Isaiah 37:21 (NIV) Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria...”

Jerusalem was facing a time of siege from King Sennacherib of Assyria and there was nothing that King Hezekiah and the people of Judah could do about it. The Assyrians were conquering all the surrounding nations and it seemed that they were unstoppable. But there was something that King Hezekiah could do and he did it. Because he did it, the people of Jerusalem and of Judah were spared. What was this great thing he did? He prayed!

We face all kinds of trouble, difficulties and situations during our lifetime. Sometimes it seems like bad things are just lining up one after another waiting to happen to us. Sometimes they team up and come at you in twos or threes. Our usual response, which makes human sense, is to try to figure our way through those times and to do everything in our power to solve the problems and the troubles that are plaguing us. Then we add prayer to the mix, but usually only as a concession or as something that we do that may have an outside chance of being effective. But Hezekiah didn’t approach his humungous problem that way. He did not try to get himself out of his dangerous situation using his own means and resources first and then pray. Praying was the first thing that he did. It turned out to be the best thing that he did. He received a letter from King Sennacherib who had to pull away from the siege for a moment to take care of another battlefront that had arisen. The letter was a threatening one, warning him that his god would not be able to save him and Jerusalem from his hand. Hezekiah took the letter to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before Him and he prayed for deliverance and the Lord did deliver him.

God didn’t deliver King Hezekiah and Jerusalem because he was a good king, or because he was resourceful and tried to help himself or because he assembled the warriors that were among his people to fight against the Assyrians. The Lord said that it was because He prayed. Prayer is more vitally important than most Christians realize. I have heard many a believer say, “There’s nothing else that I can do so I guess I’ll just pray.” That wasn’t Hezekiah’s attitude. On the contrary, his position was that it was God or bust! It was going to be the Lord who would deliver him and his people and there were no other options for him. How would it be if we adopt that attitude of faith? How much more would we see God do among us and for us if we would just rely on Him as hard as King Hezekiah did? I say this: let’s find out! May we hear the same thing from our God that King Hezekiah heard when we face trials of many kinds: “Because you prayed...”

Pastor Joey Vazquez