1 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:12,040 Title of tonight's message is Prayer and Revival, Prayer and 2 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:20,040 Revival Nehemiah Chapter 9. I'm sure that the following 3 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,240 experience is something that we've all encountered. 4 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:29,120 If you've been in a prayer meeting or a group of a few 5 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,160 people and someone just keeps going. 6 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,800 Put it that way. There's a famous story about the 7 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:43,680 great evangelist DL Moody. And one Sunday he had asked a 8 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:49,680 particular man to pray during the service, and the man started 9 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,440 strong. But he began to drone on and on, 10 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,240 and after about 10 minutes, DL Moody couldn't take it anymore. 11 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,160 He stood up and interrupted and said, While our dear brother is 12 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:07,720 finishing his prayer, let's turn to him #342 and sing it 13 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,880 together. And the congregation, somewhat 14 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,560 stunned, did so. They sang. 15 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,920 And in the end, the interruption grabbed the attention of a bored 16 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,920 young medical student who was in the crowd at the time. 17 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,040 And he stayed. His curiosity peaked and he 18 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:31,320 heard the gospel and he he got saved during that service as DL 19 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:33,960 Moody was preaching and and declaring the good news of Jesus 20 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:36,240 Christ. And this individual went on to 21 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:40,400 become a legendary missionary, Dr a guy by the name of Wilfred 22 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,680 Grenfell. Now, why do I start with that? 23 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,320 Well, Nehemiah Chapter 9 as we're into it. 24 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,960 It contains the longest prayer in the Old Testament outside of 25 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:55,080 the Book of the Psalms. So Psalms have many, many 26 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,160 lengthy prayers in them. But here, Nehemiah Chapter 9 is 27 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,280 a wonderful prayer. It's not a rambling monologue as 28 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:04,840 we read it. It's a powerful corporate 29 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,560 confession as the people of Israel have gathered here in the 30 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,280 city of Jerusalem, as God is doing a work in the hearts and 31 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:16,160 lives of the people. And as we'll see, the the prayer 32 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,640 clocks in at just a little over 30 verses, just a little bit 33 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,840 more than 30 verses. But the length is not the point. 34 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:29,000 It's the depth of the prayer. And the prayer tonight for us 35 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:33,640 will be a blueprint as we look in our lives to be able to 36 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:35,960 approach God in prayer. That's that's something that God 37 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:40,760 has given to us as a capacity to commune, connect with him. 38 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,280 And then it also functions as a means to look for repentance and 39 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,680 revival in our lives as followers of God. 40 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,480 So again, after rebuilding Jerusalem's walls as we've been 41 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,760 studying through the book of Nehemiah and it was a record 42 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,720 time. The people gather not for a 43 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,720 victory parade, but there's a work that's been going on 44 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:05,000 through the course of this month. 45 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,360 It's it's almost been like a a lengthy church service. 46 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,520 We could say it where, where they have returned to the word 47 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,320 and they've been studying it and God has been revealing things to 48 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,040 them through that that has caused their hearts now to turn 49 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,040 in repentance and revival is sparking amongst God's people. 50 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:28,440 They've been celebrating the festival or or the feast of of 51 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:34,320 Booths or of Tabernacles, camping out and rejoicing and 52 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,640 remembering God's provision through the Exodus experience. 53 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,640 But now we see in Nehemiah Chapter 9, they gather on the 54 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,600 24th day of the month and they're fasting where they've 55 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,200 been feasting before, Now they're fasting and where 56 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,280 they've been wearing normal clothing. 57 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,360 They, they gathered in what's called sackcloth and ashes, dust 58 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:59,800 upon their heads as a sign of repentance unto God, indicating 59 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:01,000 what's happening in their hearts. 60 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,840 And it's not an individual thing that's going on here, but it's 61 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,280 a, a corporate thing that's happening across many, many 62 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,720 thousands of people. And as we read the prayer, we'll 63 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,320 see that they see themselves as part of, of a bigger story of, 64 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,480 of family and, and history of the people and a nation shaped 65 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,160 by generations of abandoning God and of God's faithfulness to 66 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,240 them and returning to God and, and on and on of, of 67 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,760 faithfulness and failure, faithfulness and failure 68 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,480 backwards and forwards. And we're going to get into it. 69 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,400 But before we do, I just want to touch back a little bit on last 70 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,640 week's sermon in Nehemiah Aid. And I mentioned some feasts. 71 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:39,840 I want to try and provide a little clarity to our 72 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:42,240 understanding on that because I think it's significant. 73 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:47,720 They're in this, the 7th month. It's the month of Tishrei. 