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Isaiah 55: 10-11
Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
The Word of the Lord.
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“So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth,” the Lord says in our first reading from the prophet Isaiah, “it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will.”
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I pray these words at least twice a day.
First while in my little chapel at home. “Lord, may your word not return to you void.”
I live my life soaked in scripture; I read it at home, pray over it, and preach about it daily. But Isaiah reminds us that it’s one thing to know the Word of God and another thing to live it… to do it… to be guided by it.
So, I pray each morning that God’s Word would not return to him void; rather, that I’d not only know it, but also be changed by it.
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Secondly, I pray before celebrating Mass, that both the scriptures and the words I preach would not return to the Lord void; rather, that this community of faith would be changed by them.
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Perhaps this can become a pocket prayer for you, too.
“Lord, may your Word not return to you void.”
Rather, may all who hear it, do it…and be changed by it day after day.
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Image credits: (1) Shopper Board (2) Psephizo (3) Knowing-Jesus.com