Is my hand shortened that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?
– Isaiah 50:2
I love this picture of God flexing, of God saying, “Remember my power. Remember the might of my hand, the length of my hand. Is my hand shortened that it cannot redeem?” God’s power to redeem. God’s power to deliver.
Isaiah 50:2 reminds us God can save the most unlikely people.
And there’s many different directions we could go based on this verse, but here’s the direction I want to take it and lead us to pray according to. I want you to think about a person who you might think or be prone to think is beyond God’s power to save. Maybe you wouldn’t say that, but when you think about this person, it may be somebody you know, it may be somebody you don’t know personally, but you think it’s going to take a major miracle to see that person turn to faith in Jesus.
And even as I say this, I trust we realize it’s a major miracle for anyone to trust in Jesus. That’s part of the point. God’s power is necessary for anyone’s salvation. But in our way of thinking, we oftentimes think, “Wow, I just don’t see how that person ever…” Maybe it’s because you’ve shared the gospel with them over and over and over again and they’ve rejected it over and over and over again, or they seem so hard to it. Or, again, it may be somebody you don’t know personally, maybe somebody in the news that you think, “Wow, I can hardly even imagine that person coming to faith in Jesus.”
And here God’s saying, “My hand has power to deliver. My hand is not too short to redeem and to save.” And so I want to lead us, right now, to pray for that person or those people. There might be many people that start to come to your mind. So let’s pray according to Isaiah 50:2.
Isaiah 50:2 encourages us to expect to see God’s power of redemption.
God, we praise you. You are all-powerful. We praise you for your redemption and your salvation and your deliverance in our lives. Were it not for your power to save there is no way we would be saved. We praise you for the miracle of our salvation. We praise you for bringing us from death to life. And, God, right now we want to pray for other people who we know and who we don’t know who need your salvation.
And we want to ask you, God, please show your power to redeem. Show the length and the strength of your hand, your power to deliver these people from their sins. God, family members, we’ve been praying for years who’ve not come to know you, God, we pray, show your power to save them. The friends we’ve known for years and we’ve tried to share the gospel with, they’ve rejected it over and over again, God, we pray, show your power to save them. God, for coworkers who seem so hard to the gospel. Classmates, fellow students who seem so hard to the gospel and so engrossed in the ways and the things of this world, God, we pray, save them. Save them, we pray.
And, God, we pray for people we don’t know who might come to our minds. Even leaders in our country or entertainers or, well, just in all kinds of different arenas and spheres of life, you have the power to save anyone, oh God.
Prayer for Persecutors of Christians
You have the power to save the least likely. Saul, Acts 9, God, we pray for those who are persecuting Christians today, who are leading out in the persecution of Christians today. God, would you save a Saul-like person today? Please, God, do it. Save persecutors of Christians today. Save those who are working against the spread of the gospel today.
God, we pray for the salvation of world leaders in light of 1 Timothy 2. You have power to save them. God, we pray for their salvation.
Prayer for the Unreached
God, we pray for unreached people who are hard to reach and difficult to reach and dangerous to reach all around the world. Please, God, cause your salvation. It’s not too short to save all of them. Cause, we pray, your gospel and your salvation to spread among all the people groups of the world. We pray this with confidence in your power, oh God, to save. Please do it.
And we pray for faith. We pray that you would keep us from a lack of faith. Help our unbelief when we get discouraged in sharing the gospel. Or when we look at the gravity and the breadth of the Great Commission and we think, “How will that ever happen, disciples made among all the nations?” Give us faith, oh God, to believe your hand is not shortened, that it cannot redeem, and you have power to deliver men, women, and children, the most unlikely among all the people groups of the world. Do it, we pray, oh God, for your glory, in light of your word in Isaiah 50:2.
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.
