My prayers from Isaiah 55. Of course there is always more to pick out, but I will focus on my main points.
Here is the passage:
1 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”
Verse 2: I pray that those who are thirsty and who are not satisfied, listen and feed themselves with the Truth. Not only that but delight and enjoy what He has to offer!
Verse 3: I pray that those who accept the invitation to listen will recognize that they will flourish and will live in abundance. Recognizing that they can come into a personal covenant with God.
Verse 6: He is here, now! We have the ability to speak to the God that knows all the answers. I admit that at times I feel like I am in multiple places at once and can’t figure out the answers to anything. I rely too heavily on my own understanding. All I have to do is acknowledge and abide. It then says, “Let the wicked forsake his way.” Let me leave my way. Let me abandon all the questions I have and just seek the Lord for answers that He reveals to me throughout time. I mean, He is the one that has all of the brains.. I am just an art major.. Haha… (sorry if that offends art majors who are legitimately intellectual.
Verse 8: I pray that people recognize that there is more to life than just rules and riches but there is relationship with a God who knows everything and every outcome. This verse is still a verse that I am learning from because it requires constant surrender of my own desires and humbling myself. Sometimes I expect God to do certain things and when they don’t go my way, I get a little upset. But then I recognize, alright…. His ways are higher than my ways and He always knows what is best. I usually realign myself with this truth by looking back at a need that I had and looking to see how he fulfilled it or how He worked in that season.
Ex: Last spring, I needed a job.I was #broke. He then gave me opportunities for a job through Missouri State and now I work at a coffee shop with an amazing environment and community (shout out to Potter’s House). I could have never seen that in my future. But, submitting to His ways and being obedient brings so much joy and peace!
Verse 10-11: This is a cool visual in the fact that it doesn’t just precipitate and then goes back up. Nah, it waters the ground and from that sprouts rich vegetation. There is a purpose in the water coming down to feed the ground just as there is a meaning to God’s word that brings eternal life and various purposes. In the verse it gives an example of the different results of the water that fed the ground: giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. I pray that those who hear and see the Truth recognize there is purpose. I pray they see that God not only give us purpose but He wants to fulfill it so that it may bring goodness to the land!
Verse 12-13: I pray that everyone experiences the mark of God on their life: joy and peace.
