This well-known passage comes at the end of the chapter that begins an entirely new section of the book of Isaiah that scholars call second Isaiah. This section, beginning in chapter 40, is composed in a time when God’s people realized the radical promises of the “first” Isaiah, written more than a century before, as miraculous reality. The first word of chapter 40 is “Comfort”. Sometimes it’s hard to believe God’s promises in a world of frightening consequences and even more frightening chance.

Second Isaiah calls us to see what God is doing in our world and in the lives of those willing to put their trust entirely in God. The passage that culminates this opening chapter of a new book of hope, verses 25-31, begins by turning our eyes toward God and the mass of stars that fill the night sky? Prayer begins with a radical reorientation of our lives—of what we choose to see and the light in which we see ourselves, others, and the world. Some see balls of gas burning billions of miles away. Isaiah calls us to a prayer posture, in which God names each star and calls them all to do his will.

We are like those stars—named and cherished by God—and not one of us missing (see Philippians 2:15). God brings us out like an army, calling us each one by name. We hear this calling by God as we tune our souls in the practice of prayer-without-ceasing. Note the series of rhetorical questions in this passage (there are seven of them). Prayer forms the answers in the DNA of our souls: God has no equal; God alone created the stars; God always sees our troubles; God champions our rights; We have always heard and understood all of these truths.

There are two progressions in this passage worthy of note. The prayer of Isaiah 40:25-31 begins with the voice of God–turning our eyes toward heaven. God reminds us of the deep promises that have formed the universe by calling the answers from within us. The prayer culminates with a vision of what God’s strength can do in our lives-obliterating all barriers and launching us with strength that comes from God alone. This should not surprise us: prayer begins with God and radically reorients our lives and even our world.

But there is another progression which fascinates me, in the closing verse (31). The progression here seems counter-intuitive. We might expect the sequence to work from the ground up, so to speak. Hence, walk—then run—then fly. We even say this to ourselves (“You’ve got to walk before you can fly”). But this prayer reverses the expected order of things. God begins by launching those who trust (the NAS/KJV translate this word as “wait” and the NIV translates it as “hope”) in God into flight. After seeing the world from the perspective of God, we return to the earth, landing at a run. Then we walk without fainting among those whom God will not forget, like an army of stars—touching them with light that banishes darkness.

1. Take each one of these seven questions from God and answer them out loud:

2. What are the ways in which you trust, wait on, and hope in the LORD?

3. When have you felt God’s strength in your life? What was going on at the time?

4. What happens when you pray?

For Next Week: Please read 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 (key verses are 8-9). Our theme is: “What About Unanswered Prayer”. The teaching statement is: Although God doesn't cause bad things, God allows them to happen and brings good out of them. What do you expect from your prayer? Looking back on your life, where have you seen God working in ways that you could not understand at the time?

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