Compassion and Prayer: The Path to Revival
Summary
In the opening of Matthew 9, Jesus is moved with compassion for the crowds, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd. This same compassion is at the heart of Nehemiah’s story, which begins not with action, but with a burden—a deep, personal ache for the brokenness of his people and his city. Nehemiah was not a priest or prophet, but a cupbearer, an ordinary man in a trusted but unremarkable position. Yet, when he heard of Jerusalem’s devastation, his heart broke. He wept, fasted, and prayed for days, confessing not only the sins of his people but his own. Before any wall was rebuilt, God began a work of spiritual restoration in Nehemiah’s heart.
True revival always starts with a burden born from compassion. It is not about strategies or grand plans, but about allowing God to break our hearts for what breaks His. When we are moved by the pain, injustice, and brokenness around us, we are positioned for God to work through us. Nehemiah’s first response was prayer—urgent, honest, and repentant. He reminded God of His promises, not because God needed reminding, but because Nehemiah needed to anchor himself in God’s faithfulness.
Prayer is the first step in any work of renewal. It is through prayer that we align our hearts with God’s will, confess our stubbornness, and surrender our own agendas. Revival does not begin with pointing fingers or devising solutions, but with bending our knees and seeking God’s direction. God uses ordinary, available people—those who say, “Here am I, send me”—to do extraordinary things. Nehemiah’s story is a reminder that God is not looking for spiritual giants, but for open hearts and willing hands.
God may call us to unexpected places and tasks, often far from our comfort zones. The key is availability and obedience, trusting that God will work in and through us for His good pleasure. Each of us is invited to examine what burdens our hearts—what injustice, pain, or brokenness God has allowed us to see. These burdens may be the seeds of God’s calling in our lives. The journey begins with repentance, surrender, and prayer, trusting that God will rebuild and restore, both in us and through us.
Key Takeaways
- Compassion is the birthplace of revival. Nehemiah’s journey began when he allowed his heart to be broken by the suffering of his people, mirroring the compassion of Christ for the lost and harassed crowds. True spiritual renewal starts not with action, but with a willingness to feel deeply and let God’s concerns become our own. [04:27]
- Prayer is the essential first step in any work of God. Nehemiah responded to crisis not with immediate plans, but with fasting, confession, and persistent prayer. Revival and restoration are birthed in the secret place, where we surrender our stubbornness and seek God’s direction before moving forward. [18:05]
- God uses ordinary people who are available and obedient. Nehemiah was a cupbearer, not a spiritual leader, yet God chose him because his heart was open and willing. Our greatest ability is our availability; when we say “yes” to God, He can use us in ways we never imagined, often in places we never expected. [26:21]
- Surrender is the pathway to God’s power. We often try to do things in our own strength, but true effectiveness comes when we surrender all—our plans, our comfort, our pride—to God. In our weakness and humility, God’s strength is made perfect, and He works in us to accomplish His good pleasure. [16:36]
- The burdens we carry may be God’s invitation to join His work. The pain, injustice, or brokenness that stirs our hearts is often the beginning of God’s calling. Rather than dismissing these burdens, we are invited to pray, repent, and offer ourselves to God, trusting that He will use us to bring healing and hope. [31:44]
Youtube Chapters
[00:00] - Welcome
[00:28] - Jesus’ Compassion and the Call to Labor
[01:12] - Introducing Nehemiah: Brick by Brick
[02:25] - Historical Setting of Nehemiah
[03:19] - Nehemiah’s Role as Cupbearer
[04:27] - Nehemiah’s Heartbreak and Spiritual Burden
[05:54] - Nostalgia and the State of Jerusalem
[07:41] - Nehemiah’s Response: Weeping and Prayer
[09:38] - God’s Faithfulness and Israel’s Cycle
[10:24] - Building a Heart Ready for God
[11:11] - Compassion: Letting God Break Our Hearts
[14:15] - The Burden of Revival
[15:09] - God Works in Us Before He Works Through Us
[16:36] - Surrendering All to God
[17:50] - Prayer: The First Step to Revival
[20:00] - Seeking God’s Direction, Not Our Own
[22:03] - Anchoring in God’s Promises
[24:12] - God Uses Ordinary People
[26:21] - The Power of Availability
[28:05] - Following God to Unexpected Places
[30:34] - Examining Our Burdens
[32:19] - Responding to God’s Call
[34:36] - Invitation to Prayer and Surrender
[36:24] - Closing Prayer and Blessing
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide: Nehemiah 1 & Matthew 9
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### Bible Reading
- Nehemiah 1:1-11
- Matthew 9:35-38
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### Observation Questions
1. In Nehemiah 1, what was Nehemiah’s initial reaction when he heard about the condition of Jerusalem and its people? ([05:12])
2. According to Matthew 9:36, how did Jesus feel when He saw the crowds, and what reason is given for His response? ([00:46])
3. What specific actions did Nehemiah take after hearing the bad news about Jerusalem? ([07:41])
4. In Nehemiah’s prayer (Nehemiah 1:5-11), what did he confess, and what did he remind God of? ([08:14])
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### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think Nehemiah’s response to the news about Jerusalem began with weeping, fasting, and prayer instead of immediate action? ([04:27])
2. The sermon says, “True revival always starts with a burden born from compassion.” How does Nehemiah’s story illustrate this truth? ([14:15])
3. In Matthew 9, Jesus describes the crowds as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” What does this reveal about Jesus’ heart, and how does it connect to Nehemiah’s burden? ([00:46])
4. The sermon mentions that Nehemiah was an ordinary man, not a priest or prophet. Why is it significant that God used someone like Nehemiah for such an important task? ([26:21])
