When God told Hezekiah the truth about his life, that his illness would lead to death, Hezekiah was broken and turned to the LORD and prayed. These are the five things God did in Hezekiah's life through prayer. Since God is no respecter of persons, he will do the same in our lives through prayer.
1. God hears.
-Heard has 2 important meanings: to be attentive, to consider. When Hezekiah prayed he had Gods full attention. Have you ever been talking to someone and knew they were not listening to you, or have you been the one not listening when someone was talking to you. Well, God is not that way. When we pray(talk to God) we have God's undivided attention.
-When Hezekiah prayed, God considered his prayers. God has chosen to sovereignly function through relationship. When we pray God takes our prayers into account. God had told Hezekiah he was going to die from his illness, but Hezekiah prayed that he would not. God considered this and Hezekiah did not die. I believe Hezekiah was glad he prayed, we will be too. God considers our prayers and works through them.
2. God sees.
-God saw the tears that Hezekiah shed. Hezekiah had turned his face to his bedroom wall to pray and thought no one had seen him cry. His doctors, servants, and family did not see his tears, but God saw. God sees what no one else sees, the things we wished people saw and cared about. Your spouse, boss, children, or parents may not have seen the times you were going through, but God did and He cares.
3. God adds.
-God added 15 years to Hezekiah's life, who was on his deathbed. When we pray God adds. We cannot force or manipulate what we desire God to add, but he will add what is for His glory and our good. It may be years, health, hope, understanding, joy, etc. I do believe God will add. We serve a God of addition. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
4. God delivers.
-God promised to deliver Hezekiah and Judah from their enemies’ hand, the Assyrians. To deliver means to take from here to there. Sometimes the places we are in life(in our marriage, finances, health, children, attitudes) are not where they need to be. God has promised to deliver His children who pray from here(where they should not be) to there(where they should be).
5. God defends.
-God promised to defend Hezekiah. To defend means, "To stop the enemy from advancing." For God to say he would defend means there is something that needs to be defended from. There is a real enemy in this world that has come to steal, kill, and destroy that we need to be defended from. We cannot defend ourselves. God, through prayer, has promised to defend his children.
We do not pray to earn God's favor, we pray because we are already in the family of God and have a Father who can't wait to listen to and answer our prayers.
That's 5 really good reason to pray, because when we pray God hears, sees, adds, delivers, and defends.
I love you guys.
In Jesus' Service,
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