Different Ways to Pray (2)

“Hezekiah received the letter…and spread it out before the Lord.”

Isa 37:14 NIV

Hezekiah, king of Israel, received a threatening letter from a much more powerful king of Assyria. The Assyrian potentate demanded unconditional surrender, and told Hezekiah not to trust in God. The letter was graphic, warning that resistance meant the Israelites would have to “eat their own filth and drink their own urine” before they died (2Ki 18:27 NIV). So Hezekiah went to the temple “and spread it out before the Lord.” Then he prayed: “God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see” (Isa 37:16-17 NIV). Hezekiah literally said, “Lord, would you read this, then do something about it!” And God did. Indeed, what He did was spectacular. “Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!” (Isa 37:36 NIV). So, what piece of paper would you like to spread out before the Lord? A financial statement that’s overwhelming? A divorce decree? A medical diagnosis? A pink slip? An angry email? Any piece of paper that causes you stress can be an invitation to prayer, and a candidate to be spread out before the Lord. If it’s important to you, it’s important to Him. You say, “I’ve never done anything like that before.” Try it. Give it to God, trust Him, and watch how He works things out for you.

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