Isaiah 1:17 – Verse of the Day 1/13/14

In Isaiah’s first chapter, he offers a blistering critique of worship that maintains outward but lacks heartfelt intentions. The person who prays a ‘correct’ prayer, but then fails to care for the oppressed, the fatherless, and the widow will not be heard (verse 15). For Isaiah, the solution is not to eradicate outward religion but to ensure that true worship entails both right practices and a right heart.

As you pray, ask the Lord to help you to pray both sincerely and properly. Ask the Lord to help you grow in understanding so that your actions might honor Him. Pray that you would grow in knowledge and sincere love for God’s truth. God calls us to worship in both spirit and truth, so pray against the tendency to only embrace one (empty formalism) or the other (sincere but improper worship).