Deliverance
| Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: "O Lord God of Israel, who art enthroned above the cherubim, thou art the God, thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O Lord and hear; open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Of a truth, O Lord, the king of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, I beseech thee, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou, O Lord, art God alone." (2Kings19:14-19) |
Perhaps friends in understanding prayer, it is that which is vital to a person born again. This tells us that when we are born again we cannot live without prayer, we cannot neglect prayer. Also God in the book of 2 Chronicles 7:14, He invites us to turn away from our evils and sin, and pray to Him and promises that He will heal our land, we need to be effective in prayer fervently like Hezekiah did. We pray saints because that is the channel through which God can channel and accomplish His will.
Friends, prayer rekindles our faith, just like Hezekiah, when he prayed his faith was restored, he gained new hope and was courageous enough. Even though there were many voices surrounding Hezekiah, and some of the voices may have encouraged him to surrender to the enemy, Hezekiah ignored those voices by putting his trust in God the Deliverer. Hezekiah chose to bow in the presence of the Lord, tearing apart his kingly garments and poured his heart to God and sought the Lord for help.
Indeed, Shennacherib was a powerful king who had tormented Hezekiah through all sorts of threats. Like Hezekiah, we are also facing different Sennacheribs, it is at this hour that we need to put our pride away and allow God to work in our situations, just like He did with Hezekiah.
When we go before the presence of the Lord in truth and in spirit, He responds to our cry. In the next few verses we are told God responded to the prayer of King Hezekiah, we read "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard." Friends, Hezekiah despite being a king, humbled himself before God and praised God. This teaches us to be humble before God regardless of our status. There are times in life when we need to surrender to God, those moments when we are in turmoil, when things seem to be stagnant, we need to seek God for deliverance through prayer. It is in times like these where we need to seek God's guidance, for our continent, nations, families, communities, and the Church.
Friends, let us pour our trust in the Lord and He will deliver us from any situations just like what He did for Hezekiah. Indeed the Lord will deliver us.
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Lilian Chirikwawo from the Presbytery of Zimbabwe. I'm a probationer serving at Mbare Congregation in Harare. Married to Taurai Chirikwawo and have two boys, Tinotenda and Tinenyasha. I love gardening.
