November 2025

The following is a possible framework for the Witnessing of the Word. It can be personalised or altered: its purpose is to serve as an example of how this Saying might be used primarily in the context of a Prayer Group, but it may be used by individuals too. It is not intended to be definitive.  In the context of a group: the periods of silence should be appropriate for your group - probably not less than 5 minutes, or more than 15 minutes.

Saying for the month: 'I will raise up their ruins' (NCB) Isaiah 44.26.

To begin the exercise, first spend a short while in relaxation and preparing to be still; you may want to relax your way through your muscles or you may find it helpful to become aware of the sounds around you and then put them aside as you offer this time of prayer to God.

Say this introductory invitation to prayer, then keep a further minute or two of silence:  ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11.28).

Introduction to the first silence - a preparation for listening with the mind:

‘I will raise up their ruins’.

Isaiah is one of the most renown prophets in the Hebrew Bible. A prophet does not foresee the future – the ‘pro’ means ‘on behalf of’, thus Isaiah is speaking on behalf of God, seeing a situation as God sees it, and voicing what God thinks. He forewarns of the consequences if the Ancient Israelites do not mend their ways and shows them how what is broken through their sinfulness can be healed.

To put these words of God into context let us consider this bigger passage, Isaiah 44.24-28:

In this passage God vows to raise up the ruins of Judah, to rebuild and restore. Isaiah is concerned for the well-being of the Ancient Israelites, constantly guiding them towards good relationship with God, and one another, reminding them to keep their side of the covenant. Thus whilst this passage specifically refers to the rebuilding of the physical structures of the cities of Judah, we can assume the passage also refers to healing and restoration of the lives ruined by war and destruction.

God does not make bad things happen. We have done this through injustice, racism, prejudice and abuse of power. However, the sin of war and conquest, of dehumanising the ‘other’, can, through God’s love and compassion be transformed to the restoration of ruined lives. This message from Isaiah then, is a message of hope.

Initially Jesus’ focus was on the most vulnerable in his society, the socially excluded, disabled and scapegoats of the land of the Israelites. He also understood that his ministry was for the Gentiles as well. This inclusivity was further worked out by St. Paul through his evangelic travels throughout the Mediterranean.

Isaiah reminds Israel that God has blotted out their transgressions and redeemed them, and urges them to ‘return unto me’ that is, to repent. He again reminds them ‘I am the Lord who made all things’. He has previously rejected earthly wisdom and will Himself rebuild the ruins of Jerusalem. In other words, He promises the restoration of broken lives, broken cities and the rebuilding of the temple

Cyrus was king of Persia 550-529 BCE. There is a strong tradition that he gave permission for the Jerusalem community to restore the temple. God is giving hope to all people. He will restore people’s lives, livelihoods and cities. He will raise up their ruins. His work will be done through the likes of Cyrus, the beneficent instrument of God’s goodness. 

Whilst Isaiah is speaking exclusively to the Ancient Israelites, his words continue to have resonance and meaning for us today. As Christians we turn to the ministry of Jesus for a fuller understanding of God’s intentions for the whole of his creation.

Let us take these words of hope from God into our minds.

‘I will raise up their ruins’. 

A time is now kept for silence of the mind – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes. The silence concludes with a short thanksgiving, and/or feel free to repeat the Saying.

The first silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word.

Introduction to the second silence - a preparation for listening with the heart:

‘I will raise up their ruins’. 

Whilst Isaiah was speaking exclusively to the Ancient Israelites, Jesus learnt through his engagement with all those that he met throughout his ministry that his mission of healing of body and minds was inclusive of all. Thus these words ‘I will raise up their ruins’ are words for all those whose lives have been ruined. Likewise in the context of the time in which Isaiah’s writings were set, Cyrus, the Persian King enabled the return of the Ancient Israelites to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of their temple. Thus we see that then and now, leaders of goodwill can enable the restoration of lives and communities.

In the current geo-political climate there are many people being killed, and massive destruction of people’s lives, livelihoods and cities around the world, including in Palestine, Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan, civil war in Myanmar, the Republic of Congo and the sudden collapse of the Assad regime in Syria causing uncertainty in west Asia. The lived experience of millions of people around the globe is one of death, destruction and brutal repressive regimes leading to intergenerational trauma and mass migration.