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### Application Questions
1. The sermon challenges us to let our hearts be broken by what breaks God’s heart. Is there a specific injustice, pain, or brokenness in your community or world that burdens you? How have you responded to it so far? ([31:44])
2. Nehemiah’s first response was prayer—urgent, honest, and repentant. When you face a problem or see brokenness, what is usually your first response? How might you make prayer your starting point instead? ([18:05])
3. The pastor said, “Our greatest ability is our availability.” Are there areas in your life where you have been unavailable to God? What would it look like to say, “Here am I, send me,” even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone? ([26:21])
4. Nehemiah confessed not only the sins of his people but also his own. Is there anything in your life you need to confess or surrender to God before He can work through you? ([22:03])
5. The sermon talked about surrendering “all” to God, not just part. What is one area of your life—plans, comfort, pride, or something else—that you find hard to surrender? What step could you take this week to give that area to God? ([16:36])
6. The burdens we carry may be God’s invitation to join His work. Think about a burden you have carried for a while. How could you begin to pray about it and ask God if He is calling you to act? ([31:44])
7. The pastor shared stories of God leading him to unexpected places. Has God ever called you to do something unexpected or uncomfortable? How did you respond, and what did you learn from that experience? ([28:05])
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Closing Prayer Suggestion:
Invite the group to pray for open hearts, willingness to be used by God, and courage to respond to the burdens He places on their hearts. Encourage honest confession and surrender, just as Nehemiah modeled.
Devotional
Day 1: Compassion Begins with a Broken Heart
True revival starts when our hearts are broken by the things that break God's heart. Nehemiah's first response to the news of Jerusalem's devastation was not to leap into action, but to sit down, weep, mourn, fast, and pray for days. He allowed himself to feel the pain and vulnerability of his people, letting God shape his compassion into a holy burden. When we open ourselves to the suffering and injustice around us, God can use that brokenness to move us toward His purposes. Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His, so that your compassion leads to action and prayer. [07:41]
Nehemiah 1:1-4 (ESV)
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Reflection: What is one situation of pain or injustice around you that you have tried to ignore? Will you ask God today to let your heart be broken for it, and to show you how to pray?
Day 2: Prayer is the First Step Toward Revival
Before Nehemiah made any plans or took any action, he turned to God in urgent, honest prayer. He confessed his own sins and the sins of his people, reminded himself of God's promises, and sought God's direction. Revival and restoration always begin with prayer—humbling ourselves, seeking God's will, and aligning our hearts with His. Instead of rushing to fix problems in our own strength, we are called to bend our knees, listen, and let God lead us. Prayer is not just a formality; it is the foundation for everything God wants to do in and through us. [18:05]
Nehemiah 1:5-11 (ESV)
And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Reflection: Where in your life do you tend to act first and pray later? What would it look like to pause and seek God’s direction in prayer before making your next decision?
Day 3: God Uses Ordinary People with Open Hearts
God delights in using ordinary, even broken, people who are simply available and willing. Nehemiah was not a priest, prophet, or warrior—he was a cupbearer, a civil servant with no special spiritual credentials. Yet God chose him to lead a movement of restoration because his heart was open and available. God does not require extraordinary ability, but rather our availability and willingness to say, "Here I am. Send me." When we surrender our plans and make ourselves available, God can do extraordinary things through us, often in ways and places we never expected. [26:41]
Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
Reflection: In what area of your life have you been holding back your availability to God? What is one way you can say “Here I am, send me” this week, even if it feels small?
Day 4: Surrendering All to God’s Will
True spiritual transformation and revival require total surrender to God. It is not enough to give God part of our lives or to serve Him only when it is convenient. Nehemiah’s story and the call of Christ remind us that God works in us and through us when we surrender all—our plans, our comfort, our preferences. Surrender means trusting God to lead us, even to unexpected places or difficult assignments, and believing that He will give us the strength and grace we need. When we surrender all, God’s purposes are accomplished in and through us, and our hearts are aligned with His. [17:05]
Philippians 2:13 (ESV)
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you find yourself resisting God’s leading? What would it look like to surrender that area to Him today?
Day 5: Responding to God’s Burden with Action
When God places a burden on your heart—whether for injustice, pain, or brokenness—He is inviting you to respond, not just with emotion, but with action. Nehemiah’s journey began with a burden, moved through prayer and repentance, and led to courageous steps of faith. God may be stirring something in your heart for your family, your community, or a hurting friend. The call is to pray, confess, and then step forward in obedience, trusting that God will guide and empower you. Your willingness to respond can be the beginning of healing and revival, both in your life and in the lives of others. [32:19]
Micah 6:8 (ESV)
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Reflection: What specific burden has God placed on your heart lately? What is one concrete step you can take this week to respond in obedience and love?
