Isaiah 64:7
“And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee…”
These words have always carried a solemn weight. The prophet does not say there were none who knew God’s name or none who believed in Him. His grief is that there was none who stirred himself up to lay hold of God.
Prayer requires holy diligence. The flesh is content with hurried words, distracted thoughts, and formal duties. But true prayer rouses the whole soul. It awakens faith, lays aside lesser concerns, and reaches upward with determination.
In The Weapon of Prayer, E.M. Bounds stressed that God is not found by careless seekers. The praying man must lay hold of God with the persistence of Jacob at the ford of Jabbok, saying in effect, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”
There is a searching question in this verse for every believer:
Am I merely saying prayers, or am I taking hold of God?
The difference between those two has often marked the difference between a powerless Christian life and one filled with the presence and power of God.