TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 62:1-12
TO CHEW ON: "I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day and night,
You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent." Isaiah 62:6 NKJV
"You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest" - Isaiah 62:6 NIV
A little sidebar article in my Bible called “Watchfulness and Restlessness: The True Spirit of Prayer” gives this bit of historical information and insight into Isaiah 62:1-7:
“This passage formed the essential vision for a prayer community organized in the 1700s, in a part of Germany called Moravia. Known as the Moravians, they christened their community Hernhutt (sic), meaning, “The Lord’s Watch,” establishing a 24-hour prayer vigil that lasted over 100 years! Isaiah calls such intercessors “watchmen” noting:
1) They are positioned high on the walls, prayerfully focused on activities in the city, among nations and in heaven itself (vs. 6).
2) Alert to the character and ways of God, they review His promises, which are unfolding both for Jerusalem and for the nations (“Gentiles”) as well (vv.1&2).
3)They take stock with a spirit of urgent restlessness, refusing to keep silent before God (vv. 6b-7)" - David Bryant in “Kingdom Dynamics” – New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 947.
How does this description of watchman-like prayer hit you? Does it make you want to pray more fervently, about more things? That’s the effect it has on me.
Watchmen in Bible times didn’t fight the battles. They mainly reported what they saw to the people with the authority, power and military resources to do something about it.
Are you seeing problems in your home, your neighborhood, your workplace, your city, your nation, the world? Don’t default to man-made and manipulative first lines of attack. Instead of doing things like grumbling, phoning a talk show, or starting a petition, make your first reaction one of reporting what you see to God. It is only God who has the power and resources to make a real difference.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to be an alert and restless watchman (watchwoman) over my little part of the world. Amen.
MORE: A Watchman's Guide to Praying God's Promises
In a free e-book (pdf) Dick Eastman outlines a 30-day comprehensive prayer plan that is sure to enlarge your prayer borders and watchfulness.
This guide sets out a different prayer topic each day for 30 days (like the seven mountains of influence: religion, family & marriage, education, business, government, media, arts and entertainment, along with 23 more topics including Israel, children, justice, Christian leaders, etc.). Following these requests, each day has Scriptures to pray over the request, and a list of nations that will have you interceding for each nation of the world once a month.
Download the 227-page e-book A Watchman's Guide to Praying God's Promises HERE.
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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
