Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

Isaiah 65

Before they call I will answer;

while they are still speaking I will hear. v24

Isaiah, speaks of things to come and he prophesizes about the coming of Jesus, a new Jersualem, and "new heavens and a new earth".  He also reminds us of an all knowing God. 

You have searched me, Lord,

and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

you, Lord, know it completely.

5 You hem me in behind and before,

and you lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain. Psalm 139:1-6

I cannot hide anything from God - he knows my thoughts and my true intentions.

My Prayer: Lord, You know everything about me all the time.  You know what burdens my heart and You respond.  You lay your hand upon me.  I am not worthy of such love.  You seek me out but I sometimes spurn or neglect You.  I know You love me anyway but please forgive me Lord Jesus!!  Help me be strong and obedient.  Help me so that Your desires are my desires.  Give me energy and help me fulfill Your plan for my life.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. 
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Despite our sin, You - Jesus Christ - show amazing patience with us.  You are willing to refine and purify us...work with us so that we can be more like You...to serve You.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are truly amazing.  Your patience for me is amazing.  I sin often yet You are there.  I thank You that You are there...always.  I need Your forgiveness...please forgive me for my anger.  Purify me and make me Yours.

I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us

Isaiah 63

I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,

the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the Lord has done for us [.]  v7

The Lord is kind and SO much more.  He HAS done SO much for me.  Without Him I would be lost and dead.  Praise the Lord for Jesus Christ.

My Prayer: Lord, You are kind and compassionate, and patient beyond reason.  I don't deserve so much.  Yet You provide it anyway.  I thank You and pray that You will forgive me for me weakness and inaction.  Give me strength Lord...guide me way and help me so that Your desires are my desires.

For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Isaiah 61

For as the soil makes the sprout come up

nd a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness

and praise spring up before all nations.

The analogy of gardening is used elsewhere in scripture to demonstrate that our faith needs to be tended to:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.  John 15:1-8

My Prayer: Lord, You are a gracious God and perfect in all ways.  I am not...that is why I need You.  I need You to save me and to cleanse me.  I am also weak and lack courage and this cause inaction in me.  I know You love me anyway but please forgive me Lord Jesus.  Help me become the servant You desire, and the husband and father You desire for me.  Help me so that Your desires become my desires.



[The people] are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

Isaiah 60

[The people] are the shoot I have planted,

the work of my hands,

for the display of my splendor.  v21

I exist to glorify God.  To show His power and His glory.

1 Peter 2 says:

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.  v12

This is just one example of how we can glorify God.  I seek to glorify God in all ways, all of the time.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and Your might is incredible and the works of Your hands incredible.  You are full of compassion and patience, and love, and of course SO much more.  I am amazed that You love me.  I am weak and I neglect You in favor of earthly comfort.  I know You love me anyway but please forgive me Father.  Help me so that Your desires are my desires.



According to what they have done, so will he repay[,]

Isaiah 59

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no one,
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene[.] v15-16

...

According to what they have done,
    so will he repay. v18

We are all sinners but regardless of our sin...God will never turn his back to us if we repent and seek Him.

 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29


My Prayer: Lord, it is amazing that You always forgive us and You are always available if we seek You.  I have neglected You but You welcome me back.  Thank You Lord Jesus.  Please forgive me and help me be seek You out daily and often.  Help me so that Your desires are my desires.

...[A]nd if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord...[.]

Isaiah 58

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the Lord[.] v13-14

It is important to focus on intent - what is the heart condition?  This is the case with many questions of scripture and our understanding and application.  Do we work on the Sabbath? 

See Luke 14:1-4:

1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

It is not a question of working or not but again where the heart is...verse 13 "by not going your own way" makes this more clear.   We are to rest in the Lord and on the Lord's day - Sabbath - as a way to focus on Him and put our trust in Him that He provides, heals, resolves and that we don't need to "work" - we simply need to trust in Him.  Resting is our way of trusting Him.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You provide, You heal, You create....and You are SO much more!  You are a great God full of love.  I am not worthy of such love Lord...as I often hide from You or neglect You.  I know You welcome me back anytime and love me anyway - thank You of course for this - but please forgive me.  Help me deepen my desire for You.  Help me so that Your desires are my desires.



Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Isaiah 55

Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call on him while he is near. v6

At the beginning of this chapter, I find words highly encouraging, words that deepen my desire for Him:

“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.

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.

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. v1-3

God is the provider of all that is good and all that we need is Him.

My Prayer: Lord, You are good, pure, perfect, and all that I need.  Yet I seek other earthly pursuits.  I know You love me and I thank You that You do but please forgive me for not loving You and only You with all of my heart mind and soul.  Help me deepen my desires for You.  I desperately seek to delight and glorify You Jesus Christ.



In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.

Isaiah 54

In a surge of anger

I hid my face from you for a moment,

but with everlasting kindness

I will have compassion on you,”

says the Lord your Redeemer. v8

The Lord is a just God.  He is certainly entitled to be angry when we do something detestable - sin of course.  But He is just also in that He shows compassion, patience, and kindness.  His wrath is out of love.

Everlasting kindness...what an amazing God I have.

My Prayer: Lord, You are amazing!  That you are SO kind and full of compassion for me...I am undeserving of such love.  I am weak and I sin.  I speak and think badly of people.  I know You love me so thank You for Your love but please forgive me Lord Jesus.  Help me...rid me of impure thoughts about others and rid me of saying impure things about others.  Help me so that Your desires are my desires.  I deeply desire to honor and glorify You Lord Jesus.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all. v6

We HAVE all gone astray and God HAS laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. 

Verse 4-5 are also true and prophecies of the coming Jesus.

Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

The greatest gift of all...

My Prayer: Lord, among all the blessings with which you have blessed me, your death on the cross is the greatest gift as it nailed my sin to the cross.  I am no longer slave to sin and I am forgiven.  Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God!  I know You want me to come to You and sometimes I don't out of my own laziness.  I know You love me but please forgive me and help grow my desire for You and help me so that Your desires are my desires.

“Hear me, you who know what is right,you people who have taken my instruction to heart

Isaiah 51

“Hear me, you who know what is right,

you people who have taken my instruction to heart:

Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals

or be terrified by their insults.

For the moth will eat them up like a garment;

the worm will devour them like wool.

But my righteousness will last forever,

my salvation through all generations.” v7-8

Focus on God's words and do not worry about words of humans.

We are of course to focus on God and glorifying and delighting Him.  This is of course the purpose of our existence.  However, we live on earth and must fulfill His purpose for us while we are mortal beings.  We are to avoid focus too much on ourselves, our own desires, and to stand guard against influence of non believers.

My Prayer: Lord, Your words are eternal, they are perfect, and they are for me! Amazing.  Yet I don't always seek out Your word and I don't always follow or obey Your words.  I know You love me anyway so I thank You but I pray that You will forgive me.  I also wish that Your desires are my desires. Help me be more like You.



The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

Isaiah 50

The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,

to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me morning by morning,

wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.  v4

Elsewhere:

[M]an does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  Deuteronomy 8:3

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:2

My Prayer: Lord, Your word is perfect - nothing else is needed.  Just the same, all i need is you...however, i often seek other gods...this is not right!!  I know you love me anyway but please forgive me lord jesus.  Help me.  purify me and help me lean solely on you.  Help me so that your desires are my desires.  Help me be more like you.

Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.

Isaiah 49

Before I was born the Lord called me;

from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. v1

...

He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,

in the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me into a polished arrow

and concealed me in his quiver.

He said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” v2-3

I am challenged to act in the name of the Lord Jesus...just as I am with James:

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?  James 2:14

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, I desperately desire to be more like You as You are pure, holy, and perfect and You are everything...I also desire to please You.  Yet I fall short.  I know You love me but please forgive me.  Help me....strengthen me and make it such that Your desires are my desires.