idea of prayer in action, you see Nehemiah praying regularly, but we also see him acting on what God had shared with him. Now that his transferred over to the people as well. They have been praising and worshipping God, but they…

Prayer in Action, Day 39 Praise and rejoicing. Read Nehemiah 12:27-43. The men have committed themselves to the Lord and now it is time to celebrate and praise God. As we read these verses, we see a massive choir presentation that can be heard for miles around. The choir is standing on top of the walls that they have just built. When we experience God moving and we see his answer to our prayers, does the size of our praise match the size of God’s moving? We have just been part of an incredible work of God. Just like these people, we are to praise Him and lift him up…

Prayer in Action, Day 38 Another list of names. Read Nehemiah 12:1-29. Do you sit through the credits of the movie? Such a long list of names of people. However, let’s think about what that list really means. It’s the demonstration of months of work of an individual. They contributed to something greater than themselves and that list with their name is the culmination of that. I never really thought about that much until I had a family member who got in the movie industry. Then, I found myself waiting through the credits and scanning through the names to find her name. Recognition and connection made the name and the…

Prayer in Action, Day 37 People person. Read Nehemiah 11:21-36. As someone who works professionally in the field of human resources, it really stuck out to me to see that the king had, essentially, a human resources person. Pethahiah was the one who helped the king deal with the people. God has gifted certain people to be able to understand and work with people better than others. We all have a responsibility to get along with and to be the best that we can be, but God just gives some people the ability to relate to others better. So many professions and things that we do everyday are a way…

Prayer in Action, Day 36 The importance of volunteering. Read Nehemiah 11:1-20. While the city wall had been completed, the city inside wasn’t in good shape. So, it took people being willing to volunteer to live there. It wasn’t a pretty, flashy place to be. In fact, no one really wanted to be there. But, part of following God’s plan involved building the wall and now the city needed people. The people volunteered to follow God and to live there. The names of those people were recorded to make sure that everyone knew their commitment to God. Do we follow our commitments to God, even if it’s difficult or inconvenient?…

Prayer in Action, Day 35 Our responsibility. Read Nehemiah 10:30-39. Now that the people have signed their names to what they are responsible for, the scripture goes into the details. This explains all that they have agreed to do. The level of commitment and the dedication that these people were giving to God was something that today’s followers don’t completely understand. The the amount of financial responsibility that the people took as well as the willingness to dedicate themselves to the church and the temple. Do we understand the level of commitment that we are making to God when we bring ourselves to Christ? We are giving Christ everything. Everything…