Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
– Isaiah 40:28–31
There are so many verses in Isaiah 40 that I would love to lead us to pray through. It is such an incredible, majestic, beautiful chapter describing the holiness of God, the power of God, the sovereignty of God, the love of God, the care of God for his people, and the comfort he brings to his people.
Isaiah 40:28–31 encourages us to look to God when we grow weary.
And it ends with the verses I just read. The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. Just a summary of who he is. And then we have this contrast between his power and his strength and our weakness and our lack of strength, our lack of power, how we are faint. We are people who grow weary… Even the youngest among us, even those who have the most energy.
At some point we fall exhausted, but not God, never God. He never faints. He never grows weary. And not just is he all-powerful, but he gives power to the faint and he increases the strength of him who has no might. So be encouraged today if you feel weak in any way, which you should because you are human. If you feel tired, if you feel exhausted, look to God.
Isaiah 40:28–31 challenges us to trust in a God who never grows weary.
That’s the beauty of verse 31. They who wait for the Lord. I’ve shared before that the word wait here in Isaiah 40:31 means to rest trustfully in God. Wait for the Lord, look to the Lord, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and he will renew your strength in such a way that even amidst your exhaustion, he will enable you to mount up with wings like eagles to run and not be weary. How’s that possible? We’re weary people.
The only way we can run and not be weary is when we are waiting for the Lord who never grows weary. When we’re trusting in the God who never goes faint. We shall walk and not faint when we are trusting in the strength of our God. So I just want to pray this over you today, A faint, weary, weak person like we all are, because only God is everlasting.
In all mighty God, I pray today for your strength in all of our weaknesses, and God, help each of us to rest trustfully in you today to live not out of the reservoir, the fading reservoir of our own strength, the fainting weakness that we all have. God, help us to operate out of the overflow of your strength in us. I pray particularly for those who feel exhausted.
This verse reminds us not to trust in our own strength.
God, I pray that they would know today in a fresh way that you are their strength. And God, for those who don’t feel exhausted, who may have all kinds of energy, God, I pray that they would not look to themselves for strength, but they would trust in you to provide the strength they need. And we praise you for your promise to help us mount up with wings like eagles and run and not be weary and walk and not faint.
God, help us to do all that you’ve called us to do today through trust and rest in the strength that you promise for us. Lord, we praise you for this as those who know you, who are in a relationship with you. God, we pray, give us strength, give us boldness to lead others into a relationship with you today.
Prayer for the Tiyar People
God, we pray for the Tiyar people of Bangladesh. 643,000 of them live in Bangladesh in India, this Hindu people group with no known followers of Jesus.
God, we pray. We want them to know you. God, we want them to know strength in you, love in you. We want them to rest in you now and for all eternity. God, we pray you cause the Tiyar people of Bangladesh in India to be reached with the good news of your love for them… Of who you are based on all that we read in Isaiah 40. We pray all of this according to your Word, which we love. In Jesus’ name, 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.
