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Building For Revival: Sit With God and PLAN! (Sermon Audio)

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This is the audio from the April 14, 2024 sermon, “Building For Revival: Sit With God and PLAN!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Nehemiah 1

“When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”
Nehemiah 1:4 (NIV)

This morning’s message began a series from the book of Nehemiah about Building For Revival.  As with any construction project, building for revival takes a lot of work.  Some of that work is exciting and looks a lot like the finished product.  But as tempting as it may be to jump right into the more exciting tasks, the foundation for revival of any kind is to sit with God and . . .

  • Pray: — Nehemiah 1:4-5

    • Because the real foundation of revival is Jesus, it is important that our plan involves pursuing the will of God in all things.  With God in charge, we plan most effectively when we sit with God and weep, mourn, fast, and pray.  Real revival takes place in our life, and then spreads by God’s Spirit through us, when we choose to be devoted to prayer.  Nehemiah wasn’t satisfied to simply say, “God help us!” and then move on.  He spent days and nights in all forms of communication with God as he began to plan for revival.  We plan for revival when we choose to sit with God and pray in a genuine and steadfast manner.

  • Listen: — Nehemiah 1:8-11

    • As Nehemiah sat with God to plan revival, we see evidence that he was willing to listen because he had been listening all along.  His prayer includes a reminder of God’s promises and His goodness.  Since God is not forgetful, I believe this was a statement to himself, to us, and to God that Nehemiah was listening all along.  Things looked bleak and some would even say beyond hope, but Nehemiah chose to listen to God rather than the enemy.  The enemy wants to convince every person that we have failed beyond the power of God to revive us.  We plan for revival when we listen to God as we spend time in His Word and with His Spirit where we discover His desire is for restoration.

  • Acknowledge: — Nehemiah 1:5-7

    • I believe one of the greatest hindrances to revival at any level from individually to nationally, is a failure to acknowledge that we need revived.  Oh, it can be easy to look at others and say they need revival, but to look at our self and believe revival is necessary can be another story.  Nehemiah sat with God and acknowledged not only the sin of the people of Israel, but his own sin and that of his family.  For the most part, we simply will not change if we don’t think we need to.  We plan for revival when we sit with God and acknowledge our sin creates a need that only He can satisfy.

  • Notice: — Nehemiah 1:1-3

    • The whole catalyst for Nehemiah moving from servant to builder to governor was a willingness to notice the needs of others.  While not the most glamorous of occupations, life for Nehemiah as cupbearer to the king was likely comfortable as long as the kingdom was at peace.  Nehemiah was motivated to sit with God and plan because he took the initiative to notice what life was like for those back in his homeland of Israel, and specifically of Jerusalem.  Revival is about us, but it is not only about us.  A true revival in our life will always lead us to represent Jesus in ways that both notices and does something about the needs of others.  We plan for revival when we sit with God and choose to notice the needs of others.

Today, how will you PLAN for revival?