Nehemiah's Prayer

I have been reading through the book of Nehemiah and I have been learning a lot from it.
Nehemiah prayed and truly relied upon God to help the wall get built.

Nehemiah’s Prayer:
"O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
"Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'
"They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." –Nehemiah 1:4-11

Notice that he started out the prayer by PRAISING God, even through tough circumstances. It is easy to praise God when we are prospering, but so often when I am going through trials, I either get angry at him and yell or think that He is not with me. This reminds me that God is to be praised to matter what, because even when we change and our circumstances change, God does not. He is holy, loving, and merciful. He deserves our praise at all times. We praise God when we win. We praise God when we lose. Then, Nehemiah confessed sins. This reminds me that it is so important that we bow our hearts in humility towards God and talk to Him about our sin struggles. He loves us and wants to hear from us. Then, after Nehemiah has praised and confessed, he asks for God to help the people. Does this give us a model for prayer? I think so. Even in the Lord’s prayer, forgiveness and for God’s will to be done is prayed BEFORE anything is asked for.

How many times to I worry about everything, and if I am worrying, do I really trust God with my entire heart? Nehemiah truly sought out God and reading about his struggles is teaching me that I need to be praying more and stop trying to rely on my own strength.

I will write more about what I am learning from Nehemiah in the weeks to come.

Love,
Amanda