A Lesson on Prayer from Isaiah 38

I’ve been thinking about prayer a lot lately. I’m not a very prayerful person. I think this is due to the fact that I never grew up in a family where we prayed very often. The only time I saw my father pray was before a meal, and even then it wasn’t for very long (and I’m actually thankful for that! Long prayers while a nice meal is in front of your nose can be difficult to deal with…).

I know that the Scriptures have a lot to say about prayer. And while the gospels and Paul’s epistles might be a good place to turn in order to learn the importance of prayer and how to pray, I’m always reminded that the why should we pray? question is often answered in the prophetical books. The simple answer:God hears and answers the prayers of his people. One of the most amazing portions of Scripture that speaks to the fact that God indeed hears and answers the prayers of his people is found in Isaiah, chapter 38. There we read about a king named Hezekiah, a descendant of David, who reigned over the southern part of the kingdom, Judah. Hezekiah is described as a good king, though certainly flawed. He sought to bring reform to the nation of Judah, destroying idols and false worship centers that had been established throughout the country. We remember that the nation was no longer a united kingdom, as it had been under the reigns of kings David and Solomon, but it was a divided kingdom. The northern part of the kingdom, Israel, had fallen at the hand of the Assyrians and were now threatening to do the same to the southern kingdom, Judah. But instead of paying tribute to the king of Assyria, Hezekiah rebelled against him. However, Hezekiah made the mistake of entering into an agreement with Egypt, rather than trusting in the LORD to deliver Judah. Because Hezekiah failed to demonstrate faithfulness and trust to the LORD as the nation’s representative, the LORD became unhappy with Hezekiah and Hezekiah became ill to the point of death. This leads up to what we read in Isaiah 38:1,

In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.

What happens next is simply amazing. Its amazing because Hezekiah does something that is so contradictory to what you and I would do if this word came to us. I’m willing to bet that our limited understanding of God’s sovereignty and decrees would lead us to obey – we would put our house into order and prepare to die. After all, this is the word of the LORD. He said it, therefore we can expect it to happen, right? Well, Hezekiah does something amazing. He turns to the LORD in prayer! We continue reading,

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, and said, "Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Hezekiah repents. He pleads to the LORD to remember how he has been a faithful king. What happens next is perhaps the most amazing thing in all of Scripture,

Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: "Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.

What!?!? Read that again. God HEARD Hezekiah’s prayer and ADDED FIFTEEN YEARS TO HIS LIFE! Even AFTER the LORD said Hezekiah would not recover and would die! I mean, talk about wrecking my limited view of God’s sovereignty. Had Hezekiah not prayed to the LORD for mercy, pleading with him to remember his faithfulness and crying real tears of repentance, Hezekiah would have certainly succumbed to death. But instead, he feels the need to pray to the LORD – asking him to change his mind. And God does. God changes his mind based on Hezekiah’s prayer. It is simply amazing.

This is why we pray. Prayer changes things. God hears the prayers of his people and acts accordingly. Sure, God is indeed sovereign and has foreordained everything that will come to pass. I firmly believe that and I do not deny it. But events in life are often contingent within the scope of God’s sovereignty. Prayer is indeed important.

So, this doesn’t fix my problem of not being a very prayerful person. It doesn’t teach me how to pray necessarily, but it does teach me why we pray. God hears the prayers of his people. What an encouraging lesson for you and I to learn today. May we be a people who pray to our LORD and our God, confident that he hears us.