Nehemiah 1.5-6 NLT




“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer!”




These words give us a wonderful insight into Nehemiah’s understanding of God. Everything that follows in this book flows out of these few words. Nehemiah’s courageous actions were the result of the way he understood God, and the truth is that it’s the same for us. Our understanding of God (or to use the technical term - theology) will shape the way in which we speak and act.
Nehemiah knew the awesome greatness of God but in the same moment he recognised that he was a God of love who wanted to live in covenant partnership with him. The challenge that faced Nehemiah was enormous. He lived far away from Jerusalem where the problems facing the residents were colossal. Added to that, he held a very important and trusted position in the court of the Persian King Artaxerxes. It was almost unthinkable that the King would release him from his sensitive role as the royal wine taster. Anyone who was looking out for their own safety would have kept quiet about the problems in Jerusalem, and tried to get over them. The last thing they would do would be to go to the King and ask for some leave so that they could fix the problem. The fact that Nehemiah did so shows me how completely he trusted God.


The same principle applies today. Our lives are shaped by our understanding of God. Nehemiah begins his prayer with 30 words to describe God. I wonder what your 30 words would be. I encourage you to set aside some time today to write them down. I am fairly sure that your words won’t be exactly the same as Nehemiah’s or indeed anyone else you know. Amazingly, God enters into a unique relationship with each one of us and our understanding of him will be shaped by our personal journey of faith. I find this incredibly exciting and, as our relationship with God grows and matures, I hope that the 30 words that we will choose in future will keep changing.




QUESTION: In about 30 words how do you want to describe God today?
PRAYER: Lord God, we worship you because you are such an awesome God and yet still love us as individuals. Amen

Released on 25 Jul 2021