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

We see God telling a prophet to do something that will illustrate what he is to proclaim.

So we see different examples of this in Ezekiel chapter 4.

The picture is God is going to show discipline and punishment toward his people for 390 years.

And God tells Ezekiel to lie on his left side for 390 days as a picture of that.

So for over a year and 14 months Ezekiel, and we don't know the details of how long each day he's to lie on his side like this.

But every single day God is saying, you lie on your left side like this.

Think about why? What is God doing?

Well, one, God is illustrating in his prophet Ezekiel, who's proclaiming his word, he's illustrating in a way that would be very clear to his people what he is saying.

And God is calling Ezekiel to be a reflection in his life, like his physical life lying on his side of what he is saying.

And then two, God is calling Ezekiel to identify with his message and punishment that is coming upon God's people.

There's so much here we could talk about, but I would just encourage you and me today to remember that God calls us to live out very clearly before the world around us what he says in his word to us.

And every single one of us, obviously we're not Ezekiel in this unique time and redemptive history, but every single one of us is called to live a life to show today a life to people around us that reflects the word of God in us, the word of God through our mouths should be reflected in our lives.

And God calls us to identify with the people he sends us to to be so closely identified with them that we feel what they feel, like we're not called to be distant from the people around us that we are trying to one encourage as the body of Christ as the people of God or to the people we're trying to reach with the good news of God's love.

So we pray based on Ezekiel chapter four, God, I pray for my own life today. I pray for every single person who's listening to this that our lives would reflect your word today.

God that you would help each of us to illustrate your word, your truth, your love, your kindness, your commands in the way we live today, the people who are close to us today would see a reflection of your word in action.

And God that you would give us your heart for the people we're trying to reach. I can't help but to think about Ezekiel lying on the side every day long for the people you've called him to to hear and understand your word. God, we pray that we would live like that today with a longing for people to be encouraged by your word who know you God help us to live to build up your church to build up other believers today and to point them to you with our lives.

With our words and our actions and God for people who don't know you who don't know your word God that you would help us today use us today to point them to who you are to what you have said.

God, we pray this for people who have very few believers around them to do that. We pray for the matam people, a Sikh traditional people in India, God, we pray that you would send more and more followers of Jesus with the word of God in their lips.

And illustrate it in their lives to the matam people that they might know you God, please use our lives today in ways similar to how you used Ezekiel's life to share your word and to illustrate your word with the way we live in Jesus name we pray. Amen.