My heart is so full this morning from what I have read in Isaiah 62, I just could not wait to share it with you all! But I only have time to share half, and I’ll share the rest tomorrow.
Isaiah 62:6-7
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen;
all the day and all the night they shall never be silent.
You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest,
and give him no rest until he establishess Jerusalem
and makes it a praise in the earth.
(photo credit www.pixosphere.com)
Watchmen on the walls – those who watch and pray. This is a challenging reminder that we are to never forget our responsibility in prayer. Watchmen are always on the lookout, always on the alert, always ready to fight. So we are to be as prayer-ers.
The disciples struggled with this – Peter, James and John in the garden when Jesus asked them to keep watch and pray and they fell asleep. Of course, I struggle with this. When I don’t get enough sleep it is an extreme challenge – mind wandering, nodding off, getting distracted by other things.
But these verses say that IF we remember the LORD – which, of course, we DO remember the LORD! – we are to give him no rest until he answers our prayers!
AMEN AND AMEN! THis totally shoots down my misconceptions that I have had about praying once for something, he’s heard me, no need to pray again about it THAT often. Along with “pray without ceasing” and “give him no rest” we are to continue in our prayers until we get an answer – not necessarily the answer we are always asking for, but God ALWAYS answers according to his will, and as we pray, we see the answers as they come.
If I am really honest before God, I deeply desire to be a prayer warrior. I never have before. But the more I pray and the more answers I see to prayer, the more I want prayer to impact my life and the lives of others around me. I don’t know if I’m strong enough – in fact, I KNOW I am not strong enough on my own to do it. There’s no way. But in my weakness before Christ, I am made strong. It is going to have to be only through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s sanctification in my life that I can get anywhere in prayer.
Thank you God for this word of encouragement and challenge for my prayers. I want to be a watchman, always on the alert, always ready and willing to pray. I want to be a prayer warrior. But I need you to do the work in me, continually change my heart toward prayer, grow my heart and life in maturity in prayer. Give me the ability to resist temptation to be distracted, and to instead pursue you, to give you no rest, until you have answered.
