Isaiah 53:4-6

Isaiah 53:4-6
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.
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.

---

What a sacrifice made for us!
You, O Lord, carried our sicknesses:
those from the past, even those of our ancestors,
to those of the future of our children and our grandchildren.
Thank you for being a generational kind of God!
In your precious body you bore our weaknesses and our sufferings.

You bore our hurts, our hang ups, and our humiliations.
Because of your sacrifice, we are made well and whole.
All our rebellions and crimes have been forgiven.
Hallelujah!

We are free from those things that bound us
and kept us in bondage.
We are healed from past pains and grievances,
our sorrows,
and all of those things that weighed us down.

Thank you for the blessings of hope in this world!
That all is already well, and in your name
we rejoice and we are glad in the promises of your word.
It is done!

Thank you for the gracious provisions
of a peace that the world can't give,
and the world can't take away.

It is in Jesus' mighty and awesome name
that we pray and we give thanks.

Amen.

Isaiah 12

Isaiah 12
In that day you will say: “I will praise you, Lord.
Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.”
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

---

O Lord, I am filled with the hope of your comfort and peace.
Thank you for being my strength and my shield.

For the gift of being able to draw fresh, clear, cool water
from your deep well of love and forgiveness,
I give thanks.
You have done glorious things
in my life and my friends and my family, and for all of your people.

And so we sing from the depths of our soul!
A melody of amens and hallelujahs.
Your greatness and awesomeness overwhelm us.
We exalt your name
because you are so worthy of all of our praises
and all of our thanksgivings.

Thank you for looking down from heaven,
for seeing us and having such great compassion for us.
Thank you for the assurance of strength, salvation,
wholeness and dignity
that come from belonging to you.

We love you with all that we have,
with all that we are and all that we ever hope to be.
Thank you for reigning down your spirit
of peace, tenderness, and gentleness in our lives.

And we pray in the name of Jesus,
Amen.

Isaiah 41:10-13

Isaiah 41:10-13
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will also help you,
I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

---

Lord. It's so easy to fall into fear.
It's that half step to the left,
and then we go
tumbling down a narrow winding shaft
with slippery slopes.
Then I have heard with my “spiritual ears”
you speaking, as you did to Isaiah,
and saying, “Don't fear because I am with you.”

“Don't be afraid, for I am your God!”
Your word promises strength and hope.
And that if we just hold on to your strong, righteous hand,
you will grasp our hand and the promise.
Help is on the way!

Sometimes we read too many posts on social media
forecasting doom and gloom,
and we clutch our rapidly beating hearts
where the palpitations just won't stop.

We bend over in pain
because the fear has paralyzed us.
But when we look back
at how you brought us over
and how you brought us through.
You brought us through a “Red Sea”
with waters standing up on both sides.
You defeated army after army without any weapons.
You spoke and the wind quit misbehaving.
I was in error! My own focus has often been misplaced.

Now that my eyes are on you,
I can sing with confidence.
My help is on the way.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ is his name.
May your name be praised always.
Amen.

Isaiah 40:31

Isaiah 40:31
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

---

Gracious God,

though the journey sometimes gets weary and arduous,
sometimes where it's difficult
to place one foot in front of the other,
I am reminded of your precious promises to us.

Those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength!

Just hearing those words—
they resonate in my spirit and reverberate in my heart.
I know you will give me the strength
to go just a little bit farther.
Hallelujah!

You are my hope and my joy.
Thank you for filling my soul
with the hope of endurance
to see my way through.

I thank you today
that I'm not tired or weary yet.
I thank you
that my walk is steadfast and strong.
I feel my help coming on.
Hallelujah—
and his name is Jesus.

And we give thanks in that name.

Amen