Meditations
World Day of Prayer for Bible Translation
11 November 2026
Come thirsty
We serve a kind and generous God who longs to bless his children. He simply invites us to come. Whether we come weary or joyful, empty-handed or carrying heavy burdens, his invitation is the same. It is not based on our worthiness but on his generosity. He delights to satisfy those who come to him.
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.”
Isaiah 55:1-2 NIV
Come and listen
We notice the repeated call to listen. In Scripture, repetition signals importance. Before Isaiah speaks about nations coming, he first calls God’s people to listen. Mission begins with attentive hearts.
Today, let us make space to still our hearts, lay down our agendas and listen for God’s voice. As he speaks, may we respond with humble and joyful obedience.
Check out the resources to see ways we can listen to God together.
“Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”
Isaiah 55:3-5 NIV
Come and reflect God’s glory
Isaiah pictures deserts blooming, streams flowing in dry places and joy replacing despair. These are not images of human achievement but of God’s transforming presence.
Every one of us knows something of wilderness: unanswered prayers, discouragement, weariness, disappointment or situations that seem impossible. Bible translation can also feel slow and demanding. Yet God delights to bring life where none seems possible.
As God transforms us, our lives begin to reflect his glory and point others to him. Transformation is never only for our own sake. God changes us so that individuals, communities and nations may come to know him.
Let’s ask God to transform us and pray that he will work in the lives of individuals, communities and nations where we work.
“The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.”Isaiah 35:1-2 NIV
Come and be transformed
Isaiah’s promise begins with these words:
“Your God will come… he will come to save you.”
Everything that follows—the blind seeing, the lame leaping, streams in the desert—is the result of God’s presence.
‘Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.” Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.’Isaiah 35:3-7 (NIV)
As we worship today, let us thank God for the places where he has already brought life out of barrenness—in our own lives, in our ministries and in the communities we serve. Share stories of his faithfulness, remembering that it is his Spirit, like living water, who makes the desert bloom.
Come and trust his Word
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:8-11 (NIV)
God’s thoughts are higher than ours not because he is distant, but because he sees what we cannot. We often pray with limited vision. God answers according to his perfect purposes.
His Word is never wasted. This is the confidence that sustains the Bible translation movement. We may not always see immediate results, but God’s Word always accomplishes his purposes.
This is an opportunity to ask God to help us trust him as we walk on paths where we cannot see our destination and those situations where we cannot see how he is at work.
Go out in joy
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. “
Isaiah 55:12 (NIV)
We began this day with God’s invitation: “Come.”
We end it with his promise: “You will go out in joy.”
We leave not simply with new ideas or renewed determination, but with renewed confidence in God’s faithfulness. The God who transforms deserts into gardens, thirsty people into satisfied people and ordinary lives into reflections of his glory will continue his work in us and through us—for the blessing of individuals, communities and nations.
