6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
7 And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.—Isaiah 62:6-7
When I was little and I bugged my dad for something, He would always say
keep it up…but he did not mean it. What he was actually saying was stop bugging me or else face the not so nice consequences…which usually meant I was not only not gonna get what I wanted but I was also gonna get what I definitely didn’t want. God in His word tells us to do the opposite. He tells us to bug Him. He wants us to nag Him!!
Truly, if there ever was an exhortation to pray it is right here in Isaiah 62. The more I meditated on it last night, the happier my heart became. Right here, in these verses, God tells us to give Him no rest until those things that He has planned and are on His heart are accomplished. Again…God wants us to nag Him!
The watchmen, here in Isaiah, were to hold God accountable for His promises…they were to pray day and night for those things that God had said He would do…they were to literally give him no peace until what they knew He desired was accomplished. Jesus speaks similarly in Luke 11. Read it and be encouraged.
1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”
5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Beloved…PRAY! Give your Father in heaven no rest until He accomplishes not only peace in Jerusalem but also and especially His perfect will in your own life and in the lives of the ones you love. Psalm 37:4 says this:
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
And Jesus this in the garden:
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”—Luke 22:41-42
God wants a relationship with us. He wants us to lay our hearts bare before Him. He desires only good for us. So go ahead and pray without ceasing! Remind Him of what He has done and what He has promised to do and don’t stop until He answers. I am reminded of the song What A Friend We Have in Jesus by Joseph M Scriven:
What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.—Psalm 145:19
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”—Psalm 91:14-16
