Every time we integrate a meaningful “so that” in our prayers, we realize it’s not all about us but it’s about God’s glory, God’s purposes, God’s movement in this world.
Sermon Series Break Title: THE PRAYER OF HEZEKIAH
Sermon Text: 2 KINGS 19:14-19 (NIV)
By: PTR NIC SY
Sermon Notes:
2 KINGS 19:14-19 NIV
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. 17 It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands.
19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”
“Life is ten percent of what happens to us and ninety percent of how we respond to it.”
Charles Swindoll
God can be trusted even when bad news comes.
2 KINGS 18:1-3 NIV
1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
2 KINGS 19:3 NIV
3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.
I. PRIORITY
Turning to God as our first response and not our last resort
2 KINGS 19:14 NIV
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
When you know God is with you, your problems look smaller.
The presence of God will not always fix your problems, but it will clarify your perspective.
II. PRAYER
Setting our eyes to see God’s supremacy over our situation
2 KINGS 19:15-18 NIV
15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. 17 It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. 17 It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands.
PSALMS 90:1-2 NIV
1 A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
PSALMS 47:8 NIV
8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.
PSALMS 121:1-2 NIV
1 A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Difficulty and abundance both has a tendency to make us forget God.
“We are too prone to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand.”
Charles Spurgeon
MATTHEW 5:11-12 NIV
11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
III. PURPOSE
Aligning our will with God’s will
2 KINGS 19:19 NIV
19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”
PHILIPPIANS 4:6 NIV
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
JAMES 4:3 NIV
3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Every time we integrate a meaningful “so that” in our prayers, we realize it’s not all about us but it’s about God’s glory, God’s purposes, God’s movement in this world.
“The purpose of prayer is not to change God’s mind but to align our hearts with his.”
Charles Stanley
2 KINGS 19:31b NIV
31 … The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
2 KINGS 19:35 NIV
35 That night 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!
2 CHRONICLES 32:22 NIV
22 So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side.