“How Revival Comes” (Nehemiah 1:1-11) - Revive Us Again I -

“How Revival Comes” (Nehemiah 1:1-11)

- Revive Us Again I -

Why Revival?

One time I read the article in Newsweek magazine titled, “Remodeling the churches: Pizza Yes, Jesus No.” It is February 2007 issue, so it is not breaking news. Probably, some of you have already heard the similar stories. Across Europe many churches are disused, empty and abandoned. More and more churches have converted into Muslim mosques, cafes, concert halls, warehouses, apartments and fancy restaurants. For instance, St. Paul’s church in Bristol, England became a circus school. Madonna has performed in the former historical church turned club in Amsterdam. St. Mary’s Church in Dublin, Ireland became a famous high-end restaurant. And as you see the picture on the screen, one Anglican Church in western England became an Italian restaurant, and an outsize pizza oven is located on the site of the former altar. The article concludes by remarking that it’s an “unstoppable” trend and culture, most people are positive about this, and tomorrow’s generation will remember the old neighborhood church only as the best restaurant in town.

How do you feel about this trend and culture? Is it really unstoppable? More and more church-raised young people leave the church and never come back (“silent exodus”). As a result, more and more children grow up outside of the church. We feel powerless and overwhelmed with this trend. Today God and His people are in disgrace. But this is not new. In Nehemiah’s age the people of God were in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem was broken down by the enemy and its gates were destroyed by fire. How about the wall around our spiritual life that protects and defends us? How about the spiritual wall of our church? Is it standing strong, or is it in shambles? If we are filled with such things as selfishness, resistance to spiritual growth, no time for God, compromise, and rebellion, our walls are down. If there are hearts in our church that are cold, hard, resentful, bitter, dry, and lifeless, the walls of our church are down. If our walls are down, it is almost impossible to rebuild them with our own efforts. We need supernatural help and divine intervention. That is why we need revival. Stephen Olford says, “Revival is sovereign act of God, in which He restores His own backsliding people to repentance, faith, and obedience.” There are several great revivals recorded in the Bible. One of the greatest revivals is the revival of Nehemiah. From today, we will explore Nehemiah's revival for several weeks. My prayer is that this study will create a burning desire and thirst within us for revival!

Revival Starts with “One”

Then, how does revival come? Revival starts with one person. In today’s scripture, Nehemiah  hears the bad news from his brother. At that time, Jewish people had been held captive by the kingdoms of the east. But some of them were allowed to return to their homeland to rebuild the temple. Nehemiah was expecting to hear some good news. Instead, he gets word that his people are not doing well at all. The work is not going on as it should. Nehemiah is brokenhearted. At this point, there are basically two options that Nehemiah can choose. He could avoid this challenge by saying to himself, “Well, I am glad that I stayed here in Babylon to serve the king as butler.” Or he could see the challenge before him, catch the burden, and get involved in it, “Here are my people in great trouble. Here I am, Lord, send me to help them.” Nehemiah chose the second option. In verse 4 Nehemiah says, “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” When Nehemiah saw the challenge, he took it as his own burden. He wept, mourned, fasted and prayed. Revival starts with one and begins in the heart. In 2 Chronicles 16:9 God declares that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (KJV). God is always looking for man and woman fully devoted to Him to exert His power upon the world. Once D.L. Moody attended a prayer meeting, and evangelist Henry Varley said, “It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him.” That night Moody said to himself, “Well, I will be that man.” If we want to see revival, we need this prayer, “Lord, use me. Send me. Change me.” Revival starts with one. It starts with “me.”

