“Then he said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”
– Zechariah 4:6
What God was calling his people to do was not possible by their might or by their power. It was only possible by his spirit.
Zechariah 4:6 Reminds Us of the Awesome Reality that Jesus Came to Serve Us
I read this and I think about my life. I shared at the beginning of the sermon, I was preaching this last Sunday, “That I’m tired, like really tired,” without going into all the details, why I was just sharing what I know many others feel, just exhaustion, being drained. And I know there’s so many people who feel beat down and discouraged or burnt out on any of a number of levels, maybe physically tired, emotionally, relationally, maybe even spiritually tired. And I should add, I was so helped by the Word I was studying last week, and to the extent with which it might be helpful to you, I would encourage you, not because of my sermon, but because of God’s Word.
It should be on the Radical Podcast, a sermon on Jesus Our Servant from Philippians 2:7, how Jesus came, like the reason he came was to serve us that in a very real sense and almost feels crazy to say, but Jesus exists to serve us, took on the nature of a servant.
And the connection here with Zachariah chapter four, that’s what God is saying. He’s saying, “All that I’m calling you to do and the time and place in which I’ve put you with all the circumstances around you, you can’t do it by your own might or your own power.” And I feel that right now in my life. And I’m guessing a lot of you feel that in your life. You’re walking through things you can’t do on your own. And God is saying to you right now what he said to his people and Zachariah chapter four, “Not by your might, nor by your power, but by my spirit. You can do this.”
Zechariah 4:6 Is a Reminder of Our Desperate Need of God to Empower Us
This is the verse we love in Philippians 4, that’s so often misquoted, quoted out of context. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The Lord of hosts says, “I want to give you strength and might and power to do all that I’m calling you to.”
So God, we confess our need for your might, your power, your strength, your wisdom, your help. We need you to serve us by the power of your spirit in us, and we praise you for your promise to do that. We praise you for your word to Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4:6, that you have given your spirit for the accomplishment of your will in that moment and the greater promise that we have now in Christ that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
So God, I just pray that over every tired person today, every person who is weary, exhausted, burn out, beat down, struggling in any way that they would hear you in your Word saying right now. “You can’t do it by your might or your power, but you can do it. You can do all that I’m calling you to do by my spirit.” Says the Lord of hosts.
God, we praise you for this reality, for your spirit in us, for your strength and our weakness, for your help and our hurting, for all the grace you provide sufficient for whatever we’re facing.
Praying for the Palembang People
God, we pray for people who have never experienced this in you, Jesus, for the Palembang people of Indonesia, three and a half million of them, 0.02% followers of Jesus. God, we want them to know the might and the power and the strength and the joy and the wisdom and all that comes from your spirit dwelling in them. We pray, God open their eyes to who Jesus is cause the gospel to go to this Muslim people group, the Palembang that they might know the reality that we enjoy based on Zechariah 4:6.
We pray all of this in Jesus name, in the name of the one in whom we can do all things, especially in our weariness. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
