The Power of Prayer

I was reading about King Hezekiah the other day in Isaiah and I was just blown away by the power of his prayers. His story is also found in 2 Kings 18-20. Hezekiah, King of Judah, was one of the few kings that did good in the eyes of God and because of his righteousness, Judah was delivered from the hands of the Assyrians. They had already captured most of the cities in Judah and all that was left was Jerusalem. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, tries to strike a deal with them but Hezekiah refused to listen. The Assyrians were very powerful and had laid waste to all of the nations around Judah (Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, Eden, Hamath, Arpad are some of the ones mentioned). Hezekiah isn't stupid and knows that Judah's army has no chance against them. But unlike those other nations, Hezekiah trusted in the Lord - the one true God. And he did what many of us would do when faced with a hopeless situation - he prayed and asked God for deliverance from the hands of the Assyrians.

"...Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." Isaiah 37:20 (NIV)

And how did God answer his prayer?

"Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning - there were all the dead bodies!" Isaiah 37:36 (NIV)

God answered his prayer and went in and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers! Just like that. God decides he's going to save a nation and what does he do? Kills off a couple hundred soldiers at the blink of an eye. Now I know God is a God of unconditional love but He's also a very powerful God that you don't want to mess with. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and it's stories like these that make me glad I'm on His side.

Then in the next chapter, Hezekiah becomes very very sick and Isaiah tells him that it is time to get his house in order because he's going to die. What does he do? He prays and says, "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And God answered his prayer and added 15 years to his life.

I am reminded of a passage in James that talks about the prayer of faith. It says:

"13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:13-16 (NIV)

Bill Hybels wrote a book called "Too Busy Not to Pray: Slowing Down to be with God" that I want to read. Yet another book added to my already long list of books I want to read. There's so much going on in my life that I can't afford to not take time to pray and seek God's guidance. Time to pray more like Hezekiah!