REPOST FROM JULY 30, 2026

 Mary Lynne Webb

July 30

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Nehemiah 1:5-7  5 And I said, “Please, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You, day and night, on behalf of Your servants, the [d]sons (descendants) of Israel (Jacob), confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 

Nehemiah 1:11 11 Please, O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [reverently] fear Your Name [Your essence, Your nature, Your attributes, with awe]; and make Your servant successful this day and grant him compassion in the sight of this man [the king].”

Lord, I confess my own sinfulness. I get distracted when I sit down to study Your Word. My mind wanders to other things. I want to delight in reverent fear of Your Name, Your essence, Your nature, Your attributes. I want to stand in awe of the whole of Who You Are. I want to love You with my whole being. I want to walk constantly in Your presence. But I fail terribly. Forgive my lack of faith, my lack of focus, my lack of obedience. 

I pray for my family and friends who walk willingly in disobedience to You, rejecting the Truth of your lovingkindness to them, and ignoring the great and wonderful salvation You provide through Your willing sacrifice of Yourself, bearing our sin, enduring our punishment, giving us peace with the Father. I pray that you open their eyes to the blessings of obedience and the consequences of rejecting You.

I pray for our country. We are so full of sin, so blatantly rejecting the Truth of Who You Are. We tolerate sins that You clearly condemn, not just the “big” ones but so many ways that we take our focus off of You and place our allegiance and our worship on someone or something else. We also place our hate and contempt on other people instead of the evil within our own hearts. We let pride determine our worth instead of humbling ourselves before You. I pray that we follow Nehemiah’s example and be heartbroken for ourselves, our families, and our country. I pray that we repent, confess our sinfulness, and follow You completely. We have been unthankful for all the blessings you have given us. We have turned compassion into tolerance, love into selfishness, peace into anger, our faith into fear, worship into self-serving entertainment. You know how great our sin is, yet You have still shown us mercy. 

Nehemiah was a strong leader who faced opposition. I understand that obeying You is not always easy. Sometimes it is overwhelming. I pray for spiritual leaders to be strong and bold, that You would encourage them, guide them, fill them with Your wisdom and Your words. I pray that You will tender the hearts of both Your people and the hearts of those who reject You. 

I pray that you work miraculously in our governmental leaders. As you worked in Cyrus, king of Persia (Ezra 1:1), King Darius (Ezra 6:3-12) and King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2:6), I pray that You touch the hearts of our leaders to obey You. I pray for the salvation of those who do not know You. I pray for encouragement and strength to those who worship You as Lord and act in obedience to Your Word.

Like Nehemiah, let us all turn our hearts toward You, repenting of our rebellion, disobedience and rejection of You. Let us determine with our whole being to love You, worship You, serve You. I pray for a renewing of believers, an awakening of unbelievers, that we would worship You in reverent awe and obey You in all things, that You would fill us with the complete fruit of Your Spirit. 

Galatians 5:17-26 17 For the sinful nature has its desire which is opposed to the Spirit, and the [desire of the] Spirit opposes the [h]sinful nature; for these [two, the sinful nature and the Spirit] are in direct opposition to each other [continually in conflict], so that you [as believers] do not [always] do whatever [good things] you want to do. 18 But if you are guided and led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the Law. 19 Now the practices of the [i]sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control), 20 [j]idolatry, [k]sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies], 21 envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the [l]sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.

25 If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit]. 26 We must not become conceited, challenging or provoking one another, envying one another.

(Scriptures copied from Bible Gateway, Amplified Bible.)