Day 264
Isaiah 37:1-38:22; Galatians 6:1-18; Psalm 65:1-13; Proverbs 23:24
The Power of Prayer
King Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD… He trusted in the LORD the God of Israel… he held fast to the LORD… and the LORD was with him” (2 Kings 18:3, 5, 6, 7). When Sennacherib, king of the mighty Assyrian Empire, taunted him and belittled his trust in the power of God, Hezekiah acted precisely as someone who trusts and holds fast to the LORD should do. And in so doing, he gives us an example of how to act when we are confronted with what may seem like overwhelming odds stacked against us.
First of all, Hezekiah went to the house of the LORD, and as he went to God in prayer, he sent his trusted advisers to seek out another who trusted God, the prophet Isaiah, and ask him to pray. Having received encouragement from God through Isaiah, he stands firm even in the face of written threats. He returns again to the house of the LORD with the offending letter, spreads it before the LORD and then begins to praise God. He continues to glorify God’s character, His power, and His sovereignty. Then he states clearly his concern, not the least of which is the way Sennacherib has dishonored God, and he then asks God to rescue them so that God may be glorified.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, teach us to make prayer the first thing we do when confronted with seemingly overwhelming situations, and to ask others to join us in prayer. May we learn to praise you for your sovereign majesty and to then lay before you our concerns, asking in faith for you to rescue us, and remembering when prayer is answered to give you the glory. Amen.
The Rev. Sarah Bronos