I was reading in Isaiah 37-38 today and two events really struck me:
Isaiah 37:14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord…
and
Isaiah 38:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”t2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,3 and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
What struck me in both of these passages was Hezekiah’s response to these dire situations. In the first one, he had received news of the Assyrians attacking the neighboring cities, towns, regions, and had basically been told “Don’t expect your God to save you. The gods of all these other countries weren’t able to save their people, so why should yours be any different? The Assyrians are just too strong, too powerful. Be prepared to die at their hands.” Rather than allowing fear to paralyze him into inactivity, or taking matters into his own hands and gathering a large army to confront the Assyrians, Hezekiah goes to his knees. I love the image of him spreading his letter before the Lord. I can almost picture him saying, “See THIS, Lord?? THIS is what I’m up against!”
In the second passage, God has told Hezekiah directly that his illness is fatal. “You shall die, you shall not recover.” But what does Hezekiah do? Well, what he DOESN’T do is wallow in self-pity. He doesn’t take matters into his own hands and seek out healers and remedies. He doesn’t lax into apathy or depression. He “turns his face to the wall” and prays. I’m convinced the only reason he didn’t get down on his knees was because he physically couldn’t! And he gets bold right there on his sickbed and basically tells God, “Look, I have done everything You asked me to do. I have followed You wholeheartedly and obeyed Your words. Doesn’t that count for SOMETHING??” And God’s response is, “Okay, Hezekiah, you got it. I’m not only going to heal you, I’m going to give you another 15 YEARS to follow Me.” Wow. In those days, 15 years was half a lifetime.
These verses have challenged me to:
- bring my requests to God FIRST. Action can come later, once I know what God wants me to do…if anything.
- be specific in my requests, recognizing that my help comes only from Him.
- not be afraid to ask in boldness, knowing that God yearns to unleash His power and blessing over my life if only I will have the courage and audacity to ask.