A New Beginning

Narrator (Male): When life has brought us to our knees, we're in the perfect position to pray. Coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie encourages us.

Greg Laurie: Whatever you're facing right now, whatever walls are falling down in your life, or in the life of your family, you're in your job or with your friends, the first thing to do is go to God and call out to Him. God says in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things that you do not know.”

Music: This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace now sweet the sound. Oh, can you hear, oh, the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when life begins.

Narrator (Male): Ever carry too many grocery bags at once, thinking you can handle it and then, one bag breaks, another slips out of your hands, and everything's on the ground? Well, in life we try to hold it all together, but sometimes it's just too much. Maybe you're facing a crisis, a tragedy, or just feeling overwhelmed. God is there ready to help you pick up the pieces.

Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie finds encouragement from a familiar Old Testament story.

Music: This is the day, the day when life begins.

Greg Laurie: Let's look now at the Book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 1, I'm going to read verses 1-3 as we sort of set the stage, and I'm reading from the New Living Translation.

In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, that's around November, December, in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had arrived from Judah. I asked him about how the Jews were doing who had returned there from captivity and how things were going in Jerusalem.

So we talked about the first wave of the Jews returning under Zerubbabel, then under Ezra. How are they doing now? How are things going? They said to me, "Things are not going well. For those who returned to the province of Judah, they're in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem, that's been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire."

So here's Nehemiah, living in the lap of luxury in his super cushy job, working for the king, and he hears this really bad news. How does he react? Well, he's deeply moved and he realizes, "God put me here for a reason. I can make a difference because I have the ear of the king."

But before he does anything, he prays. Go back to Nehemiah 1, look at verse 4. "When I heard this," Nehemiah says, "I sat down and I wept for four days. I mourned and I fasted and I prayed to the God of Heaven. I said, 'Oh Lord, God of Heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of unfailing love, and those who love Him and obey His commands. Listen to my prayer. Look down and see me praying day and night for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned. We have sinned terribly and not obeyed your commands.'" Wow, what a prayer that is.

It's a lot we can learn about prayer from that prayer. You want your prayers answered? Well, this prayer was answered. So what did he do? Let's see what we can learn together. First, he wept. First, he cared. Have you ever wept over the broken walls in your own life or in your family, or over people you loved, or others who have turned their back on God? So you start there.

But here are some principles from his prayer that we can apply in our prayer. If you're taking notes, here's point number one, he acknowledged the greatness of God. He acknowledged the greatness of God, verse 5, "Oh Lord, God of Heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of unfailing love to those who love Him and obey His commands." Oh, great and awesome God.

When you pray, remember who you're talking to. You're talking to the creator of the universe, the Almighty God. And His riches are unsearchable, and His power is unlimited, and He's literally listening to your prayer right now. So get that in mind because sometimes we come to God with big problems, but we need to realize we come to God who's bigger than our problems.

Number two, Nehemiah reminded God of His promises. He reminds God of the promises that He made. Was that to jog God's memory? Of course not. God doesn't need any help with His memory. But it's to remind himself of what God said. And I love to do this in prayer. I love to remind God of His promises and remind myself as well.

So when I start to worry, "Lord, You promised me in Your word and I should not worry about anything, but I should pray about everything and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus." So immediately before I've even given the prayer, I'm reminding myself of the promise of God. And that immediately brings calm to my heart. Do you know what I'm talking about? Have you done this?

And you realize, "Oh, wow, you know, the Lord is is so powerful and He's going to help me through this." And there's so many promises like that found in the pages of scripture. Number three, Nehemiah confessed his personal sin. Look at verse 7. "I confess that I've sinned against You. Yes, my own family and I have sinned. We've sinned terribly by not obeying Your commands, decrees and regulations."

Wow. He says, "We, my own family, I have sinned." But, you know, as you read the story of Nehemiah, you don't really read of him sinning. Now, he did, of course, sin. But my point is, he was quick to acknowledge his own responsibility. And that's something we don't like to do today. We like to blame everyone and everything for our problems. "It's not my fault, it's the fault of that teacher. It's the fault of that parent. It's the fault of that boss. It's the fault of this, it's the fault of that."

And all these people that we're having conflicts with, these people are all wrong. It's their fault. Did it ever occur to you, you're the problem? You're you're you seem to be the source of conflict at the heart of all of these issues. And you need to go and say, "Lord, I have sinned."

Because sometimes we'll hear a message and we'll say, like this, and say, "Oh, I wish so-and-so were here today." "They really need to hear this message." Oh yeah, okay. Well, guess what? You're here. This message is for you. Now, if you want to send a link to it to so-and-so, that's fine. Maybe they do need to hear it. But the point is, we're so quick, "Oh, this person needs to hear that," and, "Oh, that person needs to change this other thing." Maybe they do, but what about you? What do you need to change?

See, Nehemiah starts with himself and acknowledges his sins. So sometimes we'll pray for someone to change. "Lord, change my lousy husband. He's the worst. He just doesn't love me enough. He doesn't appreciate me. Just move in his life and maybe judge him a little and then change him. I don't know."

