When you read Isaiah 26 you’ll find a number of references to prayer: words like trust, wait, desire, yearn, and long. A favorite verse of my wife’s is verse 3, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” This is followed by the injunction, “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.”
These verses remind me of Philippians 4:6-7, we are not to be anxious, but pray about everything. Then God’s peace will keep and sustain us. In Isaiah 26:8 the emphasis is on waiting on the Lord. This waiting is based on obedience to God’s Word. Why wait? To get the answer that brings honor and renown to the name of God. That desire is what motivates one to wait on God.
Notice verse 9: “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.” Soul and spirit are focused on the inner life. There the true seeker yearns and longs for God. This describes a struggle of heart in the night or early morning. What is the writer yearning and longing for? For God. He is the One at the center of true prayer. Not what you can get from Him, but entering into a more intimate relationship with Him and having a desire that whatever He does in answer to prayer will redound to His honor and glory.
Then you will be able to say with the prophet in verse 12, “All that we have accomplished you have done for us.” You won’t desire credit or honor as a great prayer warrior. No. You’ll want God to get the credit. That’s where true peace is found.
