I just love the visual of this moment (Hezekiah hustling immediately to the Temple), and especially the prayer.
It’s circa 700 BC. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, has laid siege to several Judean cities including Jerusalem. He sends a letter of threat and intimidation to Hezekiah, King of Judea. Hezekiah’s response? He repairs immediately to the House of The Lord and lays the letter and the problem before God. His prayer of affirmation (he who has ears to hear, let him hear) and appeal show as much concern for God’s reputation as for the immediate threat to Jerusalem. Listen to God’s scribe tell the story:
After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.
It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” 2 Kings 19:14-19. NLT
My prayer for today? That I may have the humility, faith, and surrender of Hezekiah.
#onprayer