"Lord, this ungrateful wife of mine, change her. Get her to stop nagging me and bothering me." "Oh Lord, change this, change that." Why don't you start by saying, "Lord, change me and make me a better husband. Lord, change me, make me a better wife"?

See, God changed Nehemiah, and Nehemiah changed things. Yeah, I like that because prayer will change things, but prayer can change you. So we have to start there. And so off Nehemiah goes now with a desire to serve God. And I love the fact that he prayed for days. He says in verse 6, "Look down, Lord, and see me praying day and night."

Now this isn't boasting. He's just saying, "Lord, look, I'm praying. I'm doing what You told me to do." And if we miss everything else, let's not miss this. Whatever you're facing right now, whatever walls are falling down in your life, or in the life of your family, you're in your job, or with your friends, the first thing to do is go to God and call out to Him. God says in Jeremiah 33:3, "Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things that you do not know."

Narrator (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Greg Laurie: You know, I've heard people describe a trip to Israel as seeing the Bible actually come to life. Hey, everybody, Greg Laurie, and I've been to Israel many times and I've led a lot of tours, and I have to say that's absolutely true. Listen, when you're walking on the same stones that Jesus himself walked on, that's something that's enriching to your faith. It's not just a travel experience. It actually energizes and enhances your study of the Bible. Think of it this way, it's a vacation with a purpose. And we're going to be taking a tour of Israel, April 6th to 15th, 2027. You can find out more at israel.harvest.org.

Narrator (Male): Step right into biblical history. Join Pastor Greg for a tour of the Holy Land, April 6th through 15th, 2027. Get details at israel.harvest.org.

Well, we're in Nehemiah chapter 1 today as Pastor Greg presents his message, Revival Starts Here.

Greg Laurie: Okay, so point number four, Nehemiah was specific in his request to God. I love this prayer he prays. Very clear. Verse 10, "Lord, please hear my prayer. Listen to the prayers of those who delight in honoring You. Please grant me success today. Make the king favorable to me. Put it in his heart to be kind to me."

So Nehemiah says, "Okay, Lord, I'm going to bet the farm. I'm going to go for this thing. And I'm going to go to the king and I'm going to ask for his help to basically underwrite this whole idea that I have to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And I'm going to ask you to touch his heart right now." So, "Lord, give me success," but don't miss the fact that before he prayed this specific prayer, he spent time waiting on the Lord, seeking the face and the heart of God.

And I think when you spend time in scripture and spend time in God's presence, it will change the way that you pray and it will change what you pray for. And Nehemiah certainly shows that in this prayer that he prays, "Lord, give me favor." So he's going to go to the king and he's going to say, "I want to build a wall and you're going to pay for it. You're going to pay for it. What do you think of that, King?" But that's exactly what he did. And he went to the king with this request.

And of course, as we're going to see as we get into this book, he faced a lot of opposition as he undertook this project. And he faced difficulties, and he faced challenges. And when you're doing something for God, you better expect opposition. Some of you would say, "Greg, I get tempted all the time. These bad thoughts come to my mind, these challenges come, the persecution comes, what am I doing wrong?" Maybe you're doing something right.

If you say to me, "Greg, I can't remember the last time I've been tempted, I can't remember the last time I faced opposition," I'd say, maybe you're not worth tempting. See, the fact is, when you're serving God, you're going to face opposition, and that opposition is a confirmation you're on the right path, not on the wrong one. Right? So, get ready for it. And that's what Nehemiah faced.

So, in conclusion, let's make a commitment. Let's make a commitment to pray for revival in our own life, and pray for revival in our nation. As I said in the beginning, it starts with us. The title is Revival Starts Here. One other thing I would bring up is in Nehemiah 7:3, it says that they were to appoint the residents of Jerusalem to act as guards, everyone on a regular watch. Some will serve at sentry posts, and some in front of their own homes.

So here's the point. As they're putting the plan together, Nehemiah doesn't just hire a bunch of people to do it. He says, "Everybody is going to do this. We're all going to do it." See, I mean, sometimes we may say, "You know, I go to the church and it's the job of the pastors to do this and the job of the staff to do this other thing." Yeah, well, they have their roles and their positions, and they're here to serve you, but we all have a part to play. We are the church. We are the body of Christ. You're a part of this. I'm a part of it. We're all a part of it.

And so, you need to say, "Lord, what role do You want me to play?" And it will change the whole way you look at church. You know, and you'll come and say, "Oh, man, I've got this role and I I take this seriously and this is what I do for God's Kingdom." And then one day after a time of service, someone comes and says, "Man, I see you're really faithful in these things and we have this other thing, we're wondering if you'd be willing to help with." "I'd love to help with that." And then a little time goes by and someone says, "Man, we'd like you to do this other thing." You know, one opportunity opens up after another.

