How effective are your prayers?

Nehemiah 1: 6-9 MSG “I said, GOD, God-of-Heaven, the great and awesome God, loyal to his covenant and faithful to those who love him and obey his commands:  Look at me, listen to me.  Pay attention to this prayer of your servant that I’m praying day and night in intercession for your servants, the People of Israel, confessing the sins of the People of Israel.  And I’m including myself, I and my ancestors, among those who have sinned against you.  “We’ve treated you like dirt:  We haven't done what you told us, have followed your commands, and have respected the decision you gave to Moses your servant.  All the same, remember the warning you posted to your servant Moses “If you betray me, I’ll scatter you to the four winds, but if you come back to me and do what I tell you, I’ll gather up all these scattered peoples from wherever they ended up and put them back in the place I chose to mark with my Name.”

Today I want the Lord GOD to hear my prayers, so I believe that I need to identify who God really is, confess my sins and remind God of His promises to me and specifically pray for the problems I am facing.

Nehemiah was a captive and he knew who God really was, so he went and wrote a prayer for the nation Israel.

As you focus on your problems and circumstances today, do you know who God really is, or do you just know of Him?  We need to be able to identify who God is so that we are able to speak directly to Him, through the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Think about Who God is.  God is a good, good Father, God is Wonderful, God is omnipresent, God is our Counselor, God is faithful, God is love and God is merciful.  Then think of your own sins, where did you sin knowingly and even unknowingly.  Confessing your sins as well as your family and countries sins.  Now, remind God of His promise “if we repent, you give it back to us.” Did God forget His promises?  Absolutely not, but we need to remember the promises because we want God to act. Now pray specifically for your problem and wait for the answer.  Being specific makes it easier to identify the answer.

Prayer

Father God, Abba Father, we humbly come into Your presence today, yes Lord we want to come and bring praises to Your Holy Name.  For You O LORD, God is a good, good Father.  You are a Wonderful and Mercyful God.  We are so grateful that You are our Counselor.  We worship at Your feet in adoration.  Humbly, LORD, we confess that we have sinned against You.  Lord, myself, my family and my country are guilty of sinning against YOU.  We were unfaithful and have not obeyed your commandments.  Ignoring You and doing as we please