74 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,760 And to be precise of what's been happening through this Leviticus 75 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,680 chapter 23 provides a helpful outline of of what feasts 76 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,040 they've been celebrating and what festivals and when. 77 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,240 And so the month would have begun with the feast of trumpets 78 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,560 on the first day. We would call that in, in modern 79 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:09,320 day terminology, terminology, Rosh Hashanah, the Day of 80 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,120 Atonement, as we read in Leviticus 23, is to be on the 81 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:14,680 10th of the month. Is there's not an indication of 82 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:18,400 that happening in Nehemiah 8, But we can start to assume that 83 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,960 they're starting to return to those holy practises as they had 84 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:23,640 abandoned them and forsaken them. 85 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,440 And then the feast of Tabernacles was to occur from 86 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,120 the 15th through to the 21st of this month. 87 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:37,960 At the end of Nehemiah in chapter 8 verse 17, they partake 88 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,680 of the Feast of Tabernacles. And the way that the new King 89 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,360 James and and the ESV word is, is a little confusing somewhat 90 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:48,960 for us. But the new living translation, 91 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,600 the NIV make it a little more clear that it wasn't the fact 92 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,400 that they hadn't celebrated the feast at all in the centuries 93 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,600 from Joshua's time till now, but that they had not done so to the 94 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,840 level of accuracy and and celebration that we're seeing 95 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,120 take place in the hearts and lives of the people. 96 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,640 It hadn't been celebrated with such joy and unity until or 97 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,200 since the times of Joshua is is a better understanding of the 98 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:19,280 end of Nehemiah chapter 8. So overall, I hope that that 99 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:24,440 helps to indicate the context that this month now for us is, 100 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:29,720 is really a spiritual high point for the people of Israel because 101 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,360 they're rediscovering things in God's Word and, and they're 102 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,960 looking to be obedient to that. And, and it sets the stage 103 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,880 really for tonight's text in Nehemiah 9. 104 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:43,960 So the main idea out of Nehemiah 9 is that true prayer and 105 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,920 repentance aren't about quick fixes. 106 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,760 So if you're after a quick fix tonight, can't help you. 107 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:55,640 It's not about excuses when we pray, but it is about and what 108 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,480 we'll see through is, is seeing God clearly as revealed through 109 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:06,000 his word of owning our sin honestly and of turning back to 110 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,160 God fully. And this prayer teaches us that. 111 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,120 So we're going to unpack it in three points. 112 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:12,440 If you're the note taking, we'll see. 113 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,160 Firstly, the biblical backbone of prayer. 114 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,480 If you've ever wondered, you know, how do I pray? 115 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:19,640 It's a thing of struggle in my life. 116 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,520 May I encourage you to see in this that Scripture is such a 117 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:28,640 wonderful backbone of prayer that it provides the skeleton 118 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:33,040 that we flesh out in our prayer as we commune and talk with God. 119 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,440 And so I'll explain that a little bit more, what I mean by 120 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:37,840 that. Secondly, I want us to see the 121 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,120 Godward gaze of prayer, that who it is that we're praying to is 122 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,320 significant. It's important. 123 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,640 We need to know and understand the attributes, the 124 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:51,160 characteristics of God Almighty. And then lastly, we'll see the 125 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,000 repentant response of prayer. You know what happens often when 126 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,520 you see God for who he is, We see ourselves for who we are and 127 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,440 we confess and we turn to him. So let's pray and then dive in. 128 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,200 Lord God, we thank you again for your wonderful word tonight, 129 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,680 Nehemiah Chapter 9 before us. Holy Spirit, we need you, we 130 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:13,000 need your help, we need your guidance, we need your wisdom, 131 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,760 your understanding. We need your strength and 132 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,560 compass and capacity to be able to to not only understand but 133 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,080 apply and live out what we read tonight. 134 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:25,520 I thank you for each person here tonight. 135 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,080 Bless them, guide them, teach them. 136 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,240 We pray this in Jesus name, Amen. 137 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,440 So the first is the biblical backbone of prayer. 138 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:38,120 And true prayer must have a biblical backbone, a substance 139 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,280 to it that is rooted in scripture. 140 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,120 It's not just our, our feelings or our whims. 141 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,720 And it's OK to pray with that way. 142 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,680 And you know, God, quick, I, I cry out, I need your help. 143 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:52,040 And I'm feeling this and, and I, and you know, I'm frustrated or 144 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,640 whatever our emotions are, but Scripture needs to be at the 145 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,400 core of what we pray and how we pray and why we pray. 146 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,440 Let's look at verses 1 to 3, Nehemiah 9, reading from the new 147 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,840 King James. Now on the 24th day of this 148 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,360 month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting in 149 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,880 sackcloth and with dust on their heads. 150 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,600 And then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves 151 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,720 from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins 152 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:22,560 in the iniquities of their fathers. 153 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,640 And they stood up verse 3 in their place, and read from the 154 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,000 book of the law of the Lord their God for 1/4 of the day. 155 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,160 And for another fourth, they confessed and worshipped the 156 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:36,600 Lord their God. I'll stop there for a moment. 157 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,600 This is so key. As we've just read here in the 158 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:41,440 point of the biblical backbone of prayer. 