Weekly Prayer (Feb 22nd, 2022): Pray for those who have not yet been told of Jesus to see, and for those who have not yet heard to understand (Romans 15:21).
Romans is a letter that keeps pointing to the Lord's redemptive purpose among the nations, and this is a large focus of Romans 15. Romans 15:8-13 speak of Christ as the hope of Jews and Gentiles:
"For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, 'Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.'
And again it is said, 'Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people,' And again, 'Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.' And again Isaiah says, 'The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.' May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
Paul draws these quotations from three sections of the OT Scriptures, such as Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah, and as the Reformation Study Bible notes, "these all point to the unanimous testimony of the entire OT to God's intention to include Gentiles with his people Israel in his worship and under his reign."
Then, in 15:20, Paul has just said that he makes it his ambition to preach Christ where he has not been named. And in verse 21, quoting from Is. 52, we read, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.'
Let us praise the Lord for his redemptive purpose, for the promise that those who have never heard of Jesus will see, and those who have never heard of Jesus will understand. God alone brings dead hearts to life, and since it is the Lord who does this, we can press on with confidence that he will not fail to bring his sheep into his sheepfold.
As we continue to intercede for the Japanese people, pleading with the Lord for his grace to save millions upon millions of lost Japanese people, let us do so with hope in God's promises.
It is in the name of Jesus that the Gentiles, including the Japanese, will hope, and let us continue to pray with hope and joy for the Lord to continue to grant Japanese men, women, and children eyes to see and ears to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. In His beautiful Name, Amen.
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