Revival Starts with One through “Prayer”

In today’s passage revival starts with one person, Nehemiah. In particular, it starts with his prayer. Notice that there are three stages to his prayer: confession (vv. 6-7) – claming the promise (vv. 8-9) – petition (vv. 10-11). Nehemiah’s prayer can be a good prayer model when we pray for revival. First of all, he confessed his part in the problem. He prayed, “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.” When we are in conflict with another person, we usually blame the other person and seldom consider our part in the wrong. But here Nehemiah is praying, “Lord, I am culpable. I am confessing myself to be part of the problem. Forgive me.” Then, he claimed the promise God had given. What was the promise? It was twofold. The promise was that if Israel disobeyed, they would go into a foreign land. The second part was that if they return to God and obey His commands, He would bring them back to Jerusalem and protect them. That part was unfulfilled. So now Nehemiah is praying, “Lord, you made a promise to bring us back and protect us, and that has not come to pass yet. I am claiming that it will.” Would you like your prayer to be more powerful? Pray the Scriptures. Nehemiah prayed the Scriptures. He prayed God’s promise and claimed it. Finally, he brought his petition before God. He presented his requests to God with thanksgiving, praying, “Lord, give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of the king.” Nehemiah’s prayer for revival was heard. Revival starts with one person through his or her prayer.  

Revival Starts with One through “Persistent” Prayer

Nehemiah prayed, prayed, and prayed until revival did come! He began to pray in the month of Kislev (1:1), that is around December, and he kept on praying day and night, and God answered his prayer in the month of Nisan (2:1), that is around April. That means he had prayed and waited at least for 4 months. He did not give up or take any other action until God answered. God does not always answer our prayer the first time we ask. But we should not give up. We should keep on praying until we do get it. Our Lord Jesus told us a parable of the persistent widow to show us that we should always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1-8): The widow kept coming to an unjust judge with her plea. She came to him not just once or twice, but until she would get justice. Then Jesus said, “How much more will our loving God answer the persistent cries of His children?” Surely, He will answer our persevering prayers. But then, why doesn’t God always answer our prayers the first time we ask? The answer is clear. It is because he wants us to be equipped with persistent and strong faith. God knew that Nehemiah would face spiritual battles and severe oppositions once the construction started. So, he should be prepared and fully armed with great faith. That’s why God made him pray persistently and intensely for at least 4 months. For many of us there are things that we pray through and through. For me, personally, from day one in Houlton my prayer for our church is “Lord, send your revival.” Has the revival come? No, not as far as we can see. Then, when is it coming? We don’t know. How long are we going to pray? The answer is, “until it comes.”

Be a Good Sailor!

God could flow unhindered through Nehemiah. There is nothing too hard for God if He can find the right person of prayer. Lastly, I want to share a story of a man of prayer who is like Nehemiah. His name is Adoniram Judson. At the age of 25, he got a vision from God for mission. He became a first missionary to Myanmar. It took 6 years for him to baptize his first Burmese convert. It also took 12 years to make 18 converts. But, he prayed through, and through, and through for Burmese revival. When he died, he left Burmese Bible, 100 churches, and over 8,000 believers. And now Myanmar has the third largest number of Baptists worldwide. Still many Burmese and missionaries do remember Judson and celebrate “Judson’s Day” in July. Many others’ religious work and their visions were like footsteps in the sands. They disappeared. But, Judson has engraved his work on imperishable granite. The secret of its endurance is his persistent and constant prayer. Judson said, “Endeavor seven times a day to withdraw from business and company and lift up thy soul to God in private retirement. Begin the day by rising after midnight and devoting some time amid the silence and darkness of the night to this sacred work. Let the hour of opening dawn find thee at the same work. Let the hours of 9, 12, 3, 6, and 9 at night witness the same. Be resolute in His cause. Make all practical sacrifices to maintain it. Consider that thy time is short and that business and company must not be allowed to rob thee of thy God.” My prayer is that my life may be shaped by prayer, filled with prayer, steeped in prayer. My prayer is that our homes and our church will be the “houses of prayer.” Revival is the sovereign work of God. We cannot make it happen. A sailor has no impact on the wind. But a good sailor knows the wind, and knows how to set the sails when the wind blows. We cannot make wind blow, but we can hoist a sail to keep the vessel before the wind. Let us hoist our sails of prayer day by day until God sends the wind of revival to our lives and to our church! Amen.