God Keeps His Promises Nehemiah 1:5

I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5And I said: "I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments.



Israel has been in exile and Nehemiah spoke to some Israelites who had been to Jerusalem and he asked these men about the people who were still there and the condition of Jerusalem. 3They told him, "The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire." This broke Nehemiah's heart and he began praying.

Nehemiah's prayer acknowledges God's desire to keep His promises and give His mercy to those who love Him and keep His commandments. In II Peter 3 we read, "9The Lord is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." God's desire is that all men experience His goodness and His mercy. However, He keeps His promises for those who follow His Word. God grants mercy to those who follow His instruction.

God loves us all but His mercy and His grace are certainly with those who love Him and those who are called by His Name. We can be sure that God will always do more than His part in providing for His own. We need to make sure that we do our part in being the children that God wants us to be. This process begins and is rooted in our devotional to Christ and the foundation of that devotion is anchored by prayer.

Nehemiah was moved by the conditions that His fellow brothers and sisters found themselves in and the condition of Jerusalem. What did he do? He prayed. We need to be sensitive to our own spiritual needs and we need to secure them in prayer. We also need to be sensitive to the needs of those around us and we need to secure them in prayer as well. I am so glad that God hears our prayers and He promises to us as we commit ourselves to keeping His commandments!