"Until the Spirit Is Poured Upon Us from On High"

 

In my morning devotional reading today I was walking through Isaiah 32. Over the last two years or so I have been working on memorizing Isaiah 32:14-17, and that normally rouses me to pray in a way that is guided by those verses. Well, this morning it happened again, and I thought I would share what my prayer normally looks like as I think on this segment of Scripture. First, I will quote the verses, and after that I will lay out the prayer that arose from it today: 

               [14] For the palace is forsaken,

                              the populous city deserted;

               the hill and the watchtower

                              will become dens forever,

               a joy of wild donkeys,

                              a pasture of flocks;

               [15] until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,

                              and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,

                              and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

               [16] Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

                              and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.

               [17] And the effect of righteousness will be peace,

                              and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. (Isaiah 32:14-17) 

Ah, Lord! Destruction, decay, death, and decline are all about us! Not only do we see debility and dereliction in morals and marriages, society and structures, our own lives and hearts are often left “forsaken…deserted…dens of wild animals.” Oh please, LORD, pour upon me and my heart, pour upon our families, our church, our denomination, (…), your Spirit from on high, so that this wilderness will become a fruitful field, and this fruitful field will be deemed a forest. For it is then that justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fruitful field. It is then that the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness will be quietness and trust forever. Yes, LORD, pour out your Spirit from on high! Amen. 

Mike

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