A prayer from Isaiah 32
"See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land" (Is. 32:1-2).
Our Lord God, you are the king reigning with complete righteousness and justice. Thank you for your righteousness--thank you I can trust you in all your dealings with me, in every way. I pray that your kingdom is manifested in righteousness and justice here in Waco. May it come!
Thank you that you are my shelter and my refuge, you are the Living Water and my Great Rock. Christ, you are all this for me, in a world that is uncertain. I praise you for this!!! Spirit, may you continue to make Christ real to me, so that I can be a shelter for others, that I can give of your living water and point people to you. May you flow out of me; may streams of living water flow from me to others. I am thirsty for you--may you only increase my thirst for you! I live in a thirsty town, a thirsty land, a desert land--so many people are searching. I pray you open their eyes to the Living Water!
"Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water. The scoundrel's methods are wicked, he makes up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands" (Is. 32:3-8).
Father God, I confess that sometimes my eyes are closed, and my ears are hard as I follow my own desires, my own fears. But thank you that you have opened my eyes and you have opened my ears so that I can hear Christ. I pray that the eyes and ears of the church will be opened so we can hear you and see you--may we hunger after your presence and your glory. And I pray for Waco--may you work in this neighborhood, may you turn their hearts from idols, open eyes, and open ears. May we be faithful to listen to you, to know you, so that we can share you as you really are! May we grow in our knowledge of your glory and holiness. You are the one who sanctifies us, you are the one who grants success to your servants for your kingdom, you are the one establishes peace for us, and all that we have done you have accomplished for us (1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Thes. 1:11-12; Ps. 20:5; Isa. 26:12). Thank you. I am dependent on you completely.
May you use your church here in Waco to feed the hungry and to give water to the thirsty, so that they see you in your mercy and grace and love and justice.
"...till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field. The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely, how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream..." (Is. 32:15-20).
Pour out the Spirit on me, and on the church!!! You are the one who takes my desert and my ruins, the things I see as hopeless, and you give new life and hope. You give riches upon riches--the field becomes a forest. You can do more than I ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20) for your glory--and may it be all about your glory. May I not rejoice in you. You have given me the righteousness of Christ, and I praise you for that; in you I have peace, quietness, and confidence. Remind me of that; help me live in that. And I pray that your church here may strive to bring in your righteousness and justice--that in you, we may be a people of righteousness and justice, peace and confidence, working to bring it to our neighborhood and our city. May you bring your kingdom to Waco! You are the King of Righteousness!
Our Lord God, you are the king reigning with complete righteousness and justice. Thank you for your righteousness--thank you I can trust you in all your dealings with me, in every way. I pray that your kingdom is manifested in righteousness and justice here in Waco. May it come!
Thank you that you are my shelter and my refuge, you are the Living Water and my Great Rock. Christ, you are all this for me, in a world that is uncertain. I praise you for this!!! Spirit, may you continue to make Christ real to me, so that I can be a shelter for others, that I can give of your living water and point people to you. May you flow out of me; may streams of living water flow from me to others. I am thirsty for you--may you only increase my thirst for you! I live in a thirsty town, a thirsty land, a desert land--so many people are searching. I pray you open their eyes to the Living Water!
"Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water. The scoundrel's methods are wicked, he makes up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands" (Is. 32:3-8).
Father God, I confess that sometimes my eyes are closed, and my ears are hard as I follow my own desires, my own fears. But thank you that you have opened my eyes and you have opened my ears so that I can hear Christ. I pray that the eyes and ears of the church will be opened so we can hear you and see you--may we hunger after your presence and your glory. And I pray for Waco--may you work in this neighborhood, may you turn their hearts from idols, open eyes, and open ears. May we be faithful to listen to you, to know you, so that we can share you as you really are! May we grow in our knowledge of your glory and holiness. You are the one who sanctifies us, you are the one who grants success to your servants for your kingdom, you are the one establishes peace for us, and all that we have done you have accomplished for us (1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Thes. 1:11-12; Ps. 20:5; Isa. 26:12). Thank you. I am dependent on you completely.
May you use your church here in Waco to feed the hungry and to give water to the thirsty, so that they see you in your mercy and grace and love and justice.
"...till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field. The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely, how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream..." (Is. 32:15-20).
Pour out the Spirit on me, and on the church!!! You are the one who takes my desert and my ruins, the things I see as hopeless, and you give new life and hope. You give riches upon riches--the field becomes a forest. You can do more than I ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20) for your glory--and may it be all about your glory. May I not rejoice in you. You have given me the righteousness of Christ, and I praise you for that; in you I have peace, quietness, and confidence. Remind me of that; help me live in that. And I pray that your church here may strive to bring in your righteousness and justice--that in you, we may be a people of righteousness and justice, peace and confidence, working to bring it to our neighborhood and our city. May you bring your kingdom to Waco! You are the King of Righteousness!
What a tremendous passage of prophecy! I was recently contemplating Jesus' words about ears to hear and eyes to see, and did not realize that Isaiah also iterated that concept. "The eyes of those who see will no longer be closed and the ears of those who hear will listen" (32:3). I agree with you in prayer: Lord, open the eyes & ears of the church; help us to allow Your Spirit to do His work in us to reveal what really matters to You, hungering after Your presence and glory. I pray that we would stop thinking about material things (as the disciples often did) and delve into growing Your kingdom. Amen.
ReplyDeleteCindy,
ReplyDeleteI recently read G.K Beale's "We Become What We Worship" (I wrote a review of it for our church website at http://hbcwaco.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/worship-and-identity-are-they-connected-biblically/ ).... But he walked through a Biblical theology of idolatry. "Blind eyes" and "closed ears" have a loooooong history in the OT. It is a text that has roots in Exodus, in Deuteronomy 29:4 "But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear"... A troubling verse. But it is a theme picked up by many of the propehts, and the Psalms as well. G.K Beale ties it into idolatry--we become what we worship. We turn away from the living, seeing, hearing God and turn to idols (be it stone images or careers or success or power or control or comfort), and God (Romans 1) turns us over to our desires, and we become deaf and dumb like the unliving things we worship... Interesting to contemplate. But Jesus and Paul talk of the same things--all to drive us to our knees. "Look!!! You are following the same path that has been tread by our ancestors, the Jews. I am still reaching out for you, holding out my hands to an obstinate people (Isaiah). Turn to me!!! I will give you a new heart, a new character, I will give you my mind, the mind of Christ, I will write my laws on your heart and make you alive in me again..." May it be. Amen.