It All Starts Here

Personal Revival begins with REMEMBERING (v. 5)

Nehemiah 1:5 ESV

And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

Nehemiah begins by remembering a few things.

He Remembers Who God Is

First Nehemiah reminds himself of who God is. Nehemiah reminds himself of God’s greatness and his awesomeness, and his steadfast love.

He Remembers Who He is

Secondly, he remembers who he is before GOd. Notice what he says about himself in v. 6.

Nehemiah admits:

Nehemiah 1:6 ESV

let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.

Nehemiah is keenly aware of his sin before God. He is aware of the sins of himself and his sins of his people.

Awareness of our sin is an essential part of revival, but more than that, it’s a necessary part of life.

We are called as Christians to mourn sin. We don’t. Nehemiah did.

Cornelius Plantinga notes:

The awareness of sin, a deep awareness of disobedience, and painful confession of sin used to be our shadow. Christians hated sin. They feared it, they fled from it, they grieved over it. Some of our [forefathers] agonized over their sins. A man who lost his temper might wonder if he could still go to holy communion. A woman who for years envied her more attractive and intelligent sister might wonder if this sin threatened her very salvation… That shadow has dimmed. Nowadays the accusation, “You have sinned,” is often said with a grin and with a tone that signals an inside joke. At one time this accusation still had the power to jolt people.

Christians mourn their sin. Period. They cannot live with it. It’s the mourning over sin that ate at David and caused him to soak his bed with tears.

It’s that mourning that caused Peter to run back to his nets because the pain of his betrayal was too fresh.

“Remorse, regret, sorrow, and the pain provoked by sin will only increase and intensify the longer we are Christians. Maturity in the faith does not lead to less sorrow over sin, but more. The pain does not diminish; it deepens.”

Nehemiah saw sin, and cried out:

He saw:

Personal sin (v. 6)

Corporate sin (v. 6)

Shameful sin (v. 7)

Sin against God (v. 7)

If we want to see revival, it must start HERE!

Nehemiah saw his God, and then he saw himself. and that seeing let him to the next point:

Personal revival is deepened by REPENTANCE (v. 6-7)

Nehemiah 1:6–7 ESV

let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.

We then see Nehemiah’s response to his sin and the sin of others was repentance and mourning.

Listen to the words of Nehemiah in v. 7:

Nehemiah 1:7 ESV

We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.

Nehemiah sees his sin and is grieved by it.

Why? Because Nehemiah saw God as glorious and his sin as disastrous. SIN ALIENATES US FROM GOD and destroys our relationship with him.

“God wants sin out of your life because it's the only thing that keeps you from experiencing the torrential downpour of blessing He wants to rain upon you.”

MacDonald, James. Downpour (p. 80). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

True Repentance begins with a change of MIND.

Repentance is the changing of how we see ourselves and how we see our sin.

Personal Revival is sustained by RELINQUISHING (v. 8-11)

Nehemiah 1:8–11 ESV

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Finally, Nehemiah shows the last key to true Revival. Nehemiah, faced with God’s glory and his sin, relinquishes control to God and surrenders himself and his people to God.

Nehemiah’s willingness to obey God and be used by him are seen here. (1:11)

1 Samuel 15:22 ESV

And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.