Isaiah 64:7

DISCOURSE: 1019
THE CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECTING PRAYER

Isaiah 64:7. There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for [Note: It should be translated “therefore.” Bishop Lowth.] thou hast hid thy face from us.

MAN is encompassed with dangers from which no human foresight can deliver him. He is oppressed with wants which no creature can supply. It is to God that he must look for the blessings which he needs. But he is naturally so averse to prayer, that he will bear all his own burthens rather than apply to God for relief. On this account it is that so many faint under their afflictions; and this was the ground of God’s controversy with his people.

I. The nature of prayer—

Prayer is represented in the Scriptures by a variety of expressions. It is here set forth under the idea of “calling upon God.”
[Petitions, either with or without a form, are not worthy the name of prayer, if they be unattended with a devout spirit. Prayer is a work of the heart rather than of the lips: it supposes that we feel our wants, desire to have them supplied, and believe that God is able and willing to relieve them.]
It is also described as a “taking hold of God.”—
[God has set himself, as it were, before us in the promises. There we may lay hold on him by faith: we may address him as the patriarch of old [Note: Genesis 32:26.]. And this is the means prescribed by God for the attainment of his blessings [Note: Isaiah 27:5.]

It is further called a “stirring up of oneself” to lay hold on God —
[It is no easy thing to gain access to God in prayer. We engage in it for the most part with much reluctance. Our thoughts wander, ere we are aware, and in spite of our endeavours to fix them. We seem to lose the accustomed energy of our minds. We need again and again to stir up our sluggish hearts.]
When we consider the duty in this light, we shall see reason to lament,

II.

The general neglect of it—

Many live entirely without prayer—
[They are wholly occupied with worldly concerns. They are not sensible of any spiritual wants. They rely on their own industry for temporal advancement. They acknowledge not before God either their sins or their necessities.]

Others only occasionally lift up their hearts to heaven—
[They will cry under the pressure of some heavy affliction [Note: Isaiah 26:16.]. But they resemble those spoken of by the prophet [Note: Hosea 7:14.]: like metal from the fire they soon return to their former hardness [Note: Psalms 78:34.]; after some signal deliverance too they will praise God; but, like the Israelites, they will soon forget his mercies [Note: Psalms 106:11.]

Some will maintain with constancy an external regard to this duty—
[They will repeat their accustomed form at stated seasons, or they will offer a few general and cold petitions; and with this outward act they will rest satisfied. They feel no pleasure in the duty, but perform it as a task.]
But there are some few indeed who pray to God aright—
[There is a remnant now, as there was in the prophet’s days [Note: Isaiah 8:18. The prophet certainly did not mean to include them in his censure.]. There are some who “stir up their souls to lay hold on God.” But these are few when compared with the bulk of mankind: they may be said comparatively to be “none” at all.]

To counteract this evil, we proceed to set forth—

III.

The consequences of this neglect—

The tokens of God’s displeasure, which those in the text experienced, will be experienced by all who neglect prayer. God will surely “hide his face from them.”
He will not reveal to them his glory—
[He reveals himself to his people as he does not unto the world [Note: John 14:22.]; he shines into their hearts to discover to them his glory. But he will vouchsafe no such mercy to those who call not upon him. His perfections are to them rather an object of terror than of admiration.]

He will not manifest to them his love—
[He often “sheds abroad his love in the hearts” of those who seek him, but the neglecters of prayer “intermeddle not with their joy [Note: Proverbs 14:10.]: they are strangers to the spirit of adoption; they rather banish God from their thoughts, and wish like the fool [Note: Psalms 14:1. The words in Italics are not in the original.], that there were “no God.”]

He will not communicate to them his blessings—
[His faithful worshippers have all the blessings of grace and glory. But others have no part or lot with them. The blessings they do enjoy an turned into a curse unto them; and to eternity they must ascribe their misery to their own neglect [Note: If all the souls that an banished from the Divine presence were asked, “Wherefore has God hid his face from you?” they must assign the reason that is given in the text.]

Application—

They, who live without prayer, should consider these things—
[This offence has been awfully marked by the indignation of God [Note: Psalms 81:10. “God gave them up:” to what? to their enemies? to death? or to immediate and eternal condemnation? No; to what was worse than even that, “their own hearts’ lust,” that they might “treasure up wrath against the day of wrath.”]. How bitter must be the reflections of those who perish through this neglect! Surely all should seek the Lord while he may be found.]

They also, who are formal in prayer, should lay them to heart—
[These, as being more liable to deceive themselves, are in greater danger. Our prayers must be fervent in order to be effectual [Note: James 5:16.]. If we would enter into heaven, we must press into it with violence [Note: Matthew 11:12.]

Nor should this subject ever be forgotten by those who profess godliness—
[Unless we stir up ourselves continually, we shall soon lose the Divine presence. We cannot guard too much against formality in prayer. Let us be encouraged by God’s gracious declaration [Note: Proverbs 15:8. God is not more pleased with the songs of angels than with the sighs and groans of a contrite soul.]—]