A Prayer, Profession, and Hope for the New Year

In the middle of an address to Israel's enemy, we read Isaiah wording a prayer for us (Isaiah 33:1-6).  It's a prayer that Believers pray when they are in the middle of difficult circumstances.  Like many Psalms, Isaiah's prayer is designed to teach us how to pray.  Following the grammatical and syntactical rules reveals that the largest section (vv. 3-6) explains a reason for praying and trusting God ("we wait for you" in v. 2).  One of my favorite phrases in all Scripture is found in v. 6, "and he will be the stability of your times." If we believe who God is and what He has promised for us, then we will readily ask Him to "be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble."