Prayers of the Righteous 05 – Isaiah – Rend the Heavens!
Isaiah 64:
1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!
2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!
3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins for ever. Oh, look upon us we pray, for we are all your people.
10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?
Revival
An increasing number of us at BCC are praying for revival in our town and in our nation. We pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church, for God to come in power.
Let’s see what we can learn from the prayer we have just read in the book of Isaiah.
1: Revival in the Bible
For this study I’m going to avoid looking at past examples from outside the bible as models, e.g. Welsh revival, Hebrides, etc. that we might of heard or read about. We can learn something from these, and definitely be inspired by the stories. But our doctrine is based on the word of God. Let’s start at verse 1:
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! (Isaiah 64:1)
So, if we want to be biblical about what revival might look like, it would mean that when it happens, we’d all agree that it was as if God had torn the sky wide open and manifest his presence and power so clearly that it was undeniable to all who witnessed it!
This reminds me of the day of Pentecost:
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)
And that was just the beginning! Look a few chapters later and you read:
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31)
So if we are to pray for revival as the Bible portrays it, let’s pray that God would rend the heavens over our town.
But let’s get back to our passage.
2: Why did Isaiah pray this prayer?
Mountains
1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!
When Isaiah prayed that mountains would tremble, I wonder if he had in mind physical mountains only. Perhaps there are other mountains that cannot be moved without God’s help. Obstacles in our way. Certainly in 700 BC Isaiah saw many obstacles to the perfect will of God. When we pray for revival, let’s think of some of those obstacles and pray that God would cause mountains to tremble! Remember, you only need faith the size of a mustard seed!
Sinfulness
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
We see in verse 5 that sin angers God and prevents us from being saved. Then in verse 6 we find that even righteous acts are like rags if there is sin in our lives. This is even true for the Christian. We know that God had saved us from the eternal consequences of sin and that we are going to Heaven when we die. However, if I, as a Christian, commit murder or steal, there will be consequences on earth. I may ask God for forgiveness, but this will not stop me from being punished in this life. That’s an extreme example and shows how sin causes barriers between us and other people. But it’s also true of our relationship with God. If you’ve offended him, you need to put it right with him. But don’t worry! He is faithful to forgive! Don’t go to the other extreme and feel guilty of sins that you and God have dealt with.
Prayerlessness
7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.
If we really want to see revival, we will strive in prayer. Oswald J Smith referred to this kind of prayer as ‘soul travail’. Let’s pray that God gives us that heart for the lost that strives for their salvation in prayer.
God’s dwelling place was a wasteland
10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
Paul tells us that we are God’s temple. May the words in this passage never be true of our churches.
In Isaiah’s Jewish context, the holy cities were a wasteland, Jerusalem was a desolation and the temple was a ruin. I believe the answer to the question, ‘How did we let this happen?’ is found in the last line of verse 11. All that we treasured lies in ruins.
When we let go of all that we treasure, we lose sight of God’s purpose and the rot sets in.
Our mission has never changed. It is to love God, love people and to make disciples. We must treasure these things, so they never lie in ruins.
3: Requirements for revival
There may be other conditions for revival to break out, but these come to mind for now:
Unity
In Acts 2 they were all together in one place. Jesus said that people would recognise who we are because of our love for one another. We must strive to keep the bond of peace. Verses 6 and 9 of our passage deal with Israel as a collective entity: “All of us have become like one who is unclean … Oh, look upon us we pray, for we are all your people.”
Repentance
We have already talked about sinfulness in this passage. Is God asking us to amend our ways? How is he challenging you today? (Not someone else – that’s between them and God!)
Fervent Prayer
Isaiah prayed that God would rend the heavens. Those first words, ‘Oh that you would’ are not half hearted! We need to pray, and we need to do it in all sincerity. Perhaps the first prayer is to ask God to give you the desire. In Acts 4:31 it was after they had prayed that the Holy Spirit moved. You may wish to add fasting to your prayer, but that’s for another study.
Pray for boldness, pray for the Holy Spirit to continue to fill you with his presence and power. Pray for unity. Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Faith
We must believe that revival is possible. Remember verse 1 asks God to cause mountains to tremble. Perhaps our first prayer is that he would move the mountain of disbelief. This way you are using the mustard seed sized faith that you already have to ask for more faith! You do have faith already because without it you would not have believed in Jesus and the one who sent him. Let us pray like Isaiah did, in faith, “8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
God’s sovereign will
God has the first and last word on everything. He also has a clearer picture of timing than we do. Verse 4 tells us that he acts on behalf of those who wait for him. Waiting is not easy, but let’s not give up praying.
How might this look for us?
Imagine our church so moved by the Holy Spirit that we are all more on fire for God than ever before. Imagine a new love for God and for his people spreading across all God’s people in our town, whatever church they belong to. Picture every Christian driven to spend more time in his word out of genuine, Spirit-led intense desire for intimacy with God. And imagine the same Christians working in unity going out into a needy world to proclaim the gospel in the power of the Holy spirit. And picture the Spirit being so at work in the lives of the lost that Christians are asked, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ Imagine being asked that question yourself and having no hesitation in answering with Spirit-led conviction and clarity. Imagine the ripple effects causing nations to tremble! Dare you pray for such a move of the Holy Spirit? It surely starts with us.
Home Group Activities
- Ask the group what they think of when they hear the word, ‘revival’?
- How much faith do we have for revival to break out in our town? The idea scares some people and inspires others. Still others have given up praying for it because nothing has changed. Honestly, what’s your reaction to this topic?
- Read Isaiah 64:1-12
- What would it look like for God to ‘rend the heavens’ in our communities?
- What requirements do you think there are for this to happen (see my 5 points above under point 3).
- Pray that God would give us a heart like his, a heart that loves the lost. Pray for his power in us to perform what we cannot do without him.
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