40 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Day 23
Day 23 – Friday October 6th
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer: you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
- Isaiah 58:9-11
Near the end of Isaiah’s writings, God speaks through the prophet to tell the people in exile that their suffering is near an end; God will lead them out of their current struggles and into REnewed life. God leads us into new life as well; he REkindles and REfreshes us. He encourages us not to be dismayed by the “sun-scorched land” that we find ourselves in, promising to resolve that, and giving us tasks to do in the meantime. Do away with oppression, accusing, and all forms of malice. Take care of the hungry and the oppressed. These are things that Jesus echoed centuries later. Pray that Jesus will help us see those on the margins with his eyes even as we anticipate his deliverance. Pray that he will be among us as we gather, REviving us with a spring whose waters never fail.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer: you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
- Isaiah 58:9-11
Near the end of Isaiah’s writings, God speaks through the prophet to tell the people in exile that their suffering is near an end; God will lead them out of their current struggles and into REnewed life. God leads us into new life as well; he REkindles and REfreshes us. He encourages us not to be dismayed by the “sun-scorched land” that we find ourselves in, promising to resolve that, and giving us tasks to do in the meantime. Do away with oppression, accusing, and all forms of malice. Take care of the hungry and the oppressed. These are things that Jesus echoed centuries later. Pray that Jesus will help us see those on the margins with his eyes even as we anticipate his deliverance. Pray that he will be among us as we gather, REviving us with a spring whose waters never fail.
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