Long sermons and revival

We've been studying a marathon session in the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, where the Word of God was read, preached, and explained.
For spiritual renewal to happen, there must also be a response to the Word.
If we are just studying the Word in order to know more than the next person, that's not good. We are setting ourselves up for the sin of pride that way. Yes, we need to study, to ponder, and to memorize, but knowledge is not our ONLY aim!
The better goal is to learn and then transform our lives.
What do we mean? We can look back at our chapter and see . . .

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. (Nehemiah 8:8-9)

The people had listened attentively and reverently, and they began to weep when they heard and understood the Word. They began to realize how much they had sinned against God. (We'll actually see some more about this in the next chapter, too.) It's not that they knew they'd been wrong. It apparently had not been willful disobedience. But it was sin, nonetheless, and they began to weep and to repent.
This happens in our lives, today, as well. The more that the light of God's Word is applied to our hearts, the more corners the light will shine into -- and the more we will see areas where our hearts and lives are not conforming to His Word. We will see that we are not measuring up to His righteousness. Hearing and understanding His Word will lead to repentance.
If repentance can be compared to storm clouds, then the next result of God's Word is when the clouds move aside and let the sun come shining in -- godly joy will flood our souls after we repent.  The realization of our sin wounds our hearts and makes us sad, but knowing that He has forgiven our sins brings joy. The knowledge that we are His people buoys our spirits. Remember the children's song? "I've got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!"

Then all the people went away . . . .  to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them. (v 14)

The next response to God's Word after repentance and joy is compassion for others. Ezra and Nehemiah instructed the people to help others:

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (v 10)

They reminded the people to show compassion and send portions from the parts of the sacrifices that they could eat to those who had nothing to eat. God's Word should result in compassion in our hearts for those who are needy. He saves us for this:

who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:14)

We see another response from the people in the next few verses of the chapter. Their spiritual renewal included obedience to what they learned from the Word. The people had heard about the different festivals that were outlined in the Law, and they now knew about the Feast of Booths. Since the correct time for this feast was only two weeks away, they scrambled to make preparations to celebrate. This was the feast commemorating two things - the harvest that God provided and the deliverance that He granted under Moses, when Israel lived in temporary shelters in the wilderness. Our passage says that the Israelites had not celebrated a Feast of Booths like this one since the time of Joshua! It must have been a wonderful time of feasting, rejoicing, and worship.

The Feast lasted a whole week, and each day included more reading of God's law; the final day was the climax. On the last day, there was a solemn assembly.

Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly. (v 18)

All week, as the people camped in the temporary shelters, they took time to reflect on God's faithfulness to the nation, in spite of their sins. Because of this, their hearts were overflowing with gratitude and love toward God for His grace and mercy to them.
Worship is another response; it's another mark of spiritual renewal. As we read the Word and study it, and as we hear it preached, we should reflect on His abundant blessings to us -- our hearts will be full of thankfulness, and we will worship Him!

We've seen that spiritual renewal and revival comes from our responding to God's Word. It doesn't necessarily mean that we must participate in marathon services that go on for hours, though our passage says the Israelites did!  I think an application to our lives today would be to strive to have their attitude -- an attitude while reading or listening that says "God, please teach me! I want to know you more!" We need to have an attitude of readiness to respond to the Word. We need to be ready to deal with sin, and then allow Him to transform our hearts.
If we want spiritual renewal, if we want revival, we need to check our hearts. We need to be ready to reverently listen, ready to read, ready to respond with repentance, joy, compassion for others, obedience, and worship.
If we respond in these ways, revival will come!