Life Bridge Christian Church
10/10/21
Description: God had a major work of rebuilding and revival prepared for Nehemiah. It would change the course of his people's history. Before he would ever set out to go and help rebuild in Jerusalem, though, Nehemiah took an important first step: he prayed. His prayer gives us an example of what it looks like to seek revival in prayer. If we want to see God's reviving work in us and in our world, we must be passionate about prayer as well. In this week's message we'll study the powerful lessons we can learn from Nehemiah's dedicated and passionate approach to prayer.
1. Respond to disaster with weeping rather than rage.
We are more available to God's work when we prayerfully engage our emotions
2. Respond to disaster with PRAYER
Nehemiah knew who He was talking to
Nehemiah approached God with humility
Numbers 23:19 CSB
Isaiah 55:8-9 CSB
John 4:24 CSB
Jeremiah 23:23-24 CSB
In prayer we should never take God so fearfully that we do not approach him or so casually that we do not honor Him.
Nehemiah approached God with confession
Nehemiah called upon God's promises
3. Revival in prayer requires a foundation of faith
Deuteronomy 9:26-29 CSB
It was not nationality that made someone an Israelite, it was membership in God's COVENANT.
Galatians 3:7-9 CSB
Isaiah 10:22 CSB
John 10:14 CSB
John 10:27-28 CSB
Jesus is not just a label, He's a person.
4. Revival in prayer requires determined persistence and patience
Two bad habits in prayer that Nehemiah refused to commit:
1. He refused to stop praying.
2. He refused to act without God speaking
"Wisdom is born out of the time spent to make good decisions. Perhaps this explains Nehemiah's delay. He could have immediately saddled up the royal camels and followed his heart to his homeland. Instead, he waited--perhaps to confirm God's direction, perhaps to complete his commitments, perhaps to gather his resources or perhaps to simply let any residue of self-serving impulsivity evaporate. Whatever the reason, his waiting seemed to be the right thing to do.
When God calls, I don't want to delay in doing what I know I should do. Still, I don't want to foolishly move forward without taking time to pray, seek godly counsel, gather my resources, and exercise wisdom. In the end, the time between Kislev and Nisan may just be what enables me to not only do God's will, but do it well." - David Daniels
5. Revival in prayer is possible because we have access to God
Jesus uses His access to the Father for us
We use our access to Him for the sake of the world.
One Big Thing: God works in us as we work in prayer
If you're ready to make a LIFELONG, LIFESTYLE decision to follow Jesus, please reach out to us or to someone you know at Life Bridge so that we can get in touch. To talk to one of our pastors, reach out to us by giving us a call at (920) 494-4042, emailing lbccgb@gmail.com or through our social media pages