SSI Ministries | 40 Days Prayer Focus | Week 4
— Divine Direction & Purpose —
BEHOLD, I AM DOING A NEW THING
Isaiah 43:16–21 | Week 4: Divine Direction & Purpose
Isaiah 43:16–21 (NIV)
“This is what the Lord says — he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praises.”
Introduction
There is a moment in every believer’s journey when they must make a defining choice: will they remain anchored to yesterday’s chapter, or will they step forward into the new page God is already writing? Isaiah 43 presents us with one of the most electrifying declarations in all of Scripture — a living God who is not merely the God of what was, but supremely the God of what is coming.
The prophet Isaiah writes to a people battered by exile, carrying the weight of personal failure, national shame, and spiritual fatigue. They are dwelling in memory — replaying the Red Sea miracle, the parting of the waters, the glory days of their fathers. And God interrupts them mid-reminiscence with a breathtaking command: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” — Isaiah 43:19
This is not God dismissing His past faithfulness. He explicitly references the Red Sea crossing (vv. 16–17). Rather, He is saying: the miracle you are so captivated by is not the ceiling of what I can do — it is the floor. He is calling His people to perceive what is already in motion. The question He asks is deeply personal: “Do you not perceive it?”
I. The God Who Already Made a Way
God opens this passage by reminding His people of His track record. He is the God who “made a way through the sea.” This is not poetic mythology — it is covenant history. The God speaking to Isaiah is the same God who split the Red Sea when Pharaoh’s army stood at Israel’s back. He crushed the greatest military force of that era and cast them into the deep.
Notice the language: He “drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again.” What threatened Israel became testimony. What should have ended them became evidence of God’s supremacy. Every enemy that followed God’s people into the sea was extinguished like a wick.
Psalm 77:19 (NIV)
“Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.”
God establishes His credibility before making His promise. He is not asking you to trust an untested theory — He is asking you to trust a proven covenant-keeper. The same God who parted the Red Sea is about to part your wilderness.
📖 Application: What past miracle can you remind yourself of today? Your testimony is not just a story — it is the foundation of your expectation.
II. The Command to Release the Past
Verse 18 carries one of the most counter-intuitive commands in the Bible: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” In a culture that celebrated ancestral memory and covenant history, this is radical. God is not asking Israel to develop amnesia — He is addressing a dangerous spiritual posture: the tendency to live inside yesterday’s miracle while missing today’s movement.
There are two kinds of people hindered by the past. The first is the person held by former wounds — betrayals, losses, failures. They cannot move forward because grief has become their identity. The second is the person held by former glories — past revivals, spiritual highs, seasons of abundance. They cannot receive the new because they are still trying to relive the old.
God is not asking you to forget His faithfulness — He is asking you to stop treating yesterday’s breakthrough as the limit of what He can do.
Philippians 3:13–14 (NIV)
“But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
The Apostle Paul echoes this posture in Philippians 3. He does not deny his past — he catalogues it in vivid detail in verses 4–6. But he makes a decisive choice: he refuses to let what lies behind determine how far he reaches forward. Forward motion requires releasing the weight of what was.
📖 Application: Identify one former thing — a wound, a failure, a past glory — that you have been dwelling in. Make a conscious decision today to surrender it to God and lean forward into His new thing.
III. Perceiving the New Thing
Verse 19 is the great declaration of this passage: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” The word “See” (ra’ah in Hebrew) carries the sense of deliberate, attentive perception — not a casual glance but a focused gaze. God is calling His people to actively observe what He is already doing.
The phrase “Now it springs up” is remarkable. It indicates that the new thing is already in motion at the moment God speaks. It is not a distant promise — it is presently germinating, sprouting, emerging. The question God asks is therefore a gentle rebuke: “Do you not perceive it?”
Habakkuk 1:5 (NIV)
“Look at the nations and watch — and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”
How many believers are missing God’s new thing simply because their eyes are fixed on what was rather than what is? God invites prophetic perception — the ability to see what is spiritually true before it becomes naturally visible. Faith is not waiting for God to move. Faith is recognising that He is already moving and aligning yourself with His momentum.
The new thing God describes is both directional and providential: “I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” A way speaks of divine direction — clarity of path where there was only confusion. Streams in the wasteland speak of supernatural provision — abundance flowing in places that had been barren.
Faith is not waiting for God to act — it is perceiving that He is already acting and choosing to walk in that direction.
📖 Application: Ask God today to give you prophetic perception. What new thing is He already doing in your life that you have been too focused on the past to see?
IV. Provision in the Wilderness
Verse 20 introduces a stunning image: even the wild animals — jackals and owls, creatures associated with desolation and ruin — will honour God because of what He provides in the wilderness. Creation itself becomes a congregation of praise when God moves in dry places.
This is the divine paradox of the wilderness season: what feels like abandonment is actually a setup. The wilderness is not your destination — it is the address where God demonstrates His provision most powerfully. He does not provide streams in a lush garden where water is expected. He provides streams in the wasteland, where no natural source could explain the abundance.
Psalm 107:35 (NIV)
“He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs.”
Many believers interpret the wilderness as evidence of God’s absence. But Scripture consistently reveals that the wilderness is a place of divine encounter and miraculous provision. Moses met God at the burning bush in the wilderness. Elijah received supernatural sustenance in the wilderness. Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness. John the Baptist found his voice in the wilderness.