Quotes
Nehemiah was not a priest, a prophet, a warrior. He was the cupbearer to the king. That's a trusted position, but not a spiritual one. Anybody know what a cup bearer is? It's not a guy who holds a cup and goes Exactly. The cup bearer is the guy who holds the king's cup. And when they give the king his cup, Nehemiah takes it and takes a drink of it before he hands it to the king. Why? Poison. People were tricky back in the olden days, back in the BCs. And if they wanted power, the good power was to kill the king. So here's Nehemiah. Every time before the king took a drink, he took one first. [00:03:19]
Before any physical restoration took place, God began a spiritual restoration in Nehemiah. That's where every true revival begins. Not with action, but with burden. If you would open your Bibles or your Bible apps with me to the book of Nehemiah, chapter 1, starting in verse one, it says, "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hackaliah." [00:04:31]
The people there are vulnerable. They're weak. They're tired. They're hungry. The walls are torn down. Do you ever get nostalgic for your hometown? Yeah, a lot of people who are born in Brunswick can tell you how vastly Brunswick has changed in their lifetime. It's always amazing to me to to talk about like talk to Joe Ellen or when Nook was still alive or some or Cindy city or some other Cindy's still alive. [00:05:52]
So here's Nehemiah. He's distraught. He's weeping. He's crying. He's fasting and praying not just for 15, 20 minutes, not for an hour, but for days and days. and he's confessing his sin and the sin of the people of Israel, saying they've been unfaithful and that they understood why they were scattered because they had been unfaithful. [00:09:00]
But if you will repent to me and come back to me and serve me, then I will bring you back together." And much of the Old Testament is this story of God's faithfulness and bringing them together and then their unfaithfulness to God and them being scattered and then them repenting and God bringing them back together. It proves to us time and time again that God is a God who keeps his word. [00:09:31]
This chapter is not at all about building walls. It's about building a heart that's ready to follow God. Nehemiah's job was to stand there by the king when the king was eating, hold his cup. When the king was ready for a drink, he would hand him the cup. The king would drink it. He was there doing his job. And his heart became burdened by what had happened to his hometown. [00:10:24]
Firstly is the burden that is born from compassion. When Nehemiah heard what has happened to the city, the first response was that he wept and he fasted and he prayed. He allowed God to break his heart for what breaks his heart. I used to pray, "Lord, break my heart for the things that break your heart." [00:11:03]
God did not create automatons who were just designed to worship him alone. He gave us free will. And with that free will came the risk of self-condemnation because God made a way for us to be reconciled to him to be with him. But we in our disobedience choose to follow after other things. Money, sex, drugs, alcohol, whatever it is that attracts your attention away from God is disobedience. [00:12:24]
The burden of revival, the burden to be called back to God is born from compassion. God, let me be heartbroken by the things that break your heart. There are things that happen every day that should break our hearts. families torn apart, women, children, uh animals abused. Men can be abused, too. Murder, hatred, all these things that are antithetical to the gospel, break God's heart, and we allow ours to be hardened against them. [00:14:11]
Before God moves through us to serve others to seek others to witness to other people to share with them the good news of gospel God has to work in us I say this almost every week My life's verse is Philippians chapter 2:13. For it is God who works in us and wills in us to do his good pleasure. [00:15:04]
How do I allow God to work in me and will in me to do his good pleasure? I have to surrender myself to him. When I was growing up, one of my favorite hymns was called I surrender all. All to Jesus. I surrender all to him. I freely give. [00:16:24]
When I do that, and when he keeps his word, because his word says that God works in us and wills in us to do his good pleasure, then the burden for things that break God's heart will break my heart. and revival and compassion will be born in me for other people and I will then have a passion to share the good news of God's love with everyone because that's what God has commanded me to do. [00:17:24]
Prayer is a step of us communicating with God and praising him for what he's done, praising for him for what he will do, confessing our sins to him, getting ourselves in right relationship with God. I know you're not going to believe this, but there are sometimes when Christy and I get into a disagreement. [00:18:19]
Revival starts when we stop pointing fingers and start bending our knees. He reminds God of his promises. Not because God needs a reminder. God knows. But because Jeremiah needed to anchor himself in the truth. The Bible tells us that his word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. It is it doesn't contain the truth. It is the truth and we can rely on it. [00:22:25]
God uses ordinary people. God uses broken people. God uses weak people. Bible tells us it is when we are weak that he makes us strong. I cannot do things in and through my own power. It is God who works in me and wills in me to do his good pleasure. God uses ordinary people. And what do they have that allows God to use them? Open hearts, open hands, open minds. [00:25:57]
When we say yes to God, God will take us crazy places and ask us to do crazy things. Another time I surrendered to God to go on a mission trip and ended up in Moscow and Minsk. I actually went to Moscow before I ever visited Washington DC. God will take you crazy places and have you do crazy crazy things. [00:29:28]
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