Praying for Leaders, part two

Nehemiah 9:17 

They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them

God is a good Heavenly Father. He sees his children as a work in progress. He isn’t finished with us yet. Many of us try to work out our problems with our own wisdom and strength. A few of us know we need God’s wisdom and strength. But God loves us all, no matter where we are in our journey to spiritual maturity.

When I read in the book of Nehemiah about what happened when the wall had been repaired, I found it interesting to see how they approached God. The wall was completed. People came to be registered. They had a festival. And then they confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors before they asked anything of God.

Funny to hear the way people pray to God today. We ask a lot from God without celebrating the fact that he is with us and we can have a relationship with him. We save our praises for those moments when we see that God has answered our prayers.

Are we willing to learn from this? Before we ask God to do anything, we can confess our own sins. We can confess the sins of those we follow, not in accusations, but as if we had done it ourselves. We can praise God for his abundant mercy. He is the God who loves us and sent Jesus to die for us while we were yet sinners.

If we run around in our arrogance telling God what to do, we’re doing it wrong. Let’s make it right by seeking God together during this month, the month we celebrate Thanksgiving.