Do we have a great passion for the glory of God? Are we hungry to increase the fame of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We ought be most excited about God’s greatest ambition and man’s chief end.
Do we have a great passion for the salvation of the lost? We who are greatly commissioned, ought not we be relentlessly passionate to see God’s Gospel change lives and families? Even today, wouldn’t it be fantastic to experience God using us to bring more souls into the family of grace? Somebody is going to get this privilege. Why not us?
Do we love Christ’s church growing quantitatively and qualitatively? More fruit of the Holy Spirit; wouldn’t that be fantastic?
Do we understand the opposition party? Are we properly aware of the persistent ploys of our devilish flesh, our devilish world, and the Evil One and his minions? Do we see how this unholy coalition works together to fight against everything God deserves and his church desires?
Do we fully understand our insufficiencies? How many more times must we be reminded of our sin, weaknesses, and transgressions. In this spiritual conflict, we are in way over our heads!
Do we understand the almighty power of God which he chooses to unleash through prayer? He who ordains the beginning from the end, he who speaks and things come into existence, he who showers the earth with happy rain and hellish brimstone, he has promised to answer prayer. He needs not our prayers to accomplish his will, but he wills to use them. Friends, do we think he lies?
Therefore friends, if the answer to these questions is “yes,” then why do we not honor the Lord, take advantage of our divine power source, and hound heaven after the manner of Isaiah. Listen to his prayer-filled zeal:
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. 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 establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth … Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken. (Isaiah 62:1-12)
We should pray without ceasing. We have not because we ask not. We should boldly come before the throne of God, and we should do so with great expectations. He has the power. He has commanded the prayer. He promises it will be powerful and effective. Therefore, we should endeavor to overrun the system, tie up the heavenly phone lines, or exhaust the heavenly server’s capabilities.
Isn’t that a fantastic phrase, “You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest and give him no rest ….” In our practice of prayer, we should be like nursing infants who will not relent until our mother attends to our cry. Perhaps we should be like Jacob who wrestles with God.
Therefore friends with Christian privilege, there is no need to wait. There is no need to over-plan and over-stratagize. Let’s pray right now! Let’s have a little talk with Jesus and make things right.
And when the opportunity comes, let’s prioritize the corporate prayer meetings in God’s house. Just imagine what he might due as his beloved sons and daughters “take no rest and give him no rest.” Let’s go to the work of prayer and watch God go to the work of answering our prayers — sometimes with a “no”, but often with a “yes.”
Unfathomable Grace 