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Word UP with Webb
Daily Devotion for Teens and Students
Word UP with Webb
Are You Praying Like You Believe God Can Fix It?
What does your prayer life reveal about your faith? In this illuminating exploration of Nehemiah 1:1-11, we uncover the profound connection between our prayer habits and our true belief in God's sovereignty. Nehemiah's immediate response to crisis—turning to fasting and prayer before attempting any human solution—challenges us to examine our own spiritual reflexes when facing obstacles.
Many of us readily advise others to "pray through" their difficulties, but how consistently do we follow this counsel ourselves? The episode unpacks a revealing truth: "You can tell how serious people are in their belief that God truly is the King of Kings by how and when they pray." When troubles arise, do we first rack our brains for solutions within our control, or do we, like Nehemiah, fall to our knees in dependent trust?
We explore the transformative power of confession as Nehemiah identifies himself as part of the problem, owning his share in the collective sin of his people. This radical accountability creates the foundation for restoration. Whatever personal challenges you're facing—in relationships, finances, or faith—God promises gathering and restoration to those who return to Him in genuine obedience. Not selective compliance with easy commands, but comprehensive submission to His will.
The weekend approaches with an invitation: examine your prayer life, consider what it reveals about your faith, and remember that God is "in the gathering business." No matter how far you've strayed or what mess you've created, His promise stands firm—return to Him, obey His commands, and watch Him transform your world. Tomorrow, join us for a special conversation with Bray Goode, a high school senior demonstrating unwavering faith among his peers. Subscribe now and discover what happens when we pray like we truly believe God can fix everything.
Welcome, guys, to Word Up. It is Friday morning, it is finally Friday. The weekend is right around the corner. If you have not spent time in God's Word, pause. Right here. Go to Nehemiah 1, verses 1-11. Right here, go to Nehemiah, chapter 1, verses 1 through 11, and let's come back and talk about what God has shown us this morning.
Speaker 1:As I've been reading through Nehemiah, chapter 1, verses 1 through 11, the very first thing that stands out to me is Nehemiah's prayer, starting right there in verse 4. It says when I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens, nehemiah. When he heard of what had taken place and, out of concern for his people, he immediately went to God, began fasting and praying.
Speaker 1:You know, we often tell people, we hear about their troubles, we hear about the tough times. I'm not even talking about in our own life. I'm talking about challenges that other people are facing and we quickly will tell them to pray through a tough situation. Hey, you're just going to have to seek the Lord. You're going to have to turn to Him. He's the only one that can help you with that. We are quick to give that advice, but how much do we honestly believe that advice? How much do we use it in our own lives? How much do we put it into action?
Speaker 1:You can tell how serious people are in their belief that God truly is the King of Kings by how and when they pray. How many times do we face a true obstacle in life and the first thing we do is start racking our brain about how we're going to get through it. We start thinking about what we can do under our own power and guys, that really shows that we're not trusting God through that situation. When we're like Nehemiah and we're fully focused on God is going to protect me. God is going to bring me through this. All I've got to do is begin fasting and praying right now. But that really shows where our faith is and we can tell how serious we are in our belief of who God is and what he could do. And I mean I just I love the way that he starts his prayer out. It says he says I said Lord, the God of the heavens, the great and all inspiring God, who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him. The reason that Nehemiah went straight to fasting and praying is because he truly believed exactly what he said when he started that prayer. He believes that God is Lord, is the God of the heavens, the great and awe-inspiring God. That's the way we should start our prayers, but normally we just want to jump straight to the fix God. Let me tell you what the problem is and you just fix it, instead of truly acknowledging who he is and just having that faith that he is in control of all things, that he can fix whatever situation that we're in. So, guys, I mean we've got to take our own advice, we've got to truly turn to God. Do I immediately go to God and do I continue without ceasing?
Speaker 1:I think back to a story one time that Brother Keith Screws shared whenever me and my family we were at Greenbrier, and he would share this often during his messages, whenever he would talk about praying. But he talked about a time when his wife, miss Kim, was having a hard time. She was going through a rough patch and she was just broken and and didn't know which way to go, where to turn. And he talks about getting up in the morning and normally he's the first one awake, but he walks through the house and he could hear her speaking and talking, he wasn't sure what was going on. He walks past their den and she had made an altar there at the fireplace and she was on her knees and she could just he could hear her crying out to god I'm not gonna move until I hear your direction. I will not get up from this place until I hear your direction. When is the last time that you stayed in one place until you heard from God? The last time that you said I don't care if I'm late for work, I don't care if I miss the ball game, I don't care if I miss my favorite TV show. I am not moving from this place until you give me the direction that you have for me. Guys, that's truly believing in a God who can fix everything and that's showing how much we believe. So I say we can tell a lot about where our faith lies, in how we pray and when we pray.
Speaker 1:In verses 6 and 7, nehemiah identifies himself as part of the problem. He's praying on behalf of his people, but he also owns his part of the problem. It says Let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to hear your servant's prayer. That I now pray to you day and night For your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against you. We have committed against you. Both I and my father's family have sinned. The troubles in our personal lives, whether it be family, financial friendships it can all be tracked back to sin in our lives.
Speaker 1:There was a time when we allowed something to come between us and God. We decided to go a different way, out of convenience or out of what we thought was best, and we have failed to own our part. We've got to own it, guys. We've got to identify what that was. We've got to see how we separated ourselves from God's plan. Once we own it, then we can address it and we can move forward with God.
Speaker 1:And he tells us right here, in verse 9,. It says that but if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell. God's word tells us no matter the mess you've made, no matter how bad you've messed up, if you will return to me, obey my commands, god is in the gathering business. If you are faithful, he will turn your world around. It doesn't matter where you've been, how far you've gone, what mess you've made, if we will turn back to Him obeying His commands.
Speaker 1:This is not just a I'm going to fix things for a week. I'm going to get rid of this little thing right here. That's easy to get rid of. Oh God, you want me to quit cussing. Let me just do that. Let me check off this one little box. That's easy for me to do.
Speaker 1:No, it is getting in God's Word and addressing whatever he asks us to address. Sometimes it's easier, sometimes it's hard, but we have got to be all in. And it says he will gather us, he will bring us back together and he will turn your world around. He wants to use you today. He wants to fix the problems. He wants to address your personal problems, your life, your family, your financial situation, your friendships, relationships. He has the answer for all of that. But are we willing and are we praying like we truly believe that he can fix it? I love you guys. I hope you have an awesome weekend. I hope that God has really spoken to your life this week, and we're going to have another special episode tomorrow morning.
Speaker 1:Saturday morning, we're going to have a guest on here, mr Bray Good those of you that know Bray he's a senior at Alexandria High School. He's a member of the baseball team. He joins me every Thursday morning at Alexandria Middle School to help mentor to those younger kids and he truly stands for Christ, no matter who's watching or no matter what anybody thinks. He's going to stand firm on his relationship with the Lord and so we're going to have him on tomorrow morning and just talk about the stand that he takes and some of the challenges that he may face with his walk with Christ, but why it's important to him to keep God first. Y'all join us right back here tomorrow and hear Bray's heart and how God is using him at Alexandria High School. I love you guys. I hope you've had a great week. Dig into God's Word. Allow God to use you and speak through you as you go through this weekend and into next week.