Devote To God When You Have Acted Against Him

“⁷We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.” — Nehemiah 1:7 (ESV)

These are the words of Nehemiah as he is praying to God. He recognized that the people of Jerusalem had fallen away from God and were in need of forgiveness.

Just like the people of Jerusalem, I am in need of forgiveness and should make it known to God so that I can effectively ask for that forgiveness of the actions taken again Him. Whereas I have been saved of my sins, that does not give me the right to continue sinning intentionally, or unintentionally for that matter. I have a duty to God to follow Him and that includes that all of my actions should be in line with Him.

When I have fallen away and every day, I must devote myself to God and the repentance of my sins against Him. I may not fully know the sins I have committed, but I am still responsible for them none the less. My repentance should be in line with the example that Nehemiah provides here in this passage.

“⁴As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” — Nehemiah 1:4 (ESV)

Notice that Nehemiah “sat down and wept and mourned for days”. He fasted and prayed. He did not just give the cursory “thanks and forgive me”, Nehemiah was distraught and devoted to gaining forgiveness for the people of Jerusalem. I have to have that same devotion.

There are many times that I simple go through the motions in my prayers. I will simply say the words out of habit and complete them as part of a task to be completed for the day. That is not going to get it done. Yes, there is something to say about the idea of praying each day, but it is more about the substance and quality and meaning and sincerity of prayer than it is about the frequency and just completion of a task.

Just as Nehemiah devoted himself to his prayer to God for days on end, so should I.

“¹⁷pray without ceasing,” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (ESV)

This verse gives the framework of what devotion to God should look like and that goes with all time, but also in the instance when we know that we have acted against Him.

What actions have you taken against God? Are you repentant of those actions? What if you were to devote yourself to repentance and were to “pray without ceasing” as a show of your devotion?