Isaiah 62:6-7
“I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
In Isaiah’s time the cities of the Middle East were fortified with walls surrounding them.
• People were set on top of these walls as look-outs.
• Their job was to keep a watchful eye out for the enemy who might attack without warning.
• They were the first lines of defence for the city.
Here God gives an unusual application to this familiar sight.
• He describes these watchmen as those who cry to Him on behalf of the city.
• They were not called to watch out, but to cry out.
• They are to pray that God establish Jerusalem as the praise of the earth.
This was not a simple goal – in fact, it looked impossible for this to happen.
• The people are in exiles in foreign lands. The city is lying in ruins.
• Yet God promised that Jerusalem will be restored, and not just that, it would become a glory, and a praise of the earth!
• Nations and kings will sit up and take notice, that they will acknowledge the glory and beauty of this city.
To the listeners in Isaiah’s time, this is something that is as impossible as moving a mountain and throwing it into the sea.
• But that was what the watchmen were to pray for.
• It was not because the watchmen had a brainstorming session and suggested that this might be a good thing to pray for.
• It was the promise of God. This prayer was God’s idea.
Do you see something here?
There is a CONNECTION here – one the one hand we have the PROMISES of God, and on the other, we have the PRAYERS of the watchmen.
• The connection is very clear – God wants people to pray so that His promise can become a reality!
• We are called to do the 1st part – pray, only then can we see the 2nd part – Jerusalem will be established and become the praise of the earth.
And God wants them to pray UNTIL His promise is fulfilled.
• The first part won’t stop if you don’t see the second part happening.
• The truth is clear - without prayer, you won’t see God’s blessings; you won’t see His works.
This is a powerful view of prayer.
• Prayer is taking hold of what God has promised and laying claim on it.
Whatever it is, bro/sis, pray God’s will and see your “mountain” removed!
• Without prayer, you won’t see your obstacle remove, your problem solved.
• What is God’s will for your life? What is God’s will for this church? Pray it into reality.
• Do you know what God’s will is for you now? In your relationship? In your work? In whatever you are doing?
• Are we taking the time to pray it into reality?
God ties the accomplishing of His will to His people’s willingness to pray.
• This fact is underscored in Ezekiel 22:30, where we find God getting ready to destroy the land because of the evil people in it.
• He makes this statement, "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none."
God will accomplish His will in our lives through prayer.
God will accomplish His purposes in our church through prayer.
• The goal of prayer is not to see my will done, although God will bless us, more than we ask or think.
• But that’s not the goal of prayer. We pray that God’s will be accomplished!
• “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!”
• Prayer is always centred around and in the will of God.
* * * * * * *
The Lord says, “You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
• God tells those who pray to (1) take no rest for themselves and (2) to give God no rest until God does something very specific — “till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
• In the NASV translation, “You who remind on the LORD” – the word ‘call’ literally means to ‘recall’, cause Him to remember.
• Their job was to cry to God and remind Him of His promise until it was fulfilled.
Why should one need to remind the Lord?
• Is God forgetful? What kind of God would forget His own promises?
• No, God certainly remembers His promises.
It is at this point we come to realize what God is after in prayer.
• It is not that God forgets and must be reminded.
• It is that we need the exercise of praying the promises of God.
Why? In so doing several things are accomplished:
• We are reminding ourselves of God’s promises.
• We come to truly appreciate what He has promised.
• And understand His ways and see more clearly His will in our situation.
Prayer is not for God’s sake; it is for ours.
• We are called to be watchmen on the walls. This is God’s desire.
• He is looking for a people to stand with Him in His purposes.
• God is looking for intercessors who will pray according to His will.
* * * * * * *
We are to pray and “never be silent day or night”
And we are to do that TILL we see God’s will accomplish.
• Have you seen God’s will accomplish in your life, family, relationships? If no, then you have to pray on.
• Have you see God’s will accomplish here in this church, in your ministry? If the answer is no, then we need to “call on the Lord and give ourselves no rest…”
God has tied the accomplishing of His will to the willingness of His people to pray.
But God desires a certain kind of prayer. He desires persistent prayer.
• The Lord says in Isaiah 62: "…give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest till He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth."
• This is the picture of persistent prayer.
• We are to come to God again and again and again until the thing for which we are praying is accomplished.
• We are to remind the Lord of His promises. We are to cry to God. We must come and keep coming.
In Luke 11:9-10 Jesus says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
• The verbs used are interesting – they indicate a persistent coming to God.
• We are to ask, and to keep on asking. We are to seek, and keep on seeking. We are to knock, and to keep on knocking.
• They also indicate an increasing sincerity and commitment to seeing our prayers answered.
• To ask is one thing, but to seek implies greater effort. And to knock implies even greater persistence.
God honours persistent prayer. “Are you serious about what you really want?”
We are told in the book of James that we do not have because we do not ask.
• If we really want to see God’s activity in our lives we must ask.
• If we really want to see God move in our church we must ask.
• If we really want to see God move in our world we must ask.
The Lord said to King Solomon (2 Chron 7:14): “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Harry Emerson Fosdick (former pastor of the Riverside Church in New York City):
"Our failure to think of prayer as a privilege may be partly due to the fact that we can pray any time. The door to prayer is open so continuously that we fail to avail ourselves of an opportunity which is always there."
I find this very true. If there is a sale, and it ends today 6pm, we’ll rush down.
• We have to tell ourselves, there won’t always be an opportunity for you to pray.
• When things have already taken place, we cannot pray for a change anymore.
• We can only pray for that which will take place in the future.
We can touch God through prayer, but only when we actually take the time to pray.
• We must plan to pray and then we must pray.
• This is what every church needs to be, because Jesus says, “My house will be called a house of prayer.” (Matt 21:13)
Prayer should be the central and distinguishing mark of His church.
• In that case, prayer should also be the central and distinguishing mark of every ministry.
• Bros/sis, we got to pray. I’m preaching this to myself. I got to pray more, and put my heart into it.
Are you willing to pray and pray and keep on praying until it makes a difference?
• Are you willing to become a watchman on the walls, crying to God day and night, taking no rest for yourself and giving God no rest until He accomplishes His purpose in your life, and in this church?
• Whether it’s your studies, BGR, family issues, or just some things you need, start praying them.
This is the challenge for you and me today. This is the call that God is giving to you.
• You are called to become watchmen on the wall.
• You are called to cry out to the One who can make a difference in this life.
• You are called to commit yourself to pray.
Alfred Lord Tennyson said:
More things are wrought by prayer than this world dream of.
Wherefore, let thy voice rise like a fountain for me night and day
For what are men, better than sheep or goats that nourish a blind life within the brain,
If knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer, both for themselves
and those who call them friends?