159 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,720 They understand these people did not just show up and and vent or 160 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,480 verbally process what they were feeling and thinking right now. 161 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,920 They understand for this month and up now till the 24th day of 162 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,960 this month have been immersed in God's Word. 163 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,760 There has been a public preaching and teaching of God's 164 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,760 word as as Ezra has been doing that and and, and the priests 165 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:07,080 and the Levites have been helping the people to 166 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:09,320 understand. So for days leading up to what 167 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,360 we have just read, they've been reading the Pentateuch first 168 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,520 five books of the Bible. They're living out and 169 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,960 demonstrating for us this truth that we know out of Romans 10, 170 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,320 verse 17, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word 171 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:28,080 of God that all Scripture is profitable and beneficial. 172 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,560 And we looked at that passage out of second Timothy 316 and 173 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:35,320 and they're, they're demonstrating the truth of that 174 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:37,240 as we're reading this. And now they're gathered in 175 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,440 sackcloth. We read they have dust on their 176 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:45,040 heads and and half of the day has been reading and and 177 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:51,000 worshipping 1/4 of it reading 1/4 of it responding as as God's 178 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,320 word has revealed certain things they cannot help but declare 179 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,520 praise and worship under God and a group of Levites. 180 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,400 We'll see in verses four and five and you can read ahead 181 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:02,920 through a number of verses. I'm not going to read all of the 182 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,760 verses tonight, but I'll point you to to many of them so you 183 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:07,240 can look ahead at verse four and five. 184 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:12,280 A collective of Levites gather and it's it's the prayer that 185 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,600 they're possibly had had written down. 186 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:20,440 We're not 100% sure and may be that they took turns in reading 187 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,360 out parts or, or some commentators even suggest that 188 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,920 there's like a call and response component that a group read out 189 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,240 one bit and another responded and read out another of the 190 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,760 prayer that we're seeing here in Nehemiah Chapter 9. 191 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,520 But in this prayer, it's not improvised. 192 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:41,400 It's not made up on the spot because it's saturated with 193 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,960 biblical history. What we'll see is that it points 194 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,000 out Scripture after Scripture after Scripture. 195 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:53,760 We see it covers from creation in verse 6 to Abraham's call in 196 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,800 verse 7. You can be jumping ahead as I'm 197 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,320 saying this to the Exodus miracles that God performed in 198 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:06,360 verses 9 through to 15 of their wilderness wanderings in verses 199 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:11,120 16 through to 21. And there's cycles of following 200 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,880 the Lord and rebelling against the Lord that we see again and 201 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,560 again throughout the book of Judges and through first, second 202 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:18,520 Kings, First and Second Chronicles. 203 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:25,640 It's like a mosaic of scripture, this prayer quoting and echoing 204 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:30,320 God's revelations as he has provided in his Word. 205 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,160 But why does this matter? Why is why is this the first 206 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,240 point? Why have I not read on further? 207 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,560 Why is it important that our prayers be saturated with 208 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:47,920 Scripture? Because in Scripture, what we 209 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:57,400 see is that scriptured prayer is God initiating conversation with 210 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,840 us. So when when we're reading the 211 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,400 Bible, when we're reading Scripture, it's God starting the 212 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:09,200 conversation. Prayer is US responding to God's 213 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:10,840 initiation. Does that make sense? 214 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:16,560 So God speaks through his word. You know, many people will say, 215 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:18,800 I want to hear God. I want to hear his voice. 216 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,640 I want to know what, what it, what it is that he has for me. 217 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,000 God does so through his word. Hebrews starts with that. 218 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,400 You know, in times past God spoke through the prophets and 219 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,160 you know, in various ways and so on. 220 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:35,560 But now he has spoken through his Son and in John chapter 1, 221 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:37,760 we're told that in the beginning was the Word. 222 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:39,680 The Word was with God and the Word was God. 223 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:41,320 In other words, Jesus is the Word. 224 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:46,000 If you want to hear Jesus voice be in the Word, it is God 225 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:50,280 speaking to you. I don't know if you've ever had 226 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,600 a kind of awkward conversation or a forced conversation with 227 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,320 someone where they've just kind of stood in your space and not 228 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:03,280 said anything. But do you want something kind 229 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:04,160 of awkward? Right. 230 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,680 There's that pause. But God, God speaks to us 231 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:12,040 through his Word, and he initiates, and we respond 232 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:15,800 through prayer. So prayer then comes out of time 233 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:22,120 spent in Scripture, in Genesis, they go back to there, they 234 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,320 remind that God speaks the world into being, that he revealed 235 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,360 himself in Exodus. And you can kind of see that 236 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,720 they're, they're mapping through the history of the people. 