Then the angels showed me the river of the water of life. Bright as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. Also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its 12 kinds of fruit yielding its fruit each month, the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed that the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it. And his servants will worship him.
– Revelation 22:1–5
I did something similar in the previous podcast episode, just praying through five verses. And I want to do the same here as we see some of the most beautiful verses in all the Bible here. And there’s so much we could pray according to them. So we’re just going to jump right in once I’ve read them.
This Verse Leads Us to Ask the Lord to Come Quickly
They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun for the Lord God will be their light and they will rain forever and ever. Yes, Lord Jesus come quickly. In light of this scene, we pray it today over and over again in the rest of Revelation 22:1–5. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. We long for the day, when we will see your face, we will be with you, you As our light. And we will reign with you, Lord Jesus. We will reign forever and ever. Who are we to reign with you? Oh God, we praise you for your grace in our lives. We praise you for your healing in our lives. We deserve curse. And we deserve condemnation. Lord, we deserve judgment.
We have sinned just as Adam and Eve did with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the very beginning. And now we see healing flowing from this tree of life in Revelation 22:1–5, with fruit for all the nations. Oh God, bring in all the nations. We pray for the spread of the gospel to all the nations. Oh God, may it be so for the Maratha people of India for 32 million of them, hardly any followers of Jesus. God, change that.
We want the Maratha to be around your throne. That day, Jesus, you died to make it possible for the Maratha to be around the throne that day. We pray you would help us to faithfully spread the gospel to the Maratha and every other people group in the world so that they might see your face, that they might experience healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:1–5 Leads Us to Obey the Great Commission
God, we pray you would help us to obey the great commission as your church today to make disciples right around us of the nations, far from us of the nations. God, help us to faithfully proclaim the healing power of the gospel to the nations. As your servants, we’ll worship you, verse three, day and night in perfect communion with you enjoying all that flows from you. Even what’s written later in this chapter, let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires, take the water of life without price.
We praise you for the hope that we have today, amidst whatever we are walking through, amidst whatever happens to us in this world to know that for all who trust in you, Lord Jesus, Revelation 22:1–5 is coming. So help us to hold fast in faith and hope today to the day when you, oh Lord, God will be our light and darkness will be no more. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to Revelation 22:1–5. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