I remember when I was very new Christian and I was going to Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. And I wanted to serve the Lord, so I went into Pastor Chuck's office. I was so bold, I wanted an appointment with Pastor Chuck. So I sat down, I said, "Hi, Chuck, I'm Greg Laurie, and I I want to serve God." And I was thinking maybe Chuck would say, "Well, Greg, why don't you speak next Sunday morning?" Or, you know, "Who knows?" "Who knows?" And Chuck just said to me, "Oh, that's nice, Greg. Why don't you go see Romaine?"

Now, I didn't know who Romaine was. But Romaine, his name was LaVerne Romaine. Now you know why he went by Romaine. He hated it when people called him LaVerne. So Romaine used to be in the Marine Corps and he was a drill sergeant and he loved to whip young guys into shape. So I went to Romaine and I said, "Hi Romaine, Pastor Chuck sent me to you because I want to serve the Lord." Romaine knew exactly what that meant, free janitorial service for the next six months.

That's exactly what I did. "Here's a broom, go sweep. Go clean up. Do this, do that." And they just had me do. I'm in the bathroom cleaning things. I'm with. I want to serve God. Exactly. They were saying, "If you want to serve God, be faithful in the little things and greater opportunities will open up for you." And if we're not willing to do those little things, why would God want to give us greater things to do? See, you're never too small for God to use, you're only too big.

But if you're willing to say, "I'll serve wherever," you'll see what a blessing it is. And so, notice how everybody was given a job to do. In front of their own homes, it starts with you. You can talk all day about, "Well, the need in America today and these people should do." Hey, how's your family doing? And how's your how are your kids doing? And how how how are you doing in the family?

I mean, start with your home. Start with your life. Don't be so quick to point fingers at everybody else. Start with yourself and start building the walls there. Our most effective tools are prayer and gospel proclamation. We need to rise up and do that, but let it start here. Let it start with you. And let it start with your relationship with God.

One more knock-knock joke. Ready? Knock-knock. Jesus. Jesus Christ who stands at the door of your life and knocks. Well, that's not funny. It's not a joke. It's for real. He stands at the door of your life and He knocks and says, "If you'll hear His voice and open the door, He'll come in." I was shocked that you didn't know who Jesus was. You're like, "Jesus who?" No, I'm kidding. I know that's how the jokes go. Okay, so, so it starts by asking Christ into your life and then saying, "Lord, revive me."

So we're going to close with a prayer. I want to invite people to believe in Jesus, if you have not done it yet, and we're also going to pray for personal revival, and we're also going to pray for revival in our state. Boy, do we need it. A lot of people want to write our state off. Don't forget the last great spiritual awakening happened in California. We're going to pray God does it again. And then we'll pray for an awakening for our nation.

Lord, we come to You today as Your people. And I pray for any who have joined us who do not yet know You. If they've not yet asked Jesus to come into their life, let this be the moment they do it. If you've not asked Jesus to come into your life, you can do that right here, right now. Just pray, "Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sin. Thank You for dying for me on the cross and rising again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow You from this moment forward." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Narrator (Male): An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie today here on A New Beginning. And if you've just prayed with Pastor Greg and asked Jesus to forgive your sins and be your savior, we'd like to offer some help as you get started living as a believer. Let us send you Pastor Greg's new believers' Bible. It's full of hundreds of study helps for those who are new to the faith. Literally millions of people have had this Bible. Let us send it to you. It's free of charge if you've prayed for the first time today with Pastor Greg. Just talk with one of our operators at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call any time 24/7. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org.

Now stay tuned, Pastor Greg closes with another important word of prayer in just a moment. And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry and for supporting it through your generous donation. It's an investment in Kingdom business. Isn't that right, Pastor Greg?

Greg Laurie: Yeah, that's really true, Dave. And I believe it's so important because, you know, the gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives because when a person believes in Jesus according to scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. And then, of course, that changes the course of their future. That impacts their children and their children's children. The gospel changes everything. And thousands and thousands of people respond every single year. Thanks to the Lord, also thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people wherever they are. So, if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment in A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries.

Narrator (Male): Yeah, that's right. And we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today. It can make a real difference, not just for today or this week, but for eternity. So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 phone number. 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org.

Well, next time, more important insight from the Book of Nehemiah. We'll see there's a time for prayer and contemplation, and there's a time for action. That's next time. But before we go, we talked about revival today. Pastor Greg closes by helping us rededicate ourselves to that goal.

Greg Laurie: Lord, we pray for revival. Let it start with us. Let it start with me. Lord, we admit we fall short. We acknowledge that perhaps we have left our first love. We don't do those things we once did. Help us to do them again as You tell us to, Lord. Help us to have a passion for prayer, a hunger for the word of God, a desire to be a functioning, living part of Your church.

And we pray that You will bless us and lead us and guide us and use us in our communities, in our state, in our nation. Lord, we pray that You will send a spiritual awakening to the United States of America. Let You move in Washington D.C. and bring people to You, Lord. Bring people to repentance. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, just bring people to Jesus. That's the most important thing of all, more important than anything else. You can do this.

You've raised this nation up, Lord, to be a light to the world. Imagine a world without America. How You've used us, but Lord, we've forgotten You, but You have not forgotten us. Send a revival to America and let it start with us right here, right now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.