The Bible records some marvellous prayers and Isaiah 64 is one of the greatest. It is a prayer for revival and because it is in the Bible, we know it was breathed out by the Holy Spirit of God.

It is often said that the best way of learning...

There is a story of a monk who had given himself to prayer. All his life, he longed that just once, Christ would appear to him. He had prayed this for years, and then one day it happened.

The monk was praying, and as he looked up, there he ...

God’s purpose in sending His Son was to create a people who would become like Him, that we should be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29).

He was rich, but He became poor, so that others might inherit the world. He became homeles...

Do you see what Isaiah is saying? God is going to fight for our salvation. He comes to us and He stands with us as our Champion, when we could not break through to Him because of our sin. He comes to deal with the dark powers that lie behind sin a...

What hope is there for believers who have neglected justice? The answer is God: “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear” (59:1).

But here’s the problem: “Your iniquities have made...

Isaiah 59 paints an astonishing picture of the world in his day and of our culture today, using three broad brushstrokes.

1. Truth. “Truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking” (59:14–15)...

See what happens when God’s people get a fresh vision for justice:

“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily” (58:8). When? When you “share your bread with the hungry” (58:7).

“Then… ...

God was looking for something more from His people. Justice means integrity, trustworthiness, truthfulness, doing right, loving your neighbour as yourself, caring about the plight of others as if it were your own.

Do you see what God is say...

God says to Isaiah, “Declare to my people…” (58:1). Notice what God says about His own people and see if you think this describes Christians today.

These people were diligent about their personal relationship with God, serious about worship...

Repentance begins with a sense of God’s mercy. The natural inclination of your sinful heart will always be to run and hide from God, but when you are persuaded of God’s mercy, you will gather the courage to repent.

That’s why faith comes lo...

How does God make a stubborn heart contrite? The stubborn heart is not changed by judgement; it is changed by mercy.

Notice, God is provoked by “the iniquity of… unjust gain.” He is angry. He strikes in punishment. He hides His face. And wh...

We need to pray for repentance. But you may be asking, “Isn’t repentance something God tells us to do?” In other words: Is repentance something God commands, or is it something He gives?

Repentance is a command. God “commands all people eve...

Isaiah is describing the stubborn heart. If you are battling an addiction, or you love someone who is, you know exactly what Isaiah is talking about here. You know this is killing you, but you still do it. The sinner gets tired and wearied of his ...

The natural inclination of the human heart is not to come to God, but to hide from Him. That goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, where you find God coming into the garden to enjoy fellowship with Eve and with Adam. And where are they? Hid...

Look at what God is saying and try to take it in: “I dwell… with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit” (57:15). God dwells with the person who is contrite. Contrite means “penitent,” humbled by our own sins and failures, seeking after God.</p...

In the year 722 BC, right in the middle of Isaiah’s ministry, the northern kingdom was overrun by the Assyrian army. The people were deported, forcibly relocated to foreign lands, and they would never see Jerusalem again.

Then 150 years lat...

God is present everywhere-but where can you find Him? One place is in heaven: God says, “I dwell in the high and holy place." If you could ascend to heaven, you would find God there.

God’s people in Old Testament times knew another place wh...

The people who go out in joy and are led forth in peace (55:12) are those who develop the habit of hearing God’s Word and receiving it with faith and repentance.

Isaiah has a wonderful promise from God about what His Word will do in your li...

Seven hundred years after Isaiah, our Lord Jesus took up these words: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). This is something for you to do. How can you cultivate your joy in Jesus? You come to Him. It begins with believin...

The ones who find joy in God are the people who have discovered a deep thirst in their own souls: “Come, everyone who thirsts” (55:1), and those who feel that they are bankrupt: “Come… he who has no money” (55:1). They realise they don’t have what...

The ruined city is being rebuilt, not with brick and mortar, but with sapphires and precious stones. John takes up this theme of the city built with precious stones in Revelation 21—making it clear that Isaiah is talking about the New Jerusalem, t...

You might expect that the barren woman, the deserted wife and the people who live in the ruined city are the unhappiest people in the world. But Isaiah sees joy in these unlikely places.

The barren woman is singing! The abandoned wife knows...

Isaiah 54 paints three scenes of sorrow in verses 1, 6, and 11. The choice of these scenes is significant because our natural inclination is to seek happiness in three places: children, marriage and money.

1. The barren woman: “Sing,...

The desire for joy is universal. One thing that unites us all is that we want to be happy. The famous mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal said, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they al...

If you look at the story of Joseph through the frame of unbelief, it is a catalogue of disasters:

1. He was born into a dysfunctional family, where his brothers beat him up and sold him into human trafficking.

2.His sexual integr...

When a picture is put in a new frame, that same picture can look entirely different. Before it was placed in the new frame, you barely noticed it hanging on the wall, but now it draws your eye and becomes a very attractive feature.

Many peo...

The psalmist models for us what it looks like to address our own souls. Notice, he does not simply listen to his own feelings and thoughts, he speaks to himself. He asks himself questions, and he encourages himself with reasons to hope in God.

Who believes the gospel message? That is Isaiah’s question: “Who has believed what he has heard from us?” He’s asking God’s people, those who are known by God’s name.

You may say, “I do. We do. It’s in our statement of faith. We believe tha...

You are an eternal being. And if you have faith in Jesus Christ, the suffering you know in this world is the only suffering you will ever know in your entire life. Think about your eternity. What part is 10, 20, or 30 years in the light of eternit...

What kind of heaven would it be if there were no cancer, but there was still human trafficking? What kind of hope would it be to have no death, but still to have sexual abuse? What joy would there be in a heaven that was divided by race?

In...