Today is August 26.


The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.   
  
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”    
   
Today’s reading is from the book of Nehemiah, chapter 9.  
  

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God.  
 

The Israelites had just spent time reflecting on God’s faithfulness and the trials he has sustained them through. In looking back, they could see how their disobedience had caused all of the calamity that had come upon them, and how His hand had guided their ancestors through war, slavery, and desert wandering. They read the scriptures and meditated on them, and their response was penitence, confession, and worship. When you consider what God has brought you through in your life, what kind of response rises up in you?  
  
The Israelites had endured great instability and unrest, and had allowed their love for God and obligations to God to be neglected, including their regular observation of the Sabbath. As you hear the passage again, think about your own relationship with God. What aspects of your own devotion have you neglected?   
  
As we close our time of prayer today, take a few moments and confess your sin of neglect to God and ask him for a renewed desire for and love for his word? Ask him to come by his spirit to give you a pure heart toward him again. 

Music: Come Now Is The Time To Worship - Vineyard Worship - (YouTube)