And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
– Isaiah 6:8
This is one of the most well-known verses in the book of Isaiah, one of the most well-known scenes in all the Bible as Isaiah comes face to face with God and all of his glory, all these angels singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts”, and he’s immediately convicted of his sin.
He knows he’s a sinner in the middle of a sinful people, and he deserves to be cast out of God’s presence. And God, in his mercy, through an angel flying over to him, touches his lips with a coal taken from the altar and says, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” It’s the greatest news in the world.
Isaiah 6:8 calls us to be part of God’s plan of redemption.
And it just so happens that this is Easter Sunday, and we are celebrating the greatest news in the world, that sin and death have been defeated by Jesus! And atonement is possible to be at one, be made right with God. It’s possible to be reconciled to God, redeemed by God; it’s possible for anyone who trusts in Jesus.
Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” That’s what this whole scene in Isaiah 6 is pointing to, and it all leads to Isaiah 6:8, when God then says, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Who will take my word to my people and take my word to all the peoples, to all the nations?” And Isaiah immediately says, “Here I am!” Exclamation point. “Send me!”
Because when you see who God is and you experience his grace and his mercy and his love, his forgiveness, reconciliation with him, atonement from him, he takes your guilt away, then there’s only one response at that point, “God use my life to lead other people to you. Use my life however you want.”
Isaiah 6:8 calls us to embrace the Great Commission.
And I just want to lead us to pray this today in light of who God is, in light of what God has done for our salvation, in light of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, in a greater way than Isaiah even realized at this point. You and I have been given a Commission to go and make God’s word known, make God’s grace known, his love known, his glory known, right around us and all around the world. And so let’s say it in a fresh way today. “Here I am. Send me!”
Let’s just pray this together: God, here we are. On a personal level, here I am, just like Isaiah was saying this. Look no further; see each of us right now praying this. Send us. We want to be whoever you want us to be. We want to do whatever you call us to do. Lord, we want to give whatever you call us to give. We want to go wherever you call us to go for the spread of your Word and your grace and your glory, from right where we live to the ends of the Earth; wherever.
This verse challenges us to live on mission.
There’s no conditions, we want to put on our obedience to you. God, please keep us from in any way putting conditions or even hesitations. God, you’re worthy of all of our lives, you’re worthy of all of our trust, and we surrender to you. Send us, lead us, guide us today.
God help us today to lead people to you. God, we pray that you would bring in a harvest of many souls today and you would do it through us. Send us with the power of your Spirit to share your word with others, to let people know that death has been defeated and sin has been conquered for our salvation, for their salvation.
Prayer for the Unreached
God, we pray, help us to spread this good news however you want us to do today and then tomorrow, all week, this week, and God help us to do this to the ends of the earth as we pray specifically today for 7,000 plus people groups still categorized as unreached in the world.
God, we pray; here we are, send us. Here we are; whatever you want us to do, however you want us to give, wherever you want us to go, use our lives for the spread of your glory. Here we are; send us. We pray directly in line with what Isaiah prayed in Isaiah 6:8.
May it be so. God, may we do whatever, go wherever, give whatever, sacrifice whatever, surrender everything as ones who have been sent by you into this world for your glory. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
