Day 4: Thursday

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

    and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Many people stay away from Jesus because they have a distorted image of Him. They see a "version" of Him that is judgmental, political, or distant. Isaiah tells us that when Jesus first came, people "held him in no esteem." They missed the King because He looked like a humble Servant. 

Our prayer today is for the "skeptics"—that the fog of their past hurts or religious misconceptions would be cleared away so they can see the real, beautiful, and inviting Jesus.

• Who is a "skeptic" in your life? Spend some time praying for them.

• Ask God to strip away cultural or religious barriers that keep them from seeing Christ.

• Pray that they would be "astonished" by His true character when they hear the Gospel.

• Pray for personal sanctification - that your life would reflect who Jesus truly is.