The enemies were there, at the gate!!! The Bible gives the account of a king who receive a letter from the Assyrians (blood thirstiest enemies of that era) informing him that they were going to wipe out his kingdom. The response of the King, Hezekiah, was to run to God. Isaiah 37: 14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: 16 “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky and the earth. 17 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib (King of the Assyrians) sent and how he taunts the living God! 18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands. 19 They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. 20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
This was Hezekiah’s entire prayer strategy:
- he ran to God
- laid out everything before God
- gave God the glory
- asked the Lord to listen
- asked that God would be given honor through the entire situation.
That is definitely a great way to pray. And so, I now sit at home, dig out my prayer journal and write down my prayers. It helps keep me on track when my concentration goes out the door, it helps me to go into depth (rather than just a surface conversation) regarding who or what I am praying about, and it ends up in prayers that are lot more meaningful before God. I challenge you to give it a try. The enemy is at the gate.