Praying Isaiah 53 (Part 1)

Praying Scripture

Several years ago I faced a time when I felt my prayers were stale. I was in a rut and I just didn’t know what to pray, but then I came across a book called Praying the Bible with Your Family. As I rocked my third child to sleep, I would read these little devotionals and prayers out loud over our family. It helped me realize that the best words I could ever pray were from scripture itself.

If I wanted the Word to transform my life, surely I could use the Word to transform my prayer life too!

Sometimes, it’s a concept from scripture which brings me to prayer. Other times it’s the passage itself. God’s word is powerful, better than any double-edged sword. It will cut to the heart of what we are dealing with and speak to us in ways that no one else can.

As we draw closer to celebrating Christ’s sacrifice for us this Easter, I encourage you to spend some time in Isaiah and the passages that prophesy the gift of Christ! Here, we will focus on Isaiah 53. Take it all in at one time, or dwell on a verse each day and discover when it was fulfilled. Let the words soak into your soul and shine through your praise!

Perfect for Kids!

Isaiah 53 is a great cornerstone passage for our children to learn because it encompasses the gospel in a bite-size portion and shows them quickly why we believe Jesus is our Savior. The Intoxicated on Life blog recommends this in the post “The Key Passage your Child Should Memorize to Share the Gospel” and I highly agree.

Isaiah 53:1

Lord, we believe you are the one and only living God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. We believe you alone are the only way to receive salvation. Only through you can we have a joy that transcends the troubles of this world.

We praise you and thank you for loving us and coming up with a plan to save us before you ever created us! It is overwhelming to stop and think about how much you love us. May we take this love which overflows our hearts and share it with others. Let us reach out in action and reveal your love to those who do not understand it yet. Give us wisdom in how best to do this in each situation and the courage to actually do it!

In the One who courageously walked that path to the cross because he loved us so, Amen!

Isaiah 53:2

Lord, we are in awe of you and how you work. Not only did you set a plan in motion before the heavens were created to save us from ourselves, but your plan was like nothing we could have imagined on our own. You decided to send your one and only son from the glories of heaven to this physically trying earth and then suffer for us all to take our sins away. And in this plan, you chose not to give him any EXTRA physical qualities that would draw us to Him because you wanted your LOVE to be what drew us to Him and to you! Amazing!!! He constantly gave you glory and honor and it is His name that we shout to the heavens!

In the One who continually teaches us to be humble and allow your love to shine through us, Amen!

Isaiah 53:3

The King of Kings, our Creator, maker of the heavens and earth…you prophesied before you ever took one step on the earth that you would be rejected and familiar with pain. You knew that when you stepped off your throne in heaven you would be despised by the ones you love, and yet, you came anyway.

How, Lord? How did you still come knowing all this? Why would you want to spend thirty-three years living a life full of rejection and pain? Why!?! Your Word echoes the answer: “I love you!”

We fall at your feet and worship you knowing full well, you could have chosen a different path. But you chose the path of loving us to your death. There are no words to adequately express our gratitude for what you’ve done, for how you willingly suffered not only on the cross but throughout your earthly life just to redeem us! Knowing this, may we continually humble ourselves before you! Amen!

Isaiah 53:4

Lord, how we misunderstand your wonderful ways! You completely sacrificed yourself for us. You took ALL our pain and ALL our suffering, which was self-inflicted by our sin, and then we reacted as though you were the one who deserved God’s wrath. You deserved absolutely nothing but our love and humble submission, and yet time and time again, we chose our own selfish ways instead of your loving kindness.

Forgive us, Lord! We did not know what we were doing. Our eyes have been opened. Day by day, we understand more and more what your love has truly done for us and how it changes our lives.

Help us to share this wonderful love with others who do not yet understand it. We did not understand it either and you loved us through it.

Help us to love others to you too! You suffered on the cross for every single one of us. Help us not to put up barriers as to who deserves you…you broke down all the barriers. You love every single one of us and want none of us to suffer the fate that awaits us because of our sin. It is this immense love that we misunderstand and for this reason you took all our sins away. In the One whose love is often misunderstood, Amen!

Isaiah 53:5

What a bittersweet verse, Lord! By your wounds, your pain, your horrific suffering, we are healed. Healed, Lord!

You are the Word and spoke this scripture to Isaiah. You knew exactly what pain your healing death would entail. You knew that your body would be pierced on the cross. You knew it was only by sacrificing yourself as the perfect lamb that we would ever have the true hope of eternity with you. Your willingness to bear this much agony in order to be reunited with us overwhelms our hearts and gives us a better understanding of what it means to die to self.

We pray that we will humble ourselves to you and your will in our lives so that we will be willing to carry our cross as you carried yours–without complaint, without arguing. Just like you knew your fate, you have told us we need to take up our cross daily. Let us not be surprised when life is difficult and we suffer for your glory. May we humble ourselves to you and to others, so that others might come to know your sacrificial, saving love!

In the only one who can heal our souls, Amen!

Isaiah 53:6

Lord, we humble ourselves before you. You represent all things Holy and good. How we need you! We have gone astray so often in our lives, believing that we know what we need better than you do. How foolish we can be!

You, however, did not hold our foolishness against us. You found the only way to redeem us to you. You gently guided us back on the right path and you continually lead us. You take care of us and when we start to wander off and get lost again, you love us enough to come after us. We praise you for your immense love, grace, patience, and forgiveness. You laid your life down for us and for this, you will have our eternal love. Amen!

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Kristi F

I am an Oklahoman by birth, a Texan by current living situation, but claim the world as my playground.I love to travel and hope to someday soon take our family on adventures to far off lands, where we can share God with others and experience all the wonders He has created.

I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.