In this episode of Pray the Word on Nehemiah 9:3, David Platt cries out to God to provide spiritual awakening, like what we read about here in Nehemiah 9.
“And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of it, they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.”
-Nehemiah 9:3
Did you catch that? A quarter of the day. We don’t know exactly how many hours that would be referring to, so an exact quarter obviously would be six hours. Maybe it’s counting just sunlight or the time when they would be awake. But the picture is definitely hours. Just reading from the book of the law of the Lord their God. Just hearing from God, for hours. And then another quarter of it, so more hours confessing sin, and worshiping. When you put it together, half the day, in listening to God’s word and confessing sin and worshiping God.
God, we pray to make us a people who are spending hours, just listening to your word and hours, confessing our sin, and worshiping before you.
Nehemiah 9:3 Calls Us to Seek God in Word and Prayer
Like when was the last time you did this? You, individually or you as a part of your church, like spend half of a day just reading God’s word together and then crying out in confession of sin, and worship? This is so rare. Among us, some of us have never experienced that. I think about this Friday night, our church family is going to gather for all-night prayer, from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and just seeking God with his word in prayer and in worship and in confession. And I’ll be the first to admit that until just a couple of years ago, I had never done that.
Help Us to Be Serious About Seeking God
In about 40 years in the church, I had never done that. God, help us. Help us to be serious about seeking you, to be serious about hearing from your word, to be serious about confession of sin in our lives. God, we pray for a spirit of repentance among us, in each of our lives and in the churches we’re a part of. God, we pray that Nehemiah nine, three would be normal among your people today.
Nehemiah 9:3 Reminds Us that We Need Spiritual Awakening
God, it feels so abnormal, it feels so distant from us. Many of us who’ve been followers of Jesus for decades have not experienced some of these things we see in your word and God, we want to experience all of you, we want to experience all that you have for us. So, God, we pray that you would help us individually to set aside time like this.
Hours, just with us and your word. Hours in confession and worship. And then to do that in our churches together, that would not be just kind of in and out on Sundays. And that’s what church looks like for us. God, may it not be so. God, we pray to make us a people who are spending hours, just listening to your word and hours, confessing our sin, and worshiping before you.
Help Us to Experience Spiritual Awakening
God, we need spiritual awakening, like what we read about here in Nehemiah chapter nine. Please cause us, teach us, lead us to worship and confess sin and read your word like this. We pray for this in our day and in our lives and our churches. In Jesus’ name we pray, according to Nehemiah chapter nine, and verse three. Amen.
View the 2022 McLean Bible Church Reading Plan.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