237 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,080 And, and almost like in their reading of what they've been 238 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,120 travelling through in the scriptures of the Pentateuch, 239 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,280 Genesis and Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and and so on, that 240 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,080 it's that's breathed life into the prayer that we're going to 241 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,960 read aspects of. So Scripture, then the Bible is 242 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,720 God's voice to US. Prayer is our response, our 243 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:57,760 conversation with him. So tonight, if your prayers feel 244 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:04,440 dry or repetitive, you know, often it's because you're not 245 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,960 feeding on the Bible and understand that prayer without 246 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,840 Scripture is, is like a body without bones. 247 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,240 There's no substance. It's it's flimsy and 248 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,280 directionless. So if you're struggling tonight 249 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,240 with I don't know what to pray. I don't know how to pray. 250 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,200 It seems pointless, even like words just bouncing off the 251 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,320 ceiling or I always just seem to say the same thing. 252 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:29,160 Can I encourage you to read the Bible? 253 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:33,080 See, I sound like a broken record from the pulpit here as 254 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:35,720 we've been going through Nehemiah, but it is so much 255 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,920 about God's word. Read the Bible study, meditate, 256 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:42,320 be in it and pray and and ask the Holy Spirit to bring to 257 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,760 attention things to pray about as a consequence of reading and 258 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:49,160 giving thanks unto God for you know, revelations of who he is 259 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,600 and you know confession comes out of it and and intercession 260 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,520 and adoration unto him. You know the point of Scripture 261 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:57,600 is not information but transformation. 262 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:04,000 It's about us finding our hearts being so in line with God all 263 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,520 the more, you know, this way when we allow God to initiate 264 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:11,640 through his word and say, OK, I'm going to spend a time God 265 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,840 now with you in prayer. I've got the Bible open. 266 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:19,600 Speak to me from that. And then you respond, you know 267 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,520 what happens? You'll pray according to God's 268 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,400 will. Then it's a bit hard to pray 269 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:27,760 according to your will when the Bible is in front of you 270 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:30,960 declaring what God's will is. It's like, oh, that's different 271 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:32,920 to how I've been praying. So I need to pray that. 272 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,160 And you know what happens when you pray with the Bible, with 273 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,040 God speaking to you through that, you never run out of stuff 274 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,120 to pray for. If you struggle with prayer 275 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:47,560 tonight, it's likely that you're not getting enough scripture. 276 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:50,240 And may I encourage you to do that. 277 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:54,920 Maybe set aside time this week. Be in God's Word may bring about 278 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:59,000 a revival in your prayer life. Read a Psalm, pray it back to 279 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,720 God. Ephesians chapter 1 comes to 280 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,359 mind where it's this wonderful revelation of your identity now 281 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,760 in God. And thank the Lord for that. 282 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,319 Don't just pray your needs. Let the Bible shape your praise 283 00:17:13,319 --> 00:17:18,560 unto him and direct your your confession and your request as a 284 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,079 consequence. So that's first of all, I want I 285 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:25,280 want us to see that the prayer that we're about to read parts 286 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:31,800 of is soaked in Scripture has has the backbone of the Bible to 287 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,440 it. And so secondly, now the God 288 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,280 would gaze of prayer, true prayer must have a God would 289 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,840 gaze a focus on him. It's centred on who God is, not 290 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,840 just what we want. He's not like a a celestial 291 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,880 genie in the bottle or a Father Christmas up there that we give 292 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,200 out our wish list and ask him to grant. 293 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,200 Verse five and six set the tone for it and the Levites, Jeshua 294 00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:01,640 Cadmium, Barney Hashabniya, Shiribaya, Padaija, Shibaniya 295 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:06,280 and Pathaya said stand up and bless the Lord your God forever 296 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,560 and ever. Blessed be your glorious name, 297 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,640 which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 298 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:17,760 You alone are the Lord. You have made heaven, the heaven 299 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,400 of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, 300 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,600 the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. 301 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:31,320 The host of heaven worships you. Notice this out of those verses 302 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,280 and what we see in subsequent ones to come. 303 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,080 God is the hero of this prayer. It starts with God. 304 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,800 They know who they are praying to. 305 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,960 The word you referring to God appears over 50 times in this 306 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,720 prayer. They rehearse his attributes, 307 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,280 Creator God verse 6, that he's covenant maker with Abraham, 308 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,600 verse 7 and 8 Deliverer of the people of Israel out of Egypt 309 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,760 verses 9 to 11. Their provider in the wilderness 310 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:07,720 verses 12 to 1519 through to 21. That he's the Conqueror of their 311 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:11,720 enemies, verses 22 to 25. That he's been their patient 312 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:16,400 judge verses 26 to 30. And that even in correction of 313 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,120 his people, he has been good and just and right. 314 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:25,440 In verses 27 and 28, they echo Exodus 34, where God reveals 315 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:30,640 himself as gracious, forgiving, merciful, slow to anger, 316 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,520 abounding in steadfast love. All of this is evident in their 317 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:36,720 prayer. You know, this isn't 318 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:40,200 speculation. It's revelation in their prayer. 