In the KJV, Isaiah 45:11 reads, “Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.” People are often confused by the words, “command ye me,” and some have derived false doctrines from them. For example, John Avanzini teaches what he calls the “memorial prayer.”[1] According to him, this form of prayer is effective “when all else fails.” He claims that this verse is God’s direct invitation for believers to command the works of his hands. You are to command God to do what you want, and he will obey you.

Avanzini claims that when this was first revealed to him, it appeared so incredible that he “checked” it, and verified that this is what the verse teaches. However, when we observe the context of the verse, it becomes obvious that it asserts the opposite of what Avanzini says about it. Modern translations of the verse are better, and leave no room for the distortion.

Isaiah 45:5–13 (NIV)
“I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

“You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it.

“Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.

“Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

“Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’

“This is what the LORD says – the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty.”

In other words, God says, “I am the only God. Whether prosperity or calamity, I am the one who causes it, and there is nothing you can say about it. What? Are you going to question me about my plans? Are you going to give me orders?”[2] Thus verse 11 declares that no one can command God and tell him what to do. He is the one who decides what will happen, and no one can resist him.

[1] John Avanzini, Moving the Hand of God (Harrison House, 1990).

[2] See Vincent Cheung, The Author of Sin.