Although the unity, the date(s) and the authorship(s) of the Book of Isaiah are disputable amongst scholars, the content of this book is incontestable. Its content covers at least three main problems of Israelites. The first challenge is a spiritual decline of Israelites. It is caused by other nations and idolatries (Isaiah 40:18–20; 44:9–20) (Davies 2000:95–96).¹ The second dilemma is social injustice. Around 810 up to 750 BC, Judah took pleasure in peace and prosperity, both economic and military expansion, they had not known since the time of king Solomon (Oswalt 1986:5). Nevertheless, these benefits were enjoyed by the higher class only. The taxation and exploitation of the trade routes from north to south through the land bridge of Palestine have caused rapid economic growth but for the wealthy class. The poor, widows and orphans were exploited and abused (3:14–15). Oppression goes right to the heart of Israelite society. The third problem is political turmoil. During Isaiah’s ministry, it was a time of great political turmoil for the nation of Judah because facing the opposition coming from the north and east (Oswalt 1986:5).

In the midst of these challenges, Isaiah encourages Israelites to take no rest to remind God through their prayers. In Isaiah 62:6–7, Isaiah encourages the readers to pray unceasingly and reveals the future reason of this prayer in verse 7. This article will use the psychology of religion to identify and clarify what implied reasons when restated in the religious-psychological language of the chosen interdisciplinary perspective.

In this section, the prayer in Isaiah 62:6–7 will be examined through the lens of psychology of religion. The psychology of religion is a general scientific psychology whose goal is the understanding of the processes that mediate human religiousness in all its variations (Emmons & Paloutzian 2003:377–402). One of the main purposes of psychology of religion is to describe religious experiences, expressions and attitude (Wulff 2010:732–735). There are two methodological principles of the psychology of religion. The first methodology is called as principle of the exclusion of the Transcendent. It states that the psychology of religion should neither confirm nor deny the existence of God as the object of religious experience and reflection. However, the experience with God could not be excluded; rather such experience should be observed carefully (Flournoy 1902:327–366). The second methodology is the principle of biological interpretation that focuses on physiological conditions of its object of study and the developmental perspective, which gives attention to hereditary and environmental factors of the object (Flournoy 1902:327–366). This article will employ the second methodology, ‘principle of biological interpretation’, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Isaiah 62:6–7 is the case study of this article. Contextually, Isaiah 62 declares God’s future restoration. Thus, Isaiah 62:6–7 assumes the existence of God as the object of religious experience and reflection. Secondly, the primary goal of this research is to argue for the present restorations as the benefits of prayer, which are stated implicitly in the text but could be explored through the psychology of religion. For instance, Martha Rubinart, Albert Fornieles and John Deus explored the psychological impact of two months of prayers. They researched on Jesus’ prayer amongst a sample taken from a community of middle-aged Catholics in Spain. They gathered quantitative data on psychological symptoms with the Revised Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90-R) and on personality traits with the Revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) at three different times: baseline, post-intervention and five months after the two-month intervention. Their research showed lower scores on interpersonal sensitivity (p = 0.009) and phobic anxiety (p = 0.03) psychological symptoms after the two-month intervention. Furthermore, the data also demonstrate lower scores and strong effect sizes on tension (p = 0.03, d = 1.029) and fatigue (p = 0.001, d = 1.390) after 25-minute intervention. The short-term result is that the prayer deeply reduces participants’ states of anxiety, depression, confusion, anger and fatigue (Rubinart, Fornieles & Deus 2017:487–504).

Psychologies have proved the benefits of prayers through the psychology of religion. Dangel and Webb’s research (2017:246–259) discovered that the supplicants may benefit from spirituality. The supplicants who experience high distressing level could reduce their emotional pain through meditation. Prayer also helps the supplicants to find creative or new outlets for establishing a greater sense of connection to others. In short, meditation has therapeutic benefits in personal and social levels.

Maltby, Lewis and Day (2008:119–129) uncovered the connection between prayer and subjective well-being. They used a cognitive-behavioral framework. The research reveals although ritual prayer, meditative prayer, prayer experience and praying with others were significantly correlated with subjective well-being, only meditative prayer, frequency of prayer and prayer experience accounted for unique variance in subjective well-being.

Ranaie, Zaheri and Ardalan (2009:678) found that regular prayer helps people recover from depression. Harris, Schoneman and Carrera (2002:253–265) affirmed that prayer will help the supplicant heal from mental illness, anxiety and stress. Kirk and Lewis (2013:1030–1043) added that people who consistently engaged in prayer were found to have higher levels of life satisfaction and purpose of life. The supplicants demonstrated a more positive attitude towards life and positive mental health (Robbins, Francis & Edwards 2008:93–99). Koenig, King and Carson (2012:174–190) found that prayer reduces the potential of suicidal behavior. Thus, the research in psychology of religion reveals that prayer benefits the supplicants physically, mentally, psychologically and socially.

Isaiah 62:6–7 reveals that their prayers are related to their hope for restoration. This future hope will grant them resilience and relentless cries to their current tribulation time. Their prayer will also enable them to have a satisfactory life although social injustice surrounded them because prayer brings out a more positive attitude and mental health during their hardships. The prayer does not change their external situation but changes their internal situation. Greek reviser in late 2nd century AD, Symmachus, believes that this prayer encourages and enables the Israelites to persevere in the midst of social injustice around them (Elliott & Oden 2007:247). Another Greek reviser in 140 AD, Aquila, believes that instruction to pray in Isaiah 62:6–7 is a must for them to cry aloud day and night and to devote themselves to prayers and petitions because this devoted prayer will grant them resilience and relentless attitude towards God until the righteousness of Jerusalem and its restoration shall shine forth like light to all nations (Eusebius 2013:300).

As Baker confirms, the psychological benefits of people who experience physical, economical and emotional pain, are more likely to offer prayer in an effort to gain supernatural favor and good standing with the divine. In other words, social factors will play a fundamental role in determining how communication with God manifests itself by influencing people to pray and the need prayer addresses (Baker 2008:169–185).

The historical background of the book of Isaiah reveals multi-layered problems: spiritual, social and political tribulations. These afflictions generate the desire in people to call out to a higher power as it is mentioned in Isaiah 62:6–7. The field of psychology of religion has proved that supplication will provide some psychological benefits to the supplicants. As Koonz (2012:146–154) states, prayer is a conversation in a relationship where the supplicants can honestly speak to and attentively listen to the living God with possibilities of healing, comfort, hope and transformation. Thus, the psychology of religion contributes to Isaiah 62:6–7 that their prayer would grant them resilience, satisfaction and a more positive life to face their multi-layers of problems.