Dick Eastman: Keep your Watch!

Dick Eastman

When Isaiah said of the watchman: “let him declare what he 

sees” (Isaiah 21:6) he was talking about what might be described 

as the prophetic dimension of a watchman. A watchman in ancient 

times was to be constantly alert to any impending attack of the enemy 

and to give warning to leaders of the city if he saw something of con-

cern. In our day this suggests that watchmen stay alert to what the 

Holy Spirit is saying during their watch and make what they see and 

hear in the spiritual realm a primary focus of their intercession.

No doubt the two great keys to serving as a watchman are 

summed up in the words “wait” and “worship.”

More than anything else a watchman must be willing to stay 

in his or her position until the time of their watch is complete. The 

Psalmist declared, “My soul waits for the Lord more than those who 

watch for the morning—yes, more than those who watch for the 

morning” (Psalm 130:6). The word “wait” means “to stay in a place 

in expectation of something happening.” It also means “to be ready 

and available.” Generally speaking, most of the time one spends dur-

ing a typical prayer watch will lack feelings of emotion. Faithfulness, 

not feelings, is the key to being a good watchman. If our “watch” 

happens to be late in the night we might even doze from time to time.

Don’t allow this to defeat you. Simply continue praying when you 

wake from those moments of dozing. Most important is that you do 

not give up. Patience is the key to waiting.