319 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:46,040 And that's important because in a world and in the day and times 320 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:51,880 in which we live, where people speak of a higher power or the 321 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:57,360 man upstairs, that these people knew exactly who it was that 322 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,720 they were praying to. Sounds obvious. 323 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,440 To make that point, you know that you need to know who you're 324 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,160 praying to. We live in a day where where 325 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,680 people, when they talk about prayer, and I'm a spiritual 326 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:13,840 person. Have you heard some of these 327 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:17,560 terms revealed? You know the big kahuna? 328 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:26,000 The dude up there, New Ages Speaking of, you know, the 329 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:33,760 universe, Surfers da Huey. And some might argue, well, does 330 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:35,440 it matter? You know that. 331 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,080 And when you pray that you're not really specific on who it is 332 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:40,720 you're praying to. Absolutely it does. 333 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:46,520 Let me give you an example. Try ringing just any random 334 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:52,200 phone number up dial a random number on your mobile and you 335 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:54,320 know, someone answers it and just say this. 336 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,520 Yeah, Hi. I'm, I'm struggling with lust. 337 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:03,280 I always I always eat too much. I'm not sure if I I'm I'm 338 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,040 needing wisdom. Should I take this job? 339 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,720 I you know, I feel like I I can't find my keys. 340 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:11,520 I need some help with that. How are you doing? 341 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,200 The person, the person would, yeah, give you a few little 342 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:16,840 choice words back, no doubt, wouldn't they? 343 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,760 I don't know you. We don't have a relationship. 344 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,800 It's a total stranger. It's pretty important who it is 345 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,480 that you speak to, right, That you know who it is. 346 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:30,120 So the world will speculate and philosophise and postulate. 347 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:33,720 But but we have his revelation in his Word. 348 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,320 That's why the Bible is the backbone of our prayer. 349 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:42,080 And then that when we now pray that God is our focus, that we 350 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:46,120 understand who it is that we have the privilege of addressing 351 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:50,200 and speaking to and praying back to Nehemiah 9 they go from 352 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,640 creation and they move to covenant history. 353 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,400 They trace the storyline of of God at work and his people 354 00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,880 specifically as as he is the hero that God chose Abram verse 355 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:02,960 7. You are the Lord God who chose 356 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,600 Abram brought him out of air of the Chaldeans gave him the name 357 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,800 Abraham. God saw their affliction in 358 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,880 Egypt verse 9. You saw the affliction of our 359 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,360 fathers in Egypt and heard their cry by the Red Sea. 360 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:21,800 They pray that God divided the sea in verse 11. 361 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,680 You divided the sea before them so that they went through the 362 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,080 midst of the sea on the dry land and and their persecutors. 363 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:34,160 You threw into the deep that God provided, and gave His law to 364 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,040 them. In verse 13 you came down also 365 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,720 Mount Sinai, spoke with them from heaven, gave them just 366 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,640 ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments. 367 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,040 Verse 15. You gave them bread from heaven 368 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,400 for their hunger, and brought them water out of the rock for 369 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,000 their thirst, and told them to go in to possess the land which 370 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:59,440 you had sworn to give them, and then how it was that He had LED 371 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:04,800 them by cloud and fire. Verse 19 You, yeah, in your 372 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,000 manifold mercies, you did not forsake them in the wilderness. 373 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:11,880 The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day to lead 374 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,640 them on the road, nor the pillar of fire by night to show them 375 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:16,960 light and the way they should go. 376 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:19,400 And how it was. I love this. 377 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:22,320 Verse 21, that he had sustained them 40 years. 378 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:23,880 You sustained them in the wilderness. 379 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,800 They lack nothing. Their clothes did not wear out 380 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:31,640 and their feet did not swell. That's amazing, God's miraculous 381 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,800 provision and care for his people, and they remember that 382 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,520 in this prayer. And so this isn't just 383 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:40,160 nostalgia. Oh, that was wonderful. 384 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,280 That was nice for our people. This is theological remembering 385 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,840 that's taking place here over and over. 386 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,920 There's this refrain that emerges as you read through the 387 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,280 prayer of here's what the people were like. 388 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,320 They were rebellious, but you were merciful. 389 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:56,320 Here's what the people were like. 390 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,120 They were stubborn, but God, you were patient. 391 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:00,680 Here's what the people were like. 392 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,200 They sinned, but you didn't forsake them. 393 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,840 So I want us to notice something profound that they're not 394 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:12,240 minimising their history as a people of having been unfaithful 395 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,360 in their relationship to God in their prayer, but they're 396 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:17,880 magnifying who God is and God's mercy in that. 397 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:24,080 That's what we need to do. When we pray, we don't minimise 398 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,960 our confession of sin that inevitably comes out of our 399 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,040 reading of God's word when we pray. 400 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:31,000 God, I've done a few wrong things. 