God provides water in the wilderness “to give drink to my people, my chosen.” The provision is not random — it flows from identity. You are not a forgotten wanderer; you are His chosen, formed by His hand. That changes the theological nature of every dry season you face.
The wilderness is not evidence that God has abandoned you — it is the classroom where He reveals a provision that is entirely inexplicable apart from Him.
V. Formed for His Praise
The passage closes with the most magnificent declaration of all: “The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praises” (v. 21). This one verse answers every identity question you have ever wrestled with. Why are you here? You were formed — deliberately, carefully, intentionally — for the purpose of proclaiming God’s praises.
The Hebrew word for “formed” (yatsar) is the same word used in Genesis 2:7 when God formed man from the dust. It carries the image of a potter at the wheel — deliberate, skilled, purposeful. You were not mass-produced. You were formed. Every detail of your design, your voice, your story, your capacity for worship — all of it exists because God crafted you to be a vessel of His praise.
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
This means your breakthrough is not merely for your benefit. The new thing God is doing in your wilderness is ultimately for His glory. When streams appear in your wasteland, the nations see it. When God makes a way in your impossible situation, your testimony becomes a megaphone for His majesty. You were formed to proclaim — and your wilderness story becomes your most powerful sermon.
You were not formed for survival. You were formed for proclamation. Your wilderness is the raw material God uses to build your testimony.
Conclusion
Isaiah 43:16–21 is not merely a historical address to a displaced nation — it is a living word for every believer standing at the edge of a new season. God speaks over your wilderness today with the same authority with which He spoke to Israel in exile. He is the God of the Red Sea and the God of the new thing. He is the God of yesterday’s miracle and today’s emerging promise.
The question God asks us remains: “Do you not perceive it?” Can you see past your former chapter long enough to recognise the new thing already in motion? Can you release the past — its wounds and its glories — with enough faith to lean into the fresh move of God’s Spirit?
You are not a wilderness wanderer. You are a chosen people, a formed vessel, a proclaimer of divine praise. And in your very wasteland, God is already laying streams.
Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
30 Prayer Points
Isaiah 43:16–21 | Divine Direction & Purpose
Pray these declarations aloud with faith. Every promise is anchored in the Word of God.
1. Father, I thank You that You are the God who makes a way where there is no way.
“This is what the Lord says — he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters.” (Isaiah 43:16)
2. Lord, I declare that what was impossible for man is entirely possible for You.
“For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
3. I release every former failure, disappointment, and limitation to You now.
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” (Isaiah 43:18)
4. Father, open my eyes to perceive the new thing You are doing in my life.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19)
5. Lord, make a way for me in every wilderness situation I am facing today.
“I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19b)
6. I pray for supernatural provision to flow into every dry area of my life.
“He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas.” (Psalm 78:15)
7. Father, I reject the spirit of discouragement and claim Your promise of newness.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
8. Lord, align my heart with Your divine purpose and direction for this season.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
9. I declare that I am a chosen people, formed by God to proclaim His praises.
“The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praises.” (Isaiah 43:21)
10. Father, sanctify my mouth and make me a vessel of worship and proclamation.
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150:6)
11. Lord, release springs of living water into every barren season of my journey.
“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land.” (Isaiah 58:11)
12. I pray for divine direction in every decision before me this season.
“In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:6)
13. Father, let no enemy strategy formed against my breakthrough stand.
“No weapon forged against you will prevail.” (Isaiah 54:17)
14. Lord, I surrender my timeline and trust Your sovereign orchestration.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
15. I declare I will not be trapped by past mistakes or former limitations.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
16. Father, cause me to perceive Your movement in the subtle places of my life.
“Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)
17. Lord, I pray for every river of provision to be released in my wilderness.
“He turns the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs.” (Psalm 107:35)
18. I declare that God is doing a new thing in my family, my business, and my ministry.
“Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?” (Isaiah 43:19 NASB)
19. Father, remove every veil that prevents me from seeing what You are building.
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
20. Lord, let my praise become louder than my problems in every season.
“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” (Psalm 34:1)
21. I pray for a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit to revive every dry area of my calling.
“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring.” (Isaiah 44:3)
22. Father, let the wilderness experiences of my past become testimonies of Your glory.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28)
23. Lord, I declare that I am chosen, called, and equipped to fulfil my divine purpose.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” (Ephesians 2:10)
24. I pray that every stream of divine creativity and innovation be released in my life.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
25. Father, guard my heart from nostalgia that prevents me from embracing Your new move.
“Do not say, Why were the former days better than these? for it is not from wisdom that you ask this.” (Ecclesiastes 7:10)
26. Lord, let Your purposes for my life come to full fruition in this season.
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” (Philippians 1:6)
27. I declare that my steps are ordered by the Lord and I will not lose my way.
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.” (Psalm 37:23)
28. Father, release divine encounters and confirmations of the new thing You are doing.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.” (Psalm 37:23 NKJV)
29. Lord, I pray for every intercessor and prayer warrior to be strengthened in this season.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)
30. Father, let everything in my life bring You glory — I am formed to proclaim Your praises.
“Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
SSI Ministries | 40 Days Prayer Focus | Week 4: Divine Direction & Purpose
“The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praises.” — Isaiah 43:21