Reminding God

There's a song we sing in church a pretty good bit called "Your Grace is Enough," by Chris Tomlin. One of reasons I really like this song is because it has the ethos of the Old Testament, couched in New Testament language. It starts out remembering the faithfulness of God, talking about his character and "reminding" God of who he is. Then, it goes into my favorite part of the song. If this wasn't a song, but prose in a book, it might read something like this: "Now, because of who you are and what you do (all that we've just said) remember your people, remember your children, remember your promise, oh God." I love to sing these lines because it is what Abraham, Moses, David, and most of the prophets did over and over again. When there were problems, when they needed help, they reminded God of who he is and his character, then they called on him to remember that they were his people and that he had promised them certain things, and they wanted those promises to be fulfilled.

Here's the thing: I've seen this transfer into my own prayer life. I find myself many times, recounting God's character, and then reminding God that I am his child, or that the person I'm praying for is his child, and that he has promised his children certain things that I am now asking him to fulfill. Now, this might seem like demands on God by an arrogant human, but it's all throughout Scripture. "God, you have promised us certain things as your children, and we know that keeping those promises are in line with your character. Now, as your children, as those promised, we ask you to come through, just as you have in the past. Remember what you've told us you would do for us. . . and do it. We need you to do it. We're asking you to do it. We're calling on you to keep your word to us, your children. Don't forget about us. We're here, and we need you to remember."