This week we wrap up our 3 week BaseCamp study on worship and prayer called O.M.G. The first week focused on calling on God’s powerful name in times of need and last week was worship God in awe and wonder for who He is and His great love for us.
A third way in which we see the phrase, “Oh My God” used in Scripture is in confession and asking God to hear our prayers and pleas to forgive and restore us. One example is found when Solomon is dedicating the temple of God in the old testament. As part of this dedication he reminds the people of their sin and the need for God to hear their prayers in this place and forgive:
“…there is no one who does not sin…yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.” (2 Chronicles 6:36-40)
We see this again in Daniel chapter 9 as Daniel, too, lifts up a prayer on behalf of a group of people. He says:
“O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” (Daniel 9:18-19)
What I love about this passage is it reminds us that God does not hear us because we are righteous but because He is merciful! That is why we can even have confidence to pray this prayer. In the midst of our brokenness and sin, we can remember that we too are called by God’s name, we are his children and he longs for us to cry out, “Oh My God! Hear my Prayer!”
He is ready and waiting to say, “I hear you my child. I love you and I forgive you!”
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
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