401 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,920 No, we're, we're strong on on our declaration of agreement 402 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,400 with that in confession under God, but we remember who he is. 403 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,840 But God, you've said that you are merciful, that your mercy is 404 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:43,880 in you every morning and oh, I need that. 405 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:45,920 Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your love. 406 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,000 And yet verse 31 in your great mercies, you did not make an end 407 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,560 of them. God corrected them, yes, but he 408 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:55,600 never abandoned them. And that's part of their prayer. 409 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,920 So in in looking at those verses and in considering this prayer 410 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,920 and this point of a God would focus when you pray when when I 411 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,520 pray, when we pray. Do you understand and grasp who 412 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:09,120 it is that we have the privilege that we get to pray to? 413 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:13,040 Do you know God's attributes, his characteristics? 414 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,960 Is there a God would gaze to your prayers and knowing that 415 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:19,960 that that prayer isn't manipulation. 416 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,920 It's not about chanting and and saying a few things to twist 417 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,320 God's arm to have it, you know, bend towards what you want know 418 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,200 it's adoration of a father who loves us. 419 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,120 Do you feel the heart here in in reading through these verses 420 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,080 that in their distress, you know what's happening. 421 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:44,920 Focusing on God breathes and brings hope into their prayer. 422 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,520 That's a wonderful thing that's taking place here in this prayer 423 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,440 as you read through it, that amid the suffering and and the 424 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:54,040 sin, the recollection of that and the pain, their exaltation 425 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,640 of, of God is great and of might of him being mighty and awesome, 426 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,640 that that hope is coming to these people as they pray. 427 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:07,560 You know, when life crushes you, gazing on the character, the 428 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:12,120 attributes of God breathes hope back into you. 429 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:18,160 It lifts your soul so from this, if God is is stirring up within 430 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,840 you a desire to pray more to see revival in your life. 431 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:27,560 Make your prayers God centred. Start with praise Lord, You're 432 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:29,880 the the creator of the heavens and the earth. 433 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,640 You spoke and the world came into being. 434 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:38,280 You sustain everything. Thank you for sustaining me in 435 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:41,040 your family devotions in your personal time list his 436 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:43,880 attributes from scripture. Get to know those 437 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,880 characteristics of of who it is that that God has revealed 438 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,120 himself as layer after layer after layer of revelation is in 439 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:53,560 God's word about this is who I am. 440 00:26:53,840 --> 00:27:00,520 He says to us in his word in our me focused prayers. 441 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,200 May they always reorient back to who God is. 442 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,160 And we'll pray and, and we're desperate for for God to work in 443 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,280 our lives and certain things and our feelings and our emotions 444 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,000 are a part of our makeup. I'm not saying abandoning that 445 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,520 altogether. But shift your gaze upward to 446 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:20,680 who God is. You know why? 447 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,560 Because your view of God determines your view of 448 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:27,440 everything else. If God is small, then your sin 449 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:32,200 will feel manageable. If God is distant, then 450 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:37,040 repentance is optional. If God is weightless, as one 451 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,560 theologian described modern Christianity's understanding of 452 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:45,120 God, then worship becomes casual and confession unnecessary. 453 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:47,240 That's the danger in the modern world. 454 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:54,600 But when God is seen as eternal self existent, covenant keeping 455 00:27:54,600 --> 00:28:00,360 of majestic of worshipped by the host of heaven, then we tremble 456 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:06,320 and we worship and our prayers take on an altogether different 457 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:11,240 tone. Your revival never begins with 458 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,600 self analysis, it begins with God exaltation. 459 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,800 If you want God to do a work in your heart and your life, may I 460 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,120 encourage you to get to know who God is more. 461 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:28,120 And may that be then the focus that orients your prayer to the 462 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:32,240 very throne room of God. Lastly, as we see in their 463 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,320 prayer, and we'll cover a little bit more territory in this is 464 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:37,640 the repentant response of their prayer. 465 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:41,640 True prayer does lead to repentance as a response. 466 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,800 You know, it's honest about sin, turns our hearts back to God. 467 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:54,800 Verse 16 and 17 capture this. But they and our fathers acted 468 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:59,240 proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed your 469 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,560 commandments. They, verse 17 refused to obey, 470 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:08,120 and they were not mindful of your wonders that you did among 471 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,080 them. But they hardened their necks, 472 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:14,840 and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to 473 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,000 their bondage. But you are God. 474 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:26,680 You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to 475 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:32,000 anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them and their 476 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,560 arrogance and rebellion. As this prayer proceeds to 477 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:38,080 catalogue sins comes out in subsequent verses through into 478 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:42,040 18. If you jump ahead to verse 26 to 479 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:46,360 30, you'll see more and more of their confession and their 480 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,080 revelation, their understanding and and they own it corporately. 