George Herbert on Prayer (8)

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. Isaiah 62.6, 7

Prayer the church’s banquet, angel’s age,
   God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
   The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth
Engine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tow’r,
   Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
   The six-days world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
   Exalted manna, gladness of the best,
   Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
   Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
   The land of spices; something understood.
                                                           - George Herbert

George Herbert saw prayer as a kind of siege engine, laid against heaven, from which platform the believer batters away at the walls separating him from God. The Lord Himself has provided this resource, and He expects us to use it incessantly in seeking His blessings for His people and the world.

Why should prayer have to be such a struggle, such a “warring” with God to get Him to act on our behalf? Is it because God is stubborn? Does He delight to trifle with us?

Of course not. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11.6). But faith comes to light in works, and, in particular, the works God has prepared for us in doing what is pleasing to Him. A siege engine set against the wall of a castle did not accomplish its purpose in a short time. All it did was bring soldiers closer to their objective so that they could batter at the wall and struggle with their foe for as long as it took to prevail.

Prayer is not a quick fix, either; and we demonstrate faith as we persevere in prayer – asking, seeking, knocking, battering away at the Lord, just as He prescribes. As we persist in prayer, struggling to express ourselves and giving God no rest until we sense our prayers are being heard, we show both that we believe in God and His goodness as well as in the particular “engine” He has provided for realizing His blessings.

Prayer is hard work, but there is much to be gained from the work of prayer. Let us fight on to gain the blessings of God, mounting the siege engine of prayer without ceasing.

T. M.’s books on prayer include God’s Prayer Program, a guide to learning how to pray the psalms; The Psalms for Prayer, in which all the psalms are set up to guide you in how to pray them; and If Men Will Pray, a serious attempt to call men of faith to greater diligence in prayer. Follow the links provided here to purchase these from our online store.