Lessons on Spiritual Discipline from Nehemiah

Last fall our young ladies’ group did a Bible study through the book of Nehemiah. I was really excited to study this book as I’ve always loved the story of Nehemiah. I also have been praying for revival in America for many years, so this book, that chronicles a time of revival in Israel, felt fitting. But as I studied Nehemiah, I found that there was so much more to the book than just revival. Yes, I did learn about revival from this book as I expected, but I also learned so many amazing truths from this book that surprised me—truths about spiritual disciplines.

In the book of Nehemiah, we see a man who is constantly in prayer with the Lord. He is a living example of what it means to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). He’s going about his day talking to the Lord:

He hears about the state of Jerusalem and prays (Neh. 1:4).

He gets an opportunity to bring his requests to the king and he prays (Neh. 2:4).

He hears that the enemies of Judah are conspiring against them and he prays (Neh. 4:9).

Nehemiah is in constant communication with the Lord, and he is listening to what the Lord puts on his heart. He is an incredible example of a man of prayer.

Throughout Christian history, prayer is what leads to revivals happening, and that is exactly what we see happen in the book of Nehemiah. Through the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, Israel walks through a time of revival.

Nehemiah also knew the word of God. Nehemiah is described as a man full of discernment, and this discernment came from being a man of the word. He knew the promises of God and he stood on those promises, even when false teachers tried to tell him differently.

This is such an important reminder to be in the Word. It’s easy to be sort of in the Word, like reading lots of good Christian books while neglecting to get into Scripture itself. I’m not against Christian literature by any means; it’s an amazing gift from God to have teachers of the Word who have written books to help us grow in our faith, but those books must never replace our time in the Word of God. In the same way, worship music is a wonderful part of our Christian walk, but it does not replace time in the Scriptures.

I recently heard a quote from Sinclair Ferguson where he said that if we believe in Jesus without actually getting into the word we’re believing in the Jesus of our own making and not the real Jesus.¹ And if we’re believing in a Jesus of our own making, it is an idol. Again, it’s when we get into the Word of God consistently that we’re able to have a spirit of discernment like Nehemiah. He was able to discern when the false prophets were trying to lead him astray because he knew God’s promises.

In today’s world, a lot of people will try and tell you messages from God, but not every message from God will truly be from the Lord; there are a lot of false teachers who will speak what they want to hear from God rather than God’s actual truth (see 2 Tim. 4:3). It’s important to know God’s Word for ourselves so that we can have discernment for all the voices that come our way.

Nehemiah also encouraged the people of God to be in the Word. We find this scene where the people are standing to hear the Word, and it’s incredible:

And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Nehemiah 8:1-3 (NASB95)

The people of Israel stood for the reading of the word from early morning to midday. That’s incredible and proper reverence for the Word of God. (How many of us get stir crazy after a one hour church service? Anyone else feeling any conviction, or just me?) Hearing the Word pierced the hearts of the people so that they were brought to repentance.

Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:9-10

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. Nehemiah 9:1-3

We see in Nehemiah this progression of revival: it started with prayer and Ezra and Nehemiah being willing to do what the Lord had called them to do, then the people hearing the Word of God, and then the reading of the Word leading to repentance. The people heard the righteousness of God and His standards and realized how far short they’d fallen from God’s standards and repented before the Lord.

If we desire revival to happen in our day and age, it’s not going to happen apart from prayer and the Word, because it is the hearing of the Word that brings true repentance. We need to be washed with the pure water of the Word (Eph. 5:26) and to have our minds sprinkled clean from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22).

Nehemiah is a picture of profound leadership; he’s humble but confident in what he believes. He takes full advantage of the position and responsibility that the Lord has blessed him with as a cupbearer to the king. He’s unafraid of taking leadership. We may not all be called to leadership at a national level, but we are all called to be leaders in some capacity because we all have someone who is looking up to us. We all have someone that we are influencing by our behaviors and actions. Are we leading with humility and confidence in who our God is? Are we leading with payer and the Word? Are we being guided by the Word?

Nehemiah had all these surrounding nations trying to intimidate him out of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but he listened to God and persevered despite the intimidation. And through his leadership and wisdom the wall was rebuilt. It’s important, like Nehemiah, to be able to stand when opposition comes our way.

I absolutely loved studying Nehemiah. It was very convicting to me of the importance of spiritual disciplines in the life of believers and especially for those in leadership positions. As someone working in ministry, it’s surprisingly easy to neglect spiritual disciplines because my work often revolves around Bible-y things. But it can be so easy to get caught up in all of the doing that I’m not building my relationship with the Lord. But it’s evident in Nehemiah’s life that he had a personal relationship with the Lord that fueled his ministry. I need to fuel my leadership in ministry with spiritual disciplines, too. And, who knows, maybe those spiritual disciplines will lead to revival, just like in Nehemiah’s day.

With love,

Kelsey