Because You Have Prayed
The news she had been dreading rang out like an echo over the phone. She stood numb, not even able to process the words that spilled out of the earpiece. In that split second, life changed forever.
Have you ever had earth-shattering news delivered to you?
King Hezekiah received some earth-shattering news from an Assyrian king on the war-path named Sennacherib. Sennacherib had already conquered the Northern Kingdom and was ready to take on the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
The Bible describes Hezekiah like this: he clung to the LORD, he removed the idols from Judah, and he did right in the sight of the LORD (2 Kings 18:6). These are important things to remember as we look at the transaction between these two kings.
In 2 Kings 18:19, Sennacherib asked Hezekiah a question: What is this confidence that you have in your God? The Assyrians were calling into question the ability of God to protect Judah and His very character. They named off a whole list of nations they had captured as an example of their military might and sarcastically asked, “Where were their gods?”
Friends – don’t believe the lies of the enemy when he calls into question the faithfulness of Jehovah. The very name – Jehovah – is a reminder that He is a covenant-keeping God.
Immediately upon hearing the threats, Hezekiah sent messengers to Isaiah the prophet with a prayer request! Listen to what the messengers told Isaiah in 2 Kings 19:3. “This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection;” They begged Isaiah to offer a prayer for the remnant in Judah.
Child, run to your God just like Hezekiah did in difficult circumstances. Hezekiah knew that if anything could change the outcome of this terrible situation, his LORD God could!
King Sennacherib amped up the anxiety by sending a threatening letter to Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:14). This time, Hezekiah cut out the middle man and went straight to God in prayer for himself. I love what he did – he went to the house of the LORD, spread out that letter, and prayed all over it!
Is your mind going where mine is? When that bad health report comes, when you get that bill that you can’t pay, or when you get a letter announcing bad news – spread it out before God and just pray all over it! God knows we have days of distress, rebuke, and rejection. Let God take care of you through the situation.
I just have to put the prayer from 2 Kings 19 in this post because it is so beautiful:
Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God… Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
2 Kings 19:20 tells us that Isaiah sent word back to Hezekiah: “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.’”(2 Kings 19:35-37).
Go read the rest of the story for yourself to see how God delivered Hezekiah and the Kingdom of Judah!
Prayer changes things. It can take a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection, and turn it into a day of comfort, blessing, and approval.