481 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,800 And this is their fathers, their ancestors before them that have 482 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:59,080 committed these sins, but they own it by saying in verse 33, we 483 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:04,480 have done wickedly. And they confess the sin cycle 484 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,120 of oppression, of a crying out for God's help, of deliverance 485 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,040 coming as God would do that, and of the rest that he would 486 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,200 supply. And then them forsaking God and 487 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,320 rebellion. And then that repeat process 488 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,880 happening again and again, verse 26 to 30. 489 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,800 And yet God's mercy comes through verse 30, verse 31. 490 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,680 And what we see in these verses and throughout these prayers is 491 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,640 what's called the doctrine of the total depravity of man. 492 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,160 Have you heard that terminology? Maybe you've studied some 493 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,080 systematic theology. It's, it's such a core tenet of 494 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,280 what we believe. And it's the total depravity of 495 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:44,280 mankind that is on display here personally and collectively in 496 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,480 their prayer. And they use some very brutal 497 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:51,880 terms about the sin of the past. And they own that as part of 498 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,320 their confession unto the Lord. They use terms like 499 00:30:55,480 --> 00:31:01,880 presumptuous, stiff necked, ungrateful, disobedient, wicked. 500 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:08,760 Verses 16, verse 26, verse 33. How many of us would describe 501 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:10,880 ourselves in the terms that they use here? 502 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:17,520 You know, imagine a job interview or on your social 503 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:24,440 media page bio, or if you're in the the dating arena, a service 504 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:25,920 app. When you put your profile up, 505 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:31,160 tell me about yourself. Well, yes, you'll find me 506 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:36,520 presumptuous, stiff necked, ungrateful, forgetful, 507 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,600 blasphemous, needy, incapable, lazy, idolatrous, disobedient, 508 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,760 rebellious, stubborn, wicked, sinful, and totally stressed out 509 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,800 because of my wicked life. Do I get the job? 510 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:55,040 Do you want to go out? But we wouldn't use those words, 511 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:59,520 would we? We need to, not in that sense, 512 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:04,760 but understanding that we are sinners in light of the holy, 513 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:08,280 righteous God. And the Bible tells us that all 514 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,040 have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 515 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:13,080 There is none righteous. No, not one. 516 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,600 And so then repentance that's coming through in this prayer as 517 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:22,080 we're reading it and seeing it isn't just confession agreeing 518 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,080 that it's sin. Yes, it was wrong and shouldn't 519 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:28,240 have happened or we didn't do what we should have done, but 520 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:37,400 it's a turning away. It's a 180° turn from sin unto 521 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,640 God. Show me your ways that I might 522 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,760 follow you. That's evident here in their 523 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,280 prayer and in their acts of contrition afterwards that we 524 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:48,200 won't get to tonight. But at the end of Chapter 9 and 525 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:52,360 into chapter 10, they make an agreement, a covenant before 526 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:54,800 God. Interestingly, we'll see in a 527 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,120 number of chapters. They break it pretty quickly. 528 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:05,560 But we need to feel and see the the weight of this, that our sin 529 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:13,400 grieves a holy righteous God. That it is so serious that it 530 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:19,520 caused him to offer up the greatest of sacrifices and for 531 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,560 Jesus to willingly come and die upon the cross, to pay the 532 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:28,000 penalty for sin in its fullness and its entirety once and for 533 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,360 all. Yes, our sin grieves our holy 534 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:33,880 God, but I understand. And we need to make this come 535 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:37,480 through. But His grace overwhelms but 536 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,520 God. But God comes through in this. 537 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:48,200 So Nehemiah 9's longest prayer. Interestingly, Ezra Chapter 9 538 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,880 has a wonderful prayer. Daniel Chapter 9 has a wonderful 539 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:52,960 prayer. So there's a couple of 540 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,000 scriptures there that you know, if you're looking for OK prayers 541 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:57,960 to model Nehemiah 9, great prayer. 542 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,600 But have a look at those other prayers that I mentioned. 543 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:05,000 But Nehemiah's prayer here indicates the need for a 544 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,199 biblical backbone. Then our prayers need to have 545 00:34:08,199 --> 00:34:11,239 substance that comes out of God's word because it's through 546 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:15,480 God's Word that conversation is initiated, that revelation of 547 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,719 who God is to us and we respond to that. 548 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,719 And then that that helps our prayer then be directed to God 549 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,880 in a God would focus and gaze that we're not just throwing 550 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,480 words out there as as a positive self confession and just hoping 551 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:32,800 that that heals or that helps in the moment. 552 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,080 But you know, we are addressing the God of gods, the Lord of 553 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,880 Lords, the King of kings, that he sits on the throne, that he 554 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,639 is sovereign, that he rules justly and mightily. 