Remember God

I remember speaking at a women’s conference in Arkansas a few years back. I shared my testimony as I often do when speaking. When I returned home, I received an email from a lady who attended the conference. She shared how thankful she was for being reminded of some things she had been freed from and forgotten in her life. I thought it interesting and maybe even a little troubling that we can forget the great things God has done for us in our lives. 

However, the Bible gives us story after story of God’s people forgetting His presence, His word, and His work in their lives. 

Ten Lepers in Luke 17:12-19

The story of the ten lepers truly puzzles me, yet it makes me aware of how easily we can experience God’s work and immediately forget God’s goodness. When Jesus came into the village where the lepers lived, these ten lepers did not come near, but they loudly called out to Jesus from afar and said, 

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

Luke 17:13b

They cried out for His mercy. The original language definition of mercy means they cried out for His help in their affliction and in their wretched state. The next verse showed Jesus’ immediate response and the result of Jesus responding to their cries. 

“So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” 

And so it was that they went and they were cleansed.”

Luke 17:14

Can you imagine how amazing it would have been for these ten men to be healed of this awful, disfiguring disease that not only destroyed their physical bodies, but their entire existence? Normal life completely wiped out. Relationships damaged because no longer were they allowed to live among and with the ones they loved. Basic normal interactions with people, other than other lepers, would have been completely deleted from their lives. 

Once Jesus healed them, I can’t imagine anything other than sheer thankfulness to Him for answering their cries for healing and for giving them healthy bodies and normal lives. However, only one leper returned to thank Jesus for His work in his life. 

That shocking reality reminds me that we too might incline to forget the Lord’s work in our lives. If only one out of ten men returned to express his gratitude, the odds are against us. We are more likely to fall in line with the nine unthankful healed lepers than the one thankful healed leper. 

Intentional Remembering

In reality, we all may tend to forget what God has done for us. Sometimes we look at where someone else’s life is and can’t understand why they are where they are. But if we stop and look back at where we once were, where we came from, or the pit Jesus pulled us out of, maybe we could have a bit more empathy and understanding for others.

Sometimes I think our tendency to forget the valuable life lessons we learned throughout our Jesus journey happen simply because life takes over. We get busy and forget to return to thank Jesus for past healings from sicknesses and hurt and for past provision in our times of lack. 

For a while, maybe we can continue in this forgetfulness, but sooner or later, there will be a time when our ability to remember God and His work in our lives will mean everything to us. When will that time be? When we need Him to work in our impossible situations in our lives. However, if we know our tendency to forget, why not intentionally establish what we need to remember and ways to remember God and His work in our lives?

5 Important Aspects of Remembering God:

1) Remember Who Your Trust Is In.

“Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses 

but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

Psalm 20:7

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.”

Proverbs 18:10

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 

and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:9-11

When we remember the name of the Lord, remind yourself that His name is exalted and powerful and that one day, everyone will bow in submission to the name of the Lord. Let us be like the one leper. 

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice glorified God,

and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. 

And he was a Samaritan.”

Luke 17:15

I love how unashamedly this leper poured out his thanksgiving. He remained unmoved by what anyone else thought about him. He thanked Jesus loudly and fell on his face at his feet. Complete abandoned thankfulness. Oh Lord help us worship You like that!

2) Remember His Strength.

“Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power

and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.”

Jeremiah 32:17

Jeremiah 32:17 ranks in my top ten favorite Old Testament verses because it reminds me of God’s strength. 

I remember taking my youngest daughter to school one day. I had a worship CD playing. This was pre-Spotify, Amazon Music, and ITunes. While the worship music played the pastor of the church prayed. He said, “Lord, I thank You that there is nothing too hard for You.” That hit me so big that day. I said to my daughter, “Did you hear that? Did you hear that there is nothing too hard for God? Do you realize how significant that fact is in your daily life? There is nothing you will ever face that is too hard for God.” 

We all need to take that into consideration because our strength will never be enough. We will always find situations in life where we are fully aware within ourselves we lack the strength needed, but God’s strength is limitless. 

3) Remember what God does with His strength.

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Exodus 14:14

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

“What shall we say to these things? 

If God is for us, who can be against us? “

Romans 8:31

Whatever we face now or in the future, we know that in God’s strength He fights for us, strengthens us, helps us, and upholds us. We have nothing or no one to fear because God has no equal nor rival. Isn’t that worth remembering and returning to God to give Him glory?

“Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you;

do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart

from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Joshua 1:7-8

4) Remember God’s Grace And Mercy.

And He said to me, 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

 2 Corinthians 12:9a

“Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 

They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:22-23

Grace is often defined as getting a gift we don’t deserve, and mercy is defined as not getting what we do deserve. I once taught a women’s study at a church in our area as a guest teacher. At the end of the study one of the women gave me a handkerchief with an acrostic for GRACE embroidered on it. It said, God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. 

Understanding, receiving, and accepting God’s grace in my life was a huge deal, because of my past. I had no problem recognizing what I did not deserve in light of my past life, but once I understood God’s grace, I was really able to walk in the freedom from my past. For me, remembering daily the mercy and grace God extended to me in my past hugely impacts my today. 

5) Remember What God Has Done For You In The Past.

“I will remember the works of the Lord;

surely I will remember Your wonders of old.”

Psalm 77:11

“Remember His marvelous works which He has done,

His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.”

Psalm 105:5

One of the ways I practically remember what God has done for me in the past is through journaling. I keep prayer journals that detail my prayers whether for myself, for someone I love, or other prayer requests passed on to me. 

I love looking back and seeing how God changed situations that, at the time, seemed impossible and unchangeable. When I look back, it stirs up gratitude in my heart and it reminds me that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) And if He came through for me then, He will come through for me again. 

If you haven’t ever kept a prayer journal, now is a great time to start. Simply record your prayers or prayer needs and make sure to put the date in the journal so when you look back two or five years from now, you can remember and see God’s work in response to those prayers. 

You can also keep a Prayers Answered journal. You can start right now Take some time to think through how God worked in your life and revealed Himself to you in the past. List your answered prayers as they come to mind. Then from this day forward, write down all the ways You see God working in your life. Make note of the small things as well as big miracles. This will be a greater treasure to you than you imagine, especially when we find ourselves in the midst of the struggles and storms of life.