A Day Devoted

Nehemiah 9:3    Nehemías 9:3

    "y asumieron así su responsabilidad. Durante tres horas leyeron el libro de la ley del SEÑOR su Dios y en las tres horas siguientes le confesaron sus pecados y lo adoraron." NVI
    "And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God." NKJV

    They came before the Lord humbly and covered with dirt. The people confessed the failings of their fathers and their own failings. Then for three hours the read the Word of God. Then for the next three hours they confessed and worshiped.
    The World English Dictionary says to worship is to "treat... something as deity: to treat... something as divine and show respect by engaging in acts of prayer and devotion."
    And we are blessed by being able to see the prayers they gave up to God during this event. The prayer starting in verse five and going on to the end of the chapter has a few parts. It begins with praising God and pretty much running through what is in the early scriptures. That he created the heavens and the earth, Genesis, the calling of Abram, and the journeys of the Israelites. Then they confess the sins of their fathers and His continual righteousness. Finally they end with a confession of their struggles (starting in verse 36) and the solution they found in His Word. They reaffirmed the covenant--they wanted to follow the law.

    What a beautiful day for the Israelites. Truly it was a day that was blessed for it brought them back to their knees--it brought them back to God's will for their lives. What a beautiful day this would be to have in our lives. What if we could have a day like that in our lives? What would that look like?
    If we could start the morning off in humility, coming to the Lord with our sins laid bear so that our pride does not push us away. What if we could spend three hours simply reading the Word--the living Word of God. And then we could spend the next three in honest prayer with God.
    I used to wonder how anyone could pray for hours on end. But now as I come to know Jesus more I wonder how I ever prayed so little. It is good to note that in the Israelites' prayer 95% of it was praise and a statement of who God is. Statements of His faithfulness and goodness. If I don't have enough instances in my own life to say about His faithfulness for three hours (which I am sure I do) then I have a whole bible to turn to for more examples. Example which will no doubt be fresh in my mind considering I just read it for three hours.
    The last part of the prayer is important to note as well. As the time of devotion ended they brought it back to the application--like we do in these blogs. Six hours spent with the Lord--if the experience was genuine--I can guarantee He will have convicted you of something, and He will have shown you something you can change in your life.

    So what's my application. Well, I'm sure you can guess that I want to do this. Six hours is a big chunk of time to come by, but my next true day off I am going to do this.`   



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