One of the many tremendous blessings of being God's children is that we can openly and honestly declare to Him our feelings through prayer. Even in hard times, when we might feel forgotten, God does not shy away from our honesty. What's more, God gives answer to our complaints and backs His answers up with evidence: sending His Son Jesus, our Immanuel, to be with us. Jesus is God's declaration to us when we feel forgotten or forsaken! 

Isaiah 49:8-16

8 This is what the Lord says: “In the time of My favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. They will neither hunger nor thirst nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. I will turn all My mountains into roads and My highways will be raised up. See, they will come from afar - some from the north, some from the west, and some from the region of Aswan.” Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts His people, and will have compassion on His afflicted ones. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

For Adult Homes & Groups

1. Read Isaiah 49:8-16. What are all the promises God declares in verses 8-13? What do they teach about God’s character and His plans for us and the world?

2. Now read verses 14-16. Compare God’s response to Israel’s (Zion’s) despair to an event in your life where you felt forgotten. How did you see God’s answer in that circumstance?

3. How can you hold on to the declaration of God’s unfailing love in Isaiah 49 in your daily life? How does the illustration of a mother’s love point to the depth of God’s love for you?

4. Make a list of the ways that the promises in Isaiah 49 provide comfort during times of personal and communal hardship.

For Families with Kids

Read and memorize Isaiah 49:16. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before me.

Family Activity - Trace each of your hands on separate pieces of paper. Then draw a cross in the middle of the hand. Finally, write a different promise God gives to you on each finger. Hang up your handiwork somewhere noticeable and ask God each morning to help you see and live out those promises for every day.