“For, as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
– Isaiah 55:10–11
Oh, what a great picture of the effect of God’s Word, this comparison. Picture the rain and the snow coming down from heaven and not returning there but watering the earth and the fruit that it brings. It brings forth, sprouts seed to the sower, bread to the eater. The bread we put in our mouth is a result of the rain God brings from heaven.
This Word Drives Us to Meditate on God’s Word
And then God says, “This is the way My Word works. It goes out from my mouth, and it doesn’t come back to me empty. It accomplishes a fruitful purpose. And it succeeds in the thing for which I sent it.” What language. “My Word has power to accomplish My purposes,” God says. “My Word will prove successful.” So we read that, and we must think, “I want to meditate on God’s Word day and night. I want to receive His Word from His mouth today.
This morning, tonight, all day long, I want to meditate on His Word.” Why? Psalm 1. I was just praying this over my daughter, specifically, last night, as we were talking about Psalm 1 and just praying that, like a tree planted by streams of water, she would flourish, as she loves the Word of God and she reads it, that she might study it and meditate on it, and receive it, and that it would bear fruit in her life in this way.
Isaiah 55:10–11 Challenges Us to Proclaim God’s Word
Don’t you want this fruit in your life, like a tree planted by streams of water, to bear fruit? This is Joshua 1: “Meditate on My Word, day and night, and then you will be prosperous. I will give you success in what you do, as you meditate on My Word.” Yes. So we want to receive His Word. And then Isaiah 55:10–11.
Don’t they just drive us to proclaim God’s Word, knowing that as we speak this Word, it has power to accomplish the purposes of God in people’s lives and the world around us, that it will succeed? Oh, God, help us to receive Your Word from Your mouth in this way. Accomplish Your purposes in our lives. Give us success, in all that You call us to do, based upon Your Word. God help us to meditate on Your Word day and night.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for the Kunbi People of India
Like the ground receiving water and bearing fruit, may it be so in our lives. And, God, we pray you’d help us to proclaim Your Word, that others might have life, that others might be drawn to You, that others might have prosperity and success, true prosperity, true success. God, we pray You’d help us to share Your Word with others today, to encourage other followers of Jesus, with Your Word, to point people who don’t know Jesus to Your Word, to share Your Word with them. God, we pray for the spread of Your Word among all the nations of the earth.
We pray today for the Kunbi people of India, 15 and a half million of them, hardly any followers of Jesus, unreached by Your Word. God, we pray that the Kunbi people would be reached by Your Word, that it would go out from Your mouth, in the mouths of Your servants, Your church, that it would accomplish Your purpose among the Kunbi people, that they might experience success, fruitfulness from Your Word. Oh, God, we praise You for Your Word and for what it accomplishes, according to Isaiah 55:10–11. May it be so in our lives, and may it be so among the nations. In Jesus’ name, we pray. 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.
