Prayer in Nehemiah (17)
“And You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
and their persecutors You threw into the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters.” (Nehemiah 9:11, NKJV)
My wife and I went with another couple to Switzerland for nine days. We visited the cities of Geneva, Zurich, and Basel. We visited Thun, taking three cable cars and a cog railway to reach the pinnacle of the Bernese Alps.
Our time in the Swiss cities was spent exploring God’s mighty works to preserve His written Word and purity of the Gospel during the Reformation. Our time in Thun took us to top of the world where we beheld the splendor of God’s creation.
Of course, I captured the scenes and scenery of these places in photos using my cell phone camera. Sometimes I will take the journey again, scrolling through those photos while sitting in my living room recliner. Memories will flood back of our adventure. It’s almost as if I can enter each picture and enter the moment, reliving not only the moment but also the meaning.
Nehemiah pulls out an album of sorts in his prayer of chapter 9. “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea. You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day. And You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors You threw into the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the road which they should travel” (Neh. 9:9–12).
Unlike reviewing my Swiss trip photos, the memories Nehemiah invokes are memorials. He reminds himself and them of God’s mighty works on their behalf, not by way of giving them experiences but by giving them emancipation.
The travelogue of Nehemiah 9:8-31 chronicles God’s personal involvement in their lives as His people to deliver, sustain, rescue, and lead them. Though they were faithless, He remained faithful. Don’t believe it? Look at the pictures. Open the family album and behold the glory of your God. Show your children. Explain to them what God had done. Relive it because it has everything to do with right now.
Imagine lingering at this scene: “You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, and told them to go in to possess the land which You had sworn to give them” (Neh. 9:15). All would marvel at God’s power and compassion and promise.
Now imagine bringing out the album several hundred years later or even today, and examining that scene. Moses would still be prominent but One greater than Moses would have stepped to the fore. Moses was great as a servant in God’s house but this One is greater as a Son over God’s house. He would not only be the giver of bread, but would Himself be the Bread of Life.
We turn the photo over and we read these words later inscribed: “Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst’.” (John 6:32–35).
Our prayer lives will be enriched when we bring out the album of God’s striving with us, reviewing the photos spread through the pages of His Word but also those spread throughout the journey of our own lives. They depict not mere memories but memorialize His mercies to us. And in every picture examined through the eyes of faith, we see Jesus.
How does reminding ourselves of our history with God enhance our relationship with Him now?
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
