A Pattern for Prayer
Fall 2023
The Bible is full of thrilling stories about God’s care for His people. One of my favorites is in 2 Kings 18 and 19. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, had sent his vast armies against Jerusalem. The Assyrians had conquered many other nations, and Sennacherib was confident he could defeat Judah as well.
Sennacherib’s chief spokesman, Rab-shakeh, sent messengers to King Hezekiah, telling him to prepare to be taken over. He warned Hezekiah that he should not trust in God to save his people because the gods of other countries had not been able to save them from the Assyrians. He said the God of Israel would be no different.
Hezekiah knew they were in serious trouble. He immediately did two things: he went into the house of the Lord (the place of prayer), and he sent messengers to the prophet Isaiah to seek for a word from God. Isaiah sent a message right back. He said that Hezekiah should not be afraid because God was going to take care of the Assyrians.
That was great news and surely it did much to comfort Hezekiah, but then Rab-shakeh sent a letter to Hezekiah with more threats. Again, Hezekiah acted quickly and correctly. He took the letter into the house of the Lord, spread it before the Lord, and prayed.
God answered Hezekiah’s prayer in a wonderful way. That very night the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 of Sennacherib’s soldiers as they slept. In the morning, when they discovered all the dead bodies, Sennacherib and the rest of his men retreated to their own country. God delivered His people without their having to fight at all.
Take time to read the whole story in 2 Kings 18:17–37 and 19:1–37. Look for things that would be good to practice in your own life. Notice first that Hezekiah rent or tore his clothes and put on rough clothing or sackcloth (19:1). In his time, that was a sign of sorrow and mourning. Hezekiah was approaching God with humility, recognizing his great need and his inability to do anything about it.
Next, Hezekiah spread the letter out before God in the place of prayer (19:14). He began his prayer with praise to God for who He is, the sovereign Creator who is in a special relationship with His people (19:15).
Then he told God all about their need. He laid out the letter of threats and said, “Lord, here is our problem. We can’t save ourselves, but we know You can.” Hezekiah was confident that God would take care of things because he had gotten a promise from God through Isaiah (19:16–19). Finally, Hezekiah had the right motive behind his prayer—He wanted God to be glorified by delivering His people (19:19).
What a good pattern to follow in prayer: approach God with humility and praise and then lay out your needs, keeping in mind God’s promises in His Word and desiring that He would answer in the way that would best glorify Him. Such prayers will always have good answers!