Our hearts ache when we see the visual effects of war and destruction, broken homes, schools, hospitals and infrastructure. The instinct of survival moves us to find food, shelter, clothing and safety; needs that can perhaps be supplied by international aid agencies. But what of the ruins of the mind or of the soul, of the impact upon all those living with fear, grief, heartache, and witnessing the brutality of one human being to another. How can human hearts and souls be healed to avoid the perpetuation of intergenerational trauma into the next generation?

The Rev Dr Jacqui Lewis, theologian and member of Centre of Action and Contemplation has spoken on the theme of being ‘Transformed by Hope’.  God’s words ‘I will raise up their ruins’ are words of exactly this kind of transformation. Hope is about seeing that out of rubble, ruins and darkness, light will shine. Hope is the expectation that what we believe can happen will happen. Hope is a verb, hope is an action, a decision to lean into what we believe can happen with enthusiasm.

Daniel Hartman says: ‘A life of faith, a life of ethics, an ethical life is learning how to see’. Hope is about seeing what God is doing in the world and trusting in it, believing in it. Hope is about seeing further out from today’s moment, to see the moral arc of the universe bending towards us. See as far as your eyes can see, as far as you can look, way out there is the promise of God. Way out there is God’s fidelity and promise keeping, bending the arc of the universe towards justice, making broken places whole, turning enmity among people into peace, love and joy. Hope is in the words of God, ‘I will raise up their ruins’.

The Universal Christ who was incarnate at the beginning of time, and made manifest in the body of Jesus of Nazareth is in everything in the world, in all of creation and all of the peoples of the earth. He is in those who suffer and those who cause the suffering. He calls us all to have a hand in working to create wholeness for those who are traumatised by war, to be the Cyrus who caused the rebuilding of cities, the rebuilding of the temple, and the rebuilding of the lives of those who suffer.  

Jesus was also born into a time of brutality, the Roman’s client-king Herod ruthlessly eliminated all his rivals, a regime stained with cruelties and atrocities, as recorded by Luke in the slaying of the Innocents, leading eventually to the crucifixion. And yet, out of the ruins comes new life – the supreme example of that is presented to us by Christ on the Cross – Christ who offers up all that he has been, lets go of the identity he has embodied on earth and surrenders to God through the pain of crucifixion, in order to become a new creation.

Lewis quotes Howard Thurman: ‘In the stillness of quiet, if we listen we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair’. Hope does not come because we pretend we are not despairing. Hope is in God. Hope is sometimes elusive, but hope is to be found in the very act of waiting, of believing and of choosing possibilities, God’s possibilities, in hearing these words: ‘I will raise up their ruins’.

Now we take this Word of hope into our hearts, as we allow God’s words spoken through Isaiah to speak in us, to let it touch us and let it work more deeply upon our lives.

A time is now kept for silence of the heart – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes.

The second silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you that your Word is alive and within us.

Introduction to the time of intercession – taking God’s word outwards into the world.

‘I will raise up their ruins’. 

Remembering that hope is about perception and sight, keeping our eyes on the Holy One who is at work in us and in the world, we can take to heart the words of The Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who said: ‘Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness, even a crack of light’. As we allow the Word to speak through us we might direct God’s Word, spoken through Isaiah, towards those people and situations where there is suffering, lives and homes destroyed and the need to rebuild. We might seek to direct it to places and people who need the hope and assurance of God’s infinite love of all His peoples and the world in which we live.

Say the name of a person or a group of people, and after a short pause, repeat the saying. For example:

‘Alison and your family … ‘I will raise up their ruins’. 

Conclude this time of intercession with words of thanksgiving:

Father, we thank you that your Word has gone out through us to those for whom we pray.

The Conclusion

Feel free to use the Fellowship Prayer (below) or another closing prayer to conclude your time of contemplative prayer:

Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for all your unsearchable riches which pour forth from you as light from the sun, in boundless profusion and generosity, whether received, ignored or rejected. And now we offer to you, in so far as we are able, as an emptiness to be filled with your divine fullness, ourselves, our souls and bodies; all that we are, all that we have and all that we do. Amen

You may wish to say the Grace together before departing.