Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Second Kings, chapter 8, verses 11 and 12, and he fixed his gaze and stared at him until he was

embarrassed, and the man of God wept. And Hazael said, why does my Lord weep? He answered,

because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire

their fortresses and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash and pieces their little

ones. This passage depicts Elijah weeping because he knows the implications of the word he is

proclaiming. He is speaking here about evil and injustice and sin and destruction and death

that is going to come upon the people of Israel and he is overwhelmed by it. In other words,

he is not disconnected from the words he is proclaiming. The words God has shown him. He is not

detached from what he is hearing from God and speaking here. He knows the implications of this

and he is overwhelmed with the point of weeping. And as I see Elijah here weeping, I think about

you and me as we read God's word and the warnings all throughout it of coming judgment of God's

holy wrath, do sin and sinners. And I just want to encourage you, even challenge you as I'm

encouraged and challenged by this text not to be disconnected from the implications of God's word.

Think about people around me, people around you who don't know Jesus. We know what God's word says

is coming for all who don't trust in Jesus. What Jesus himself describes as fiery torment that

will never, ever, ever end. We know the consequences of sin and evil in this world and beyond this world.

So we pray God to help us to have a feeling sense of that which we read in your word

in ways that cause us, compel us to proclaim your word with passion and with emotion.

God help us not to be unfeeling, emotionless, just stoic when we read in your word

about the consequences of sin and evil in our lives. And in the lives of those around us God

we pray that as we read about eternal judgment coming that we would not just

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