Today’s Bible readings are 2 Kings 20:1-22:2, Acts 21:18-36, Psalm 150:1-6, & Proverbs 18:9-10
2 Kings 20:1-6
About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet
Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is
what the Lord says: Set your
affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this
illness.”
2 When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall
and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember,
O Lord, how I have always been
faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases
you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.
4 But before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, this
message came to him from the Lord:
5 “Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him,
‘This is what the Lord, the God of
your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I
will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the
Temple of the Lord. 6 I
will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from
the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own honor and for the sake
of my servant David.’”
I love this
story in the bible. Every time I read it I’m reminded of the mercy of God. It
makes me so hopeful for every situation that I would ever face. It motivates me
to pray.
God shows us
here that nothing is too hard for Him. He can take an illness that is supposed
to take a person’s life & set them free with a single spoken word. That is
the power of our God. He doesn’t need special permission. He is sovereign. He is
omnipotent.
I like to
remind myself that what God is waiting for are His people to pray & turn to
Him. We see this in our text today. As
soon as Hezekiah turned His heart to God & prayed, God turned toward him
& healed him. It wasn’t the Hezekiah deserved to be healed. It wasn’t
because he was so good. God made it clear that He was going to do it for His
own Name’s sake.
I will defend this city for my own honor and for the
sake of my servant David.’”
This is a
perfect example of what God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 Then
if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray
and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from
heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
What if the
one thing that God was waiting for was us to pray? I have had a thought in my
mind for weeks now that I can’t shake. I read it in a book I was reading. Once
I read it I could not stop thinking about it. It has really been challenging
me. I want to share it with you.
“The greatest tragedy in the life of a believer is the prayers that go unanswered because they never got prayed.”
No matter
what your situation is you have to keep a heart of prayer. Don’t let your
situation become so heavy that it causes you to give up in prayer. Don’t let
the challenges become so overwhelming that you forget that prayer is a mighty
weapon. Don’t let your circumstance so behoove you that you forget that when
you pray in the Spirit the Spirit prays through you in accordance with God’s
will.
Be
encouraged in these things. Never quit when it comes to prayer. It worked for Hezekiah
& it is going to work for you.
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