Forgetting the Former Things - Your Nightly Prayer
Title: Forgetting the Former Things
Your Nightly Prayer for May 13, 2025
by Kyle Norman
TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE
“Forget the former things, do not dwell in the past. See I am doing a new thing, Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?” - Isaiah 43:18
SOMETHING TO PONDER
Do you own any cookbooks? If you do, do you write notes in the margins of the recipes you try? This is what my wife and I do. When we try a recipe, we write about our experience on the page. Some of the notes have been words like “Yum,” “Make again,” or “That was revolting!” Imagine that on a weekly basis, my wife and I simply opened our cookbooks, sat on the couch, leafed through the pages, and read through the recipes like a stroll down a culinary memory lane. And then, after we were done, we shut the book and just put it back on the shelf. Would we be using the cookbook to its full purpose or capacity? Of course not. The reason why we make notes in the margins of the cookbook is not just to remember the meals of the past, but so we can make decisions about what we will eat today.
Think of it like this: feeding yourself simply by reading a recipe from the past is a sure-fire way to starve yourself. The same is true for us spiritually. If we feed our spirits solely by reworking the events of the past, thinking them over in our minds and hearts over and over again, then we never grow spiritually. What is more, we cut ourselves off from what God is doing in our lives today.
This is what the Lord says to Israel in Isaiah 43. Contextually, Israel had been previously captured by Babylon and moved into Exile. And with the exile came thoughts of God’s abandonment and dismissal. It was felt that God had just cut them off due to their sin and waywardness. The exile was a physical symbol of how cut off they were from God.
Imagine if Israel allowed their sins to consume them, to be the definitive word speaking about who they were, and how distant they would always be from God. Imagine if they turned their hearts away from any possibility that God could reach into their lives. Well then, they would miss the profound word of grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
And it is for this reason that God declares to Israel that they should forget the former things. Israel should turn a deaf ear to the voice of condemnation and judgment so it could be open to the possibility of redemption. God was doing a new thing, and this new thing meant salvation and homecoming. God would provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland. God would pour life and redemption upon the people.
The reason why we forget the former things is so that we can turn to the activity of God in our lives today. God is present, and God is active. “Do you not perceive it?” Isaiah asks, and with this question comes a promise. We can see and turn into the love-filled redemption of God.
It can be so easy to feel that the sins of our past speak a final word over us. Maybe for you, as you close this day, there is a sin that rests heavily upon you. Repentance is just the act of turning to God and embracing God’s work. Could the Lord be telling you this night, “Forget the former things?”
What if, upon the places where we feel wasted and lifeless, God is ready to pour living water? Could you drink it up? Could you embrace whatever new thing God wants to do in you, and through you?
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Gracious Lord Jesus,
I thank you for your work in my life. I thank you for every day I rise into your loving care, and you give me the opportunity to embrace the new things that you do in my life. Lord, help me forget the things that keep me from you. Open my heart to perceive the wonders of your presence, bless my eyes to see your work. And in those moments when I may be tempted to rehearse past sins, help me put aside the voices of guilt and shame, so that I might turn and embrace the new life you call me to. I pray all of this in your name, Jesus.
Amen.
THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON
1. Sometimes, the past things we cling to are our glorious works. But Paul reminds us that all we previously saw as gain is worth nothing compared to the value of knowing Jesus. Is there a success or glory that you are called to put aside?
2. Faith, if it is to be authentic and real, is always about the present moment. How can you reach out to God in this moment?
3 . God sends this word not to an individual, but to a people. So, think about your church community, or your fellowship of believers. Where might God be calling you to embrace something new here?
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Rafal Jedrzejek
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Originally published Tuesday, 13 May 2025.
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