Nehemiah asks God to “remember.” It’s not that God has forgotten or could forget. Rather, Nehemiah is laying out the basis of his plea. He has boldness to ask of God not because he is worthy or deserving or has any reason in himself to request. His confidence rests in the unshakable promises of God and the unchanging God of promise. There is something more to prayer than the bottom line. In a sense, the prayer is in the process.

“[I]f My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV)

Nehemiah still hasn’t gotten to his request of God. We will learn that he is not only grieved by the state of disrepair of the city he loves, but he wants to do something about it. His reflex is to turn to the God of heaven. He will ask God to grant him success in the eyes of the king for the mission of rebuilding he wants to undertake. But he has yet in his prayer to get to the point, although perhaps that is point.

Often in prayer, we cut to the chase, quick to ask that we may receive. We are not very adept at wrestling with God, laying our hearts bare before him, grappling with all the things that weigh upon us and the realities we face. We don’t spend time working through our troubles with God, reminding ourselves of His character and His assurances, magnifying His name.

Nehemiah has been open and honest about the sin of Israel. It is their own fault that Jerusalem is in ruins and the people in exile. God had warned them repeatedly, but they refused to listen. They had been unfaithful. They were covenant breakers. But God’s steadfast love would not be deterred. His purposes in redemption would not be frustrated.

In wrestling with God, Nehemiah lays these truths on the table, not to challenge God but to bring to bear His precious promises.

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