555 00:34:41,639 --> 00:34:44,679 And that is who we have the privilege of being, as Hebrews 556 00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:49,120 tells us, able to enter boldly into the very throne room of God 557 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:51,600 and obtain grace and help in time of need. 558 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:56,719 As we do that, you know, there'll be repentant responses 559 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:01,320 coming out in our prayers as we get a more, you know, a more 560 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,400 real understanding of who we are in light of who God is. 561 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,400 As the chapter ends, jump ahead to verse 37. 562 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:14,080 And it yields much increase to the kings you have set over us 563 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,480 because of our sins. Also they have dominion over our 564 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:19,120 bodies and our cattle at their pleasure. 565 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,120 And we are in great distress. They were ruled under the 566 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:26,400 governance of the the Persian Empire at this point in time. 567 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,720 And so in their prayer, the conclusion is God, we're we're 568 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:36,320 still trapped in this distress. And this situation here, they 569 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,120 don't hide their current condition that even though the 570 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,080 wall is rebuilt in Jerusalem, they're still under Persian rule 571 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:48,360 and they're not fully free. External reform is occurring, 572 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,080 but internal renewal is still needed. 573 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,560 So then, as I mentioned verse 38, they make a binding 574 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,840 covenant. It's personal, it's practical, 575 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:02,880 it's public, and they move from emotion to commitment in that. 576 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,640 And we'll get to that next time as we look at Nehemiah 10. 577 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,240 But effectively the people repent here. 578 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,600 They recommit to lives living God's ways and following him. 579 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:17,720 But as I said, if you read ahead through Nehemiah, there's 13 580 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:20,440 chapters. We'll see that it's not long 581 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:23,640 that Nehemiah has to deal with some things where this cycle 582 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:25,440 that they're praying about resurfaces. 583 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:32,080 And you see the problem in Jerusalem here with the people 584 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,720 of Israel and the problem in our lives. 585 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,760 It's deeper than walls. It's deeper than vowels. 586 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,160 They can make all the promises that they want. 587 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:45,400 They needed more than renewed promises. 588 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,360 You know what they needed? A Redeemer. 589 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:55,600 Mankind. Throughout the Old Testament, 590 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,480 the best of us, we fail, we fall. 591 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:00,800 That's the story of the Old Testament. 592 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:02,800 Adam and Eve blew it in the garden. 593 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:09,040 The patriarchs blew it. The judges blew it. 594 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:14,120 The kings blew it. Everything in the Old Testament 595 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:19,800 points to what we have in Matthew, in the Gospel, the need 596 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,960 for a Saviour, the need for Jesus Christ. 597 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:28,200 And so this chapter cries out for Jesus, the true and better 598 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:32,200 covenant keeper, the faithful Israelite who never rebelled, 599 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,240 the greater Moses who intercedes, the greater 600 00:37:36,240 --> 00:37:39,160 deliverer who does not just rescue from enemies, but from 601 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:42,760 sin itself. Where they said in this prayer, 602 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:46,080 we have acted wickedly, Jesus said, Father, forgive them. 603 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:50,680 Where they stood in distress, Christ bore the ultimate exile 604 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:55,120 on the cross. So Nehemiah teaches us, shows us 605 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:59,640 models for us how to pray, but the gospel gives us the answer 606 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:02,640 to that prayer. Isn't that awesome? 607 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:08,000 So wonderful Hebrews tells us that we have a great high 608 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,360 priest. It's Jesus who sympathises with 609 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:15,560 our weakness. And so when we pray now, we pray 610 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:18,680 not drawing near to a distant sovereign, but to the throne of 611 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:23,720 grace. So I hope that tonight you're 612 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:27,040 encouraged to see God clearly enlarge your vision of His 613 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:34,000 greatness, to remember his mercy, trace his faithfulness in 614 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:41,640 your own history, repent honestly, and run to Christ, not 615 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:46,760 merely to reform, but to be renewed by the power that He 616 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:51,200 promises. Nehemiah Chapter 9 is, is God's 617 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:56,040 people broken by the Word, awed by His greatness, overwhelmed by 618 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:58,840 His mercy, and turning from sin to walk in covenant 619 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,280 faithfulness? So the prayer of Nehemiah 9 620 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:05,840 shows us the pathway that leads us to Christ. 621 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:10,000 Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your 622 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,800 wonderful word tonight. Thank you for your people 623 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:17,280 gathered here, hungry and desperate to know more of you. 624 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:23,200 Please continue to stir up in our hearts a passion for Your 625 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:26,800 name. May we be people of the Word. 626 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:34,960 May that flow on out to prayers that are soaked in Scripture as 627 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:40,880 we focus upon who you are and what you have done, what you 628 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,560 were doing, and what you have promised to fulfil. 629 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,560 Lord God, may you bless each person gathered here tonight. 630 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,640 May they know your peace in their hearts and in their lives. 631 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:57,440 May we be disciples and followers of you. 632 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:05,600 Use us for your glory to accomplish great things in your 633 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:09,440 mighty name, that you may be honoured, that you may be 634 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:11,160 worshipped, that you may be glorified. 635 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:15,240 These things we pray in Jesus name, Amen.