Day 209 – 2 Kings 19, Psalm 46, 80, 135

Talking Points

• When King Hezekiah hears the blasphemous threats of the king of Assyria, he tears his clothes as a sign of mourning, grief, and humility. Are we grief-stricken when someone slanders God’s name?
• The enemy comes and taunts, “The other nations we have overtaken, their gods did not save them. Do you think yours will do any better?” Unknowingly, he was witnessing to the fact that only the one true God saves! Nothing has changed. “And there is salvation in no one else…” (Acts 4:12).
• It has been 290 years since God made a covenant with David, and here, again, He sends His deliverance and salvation, preserving Judah “for [His] servant David’s sake” (2 Kings 19:34). God is faithful to keep His promises. As we read through God’s Word, that should be a stake we can drive down — God is perfectly trustworthy, and therefore, so is His Word.
• In all times, in all situations, God is constant!
  “God is our refuge and strength,
  A very present help in trouble.
  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
  And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
  Though its waters roar and foam,
  Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. ” – Psalm 46:1-3
• Psalm 135 gives us something to consider: You become like the gods you serve. Those who worship dead and powerless gods will end up the same. False worship results in false people. “Those who make them will be like them,Yes, everyone who trusts in them” (Psalm 135:18).
  
  On the flip side, God, in His grace, calls believers to be like Him. In His Word, He directs it, and through His Spirit, He empowers it. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1).

Thoughts

Do you ever wish that when you said, “Amen,” God would respond the way He does to King Hezekiah? “Because you have prayed to Me…, I have heard you” (2 Kings 19:20). There have been times in my life when I can confidently say that God heard my prayers and answered them so quickly and so clearly, that it seems like He was saying exactly that. And, then, there are other times when I not only never received the answer that I was looking for, but I had a change of heart and stopped praying for something altogether.

Maybe, in King Hezekiah’s recorded prayer, we can gain some insight into what our prayers should emulate.

He begins with praise and recognition of who God is and what He has done. Hezekiah then asks God to hear him and to see his reasons for unrest. He asks for God’s help, for His deliverance. And, then, he gives his motivation for the prayer — “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that [He] alone…[is] God” (19:19).

God wants us to seek Him in prayer. He wants us to want what He wants. When we pray with humility and submission, it reveals our trust and dependence on Him. Prayer is an act of worship, a sacrifice that pleases Him. The motivation of our hearts should always be that others would see God for who He is.

Lord, help us to pray with an upright heart — a heart that longs for You to be glorified and others to see You and trust You alone! Thank You for the privilege of prayer!