together with
Happy New Year, {{first_name | everyone}}!
We pray that you will draw closer to God in 2026 than you ever have before!
We’re kicking off the New Year memorizing Zechariah 4:6. I know for me personally, the second half of this verse will become a prayer I pray constantly this year. Let’s dive in!
In today’s email…
❓ Who in the world is Zerubbabel?
💡 What lightbulbs teach us about faith
🎵 A song to remember to come as you are..
MEMORIZE 🧠
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
CONTEXT 📕
To begin our week in Zechariah 4:6, let’s zoom out and see where this verse sits in the story of the whole book.
Zechariah is one of the last prophets in the Old Testament. His message comes after Israel has returned from exile in Babylon — a return that was supposed to feel like a new beginning. A fresh start. A second chance.
But rebuilding life after disappointment is never simple.
The people came home hopeful, but what they found was discouraging: ruined walls, ruined homes, and a ruined temple. The joy of coming back faded quickly under the weight of reality. Their “new beginning” didn’t feel like one at all.
Into that discouragement, God raised up two prophets (Haggai and Zechariah) to speak hope to a weary people.
Zechariah’s book begins with a call to return to the Lord, and then unfolds into a series of dream-like visions. To our modern ears and eyes, the imagery is strange, symbolic, and vivid (horses, horns, flying scrolls, and lamp stands).
But the purpose is clear: God has not forgotten His people, and the future He promised is still coming.
Zechariah wants his readers to lift their eyes above what they see in front of them and remember the deeper reality of God’s promise, presence and power.
That’s where chapter 4 fits in.
Zerubbabel and Cyrus (1650s) by Jacob van Loo; Zerubbabel (left) shows the Persian king Cyrus the Great the plan for a rebuilt Jerusalem
In the center of Zechariah’s visions, the Lord gives a message to Zerubbabel, a discouraged leader who has been trying to rebuild the temple but keeps facing opposition, delays, and exhaustion.
God does not shame him. Instead, God gives a sentence that is the center of our memory verse this week:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.”
A weary generation needed to hear that the strength they lacked was not the strength God required. Their future would not depend on their own might but on His Spirit.
A new year often stirs in us a desire to rebuild — to start fresh, to try again, to form new habits, to become new people. Zechariah reminds us that the foundation of every new beginning is not our effort, but God’s Spirit at work within us.
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APPLY AND RESPOND 🏃♂
In 1879, Thomas Edison was racing to perfect the first long-lasting lightbulb.
Dozens of attempts failed. Filament after filament burned out. His lab assistants grew discouraged. But after thousands of attempts, the bulb finally glowed.
The world remembers the invention, but few know of the quiet persistence behind it. Zechariah’s people needed that reminder (and so do we).
Today, take one small, quiet step of faithfulness — something so simple it almost feels too small:
Pray for one minute.
Open your Bible and read Zechariah 4:6.
Sit in silence before God for thirty seconds.
Let this tiny act be your “first filament.”
🙏 Pray
Father, thank You that You meet us in our weakness, not our strength. Thank You that Your Spirit does what our might and power never can. As I begin this new year, teach me to depend on You more deeply. Open my heart to Your voice, and form in me a life shaped by Your Spirit. Amen.
SONG OF THE WEEK 🎵
Pay-it-forward subscribers, enjoy the song we created below to help you memorize the verse of the week!
SONG OF THE WEEK 🎵
Pay-it-forward subscribers, enjoy the song we created below to help you memorize the verse of the week!
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“Wanderer come home…” is my favorite line in this song. When I read about the Israelites coming home to ruin and yet holding so tightly to their faith, I can’t help but tear up a bit.
No matter how “far from home” you might feel in your faith, God has not left you and you will always have him to cling to when you need.
ANSWER KEY ✅
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
Best,
The Malachi Daily team 🙏
Today’s Contributors
Payton is a husband and father in Vero Beach, FL. He serves as the Email Marketing Manager at Faith Driven Entrepreneur and helps Christians master storytelling through his newsletter, Christian Story Lab.
Kieran is a husband and father living in NJ. In addition to Malachi Daily, he writes a personal newsletter about the intersection of faith, fatherhood and entrepreneurship.
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Imagine you’re reading your physical Bible and come across something you don’t fully understand. And you have questions like:
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What is Jesus trying to teach us in this parable?
What was David going through when he wrote this Psalm?
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