Why Do You Pray? (2 Kings 19:14-19) PURPOSE

Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God. – 2 Kings 19:19

Hezekiah is in deep trouble.| WATCH ON YOUTUBE

Sennacherib, King of Assyria threatens Judah. His commander comes to the people of Jerusalem and taunts them. The commander ridicules Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord. He incites the people to fear them and rebel against Hezekiah. He tried to turn their hearts away from Hezekiah and the Lord. And the palace officials carry this message back to the king. 

Hezekiah was distraught and he tore his clothes in sorrow and he put on sackcloth. He sent his officials to the prophet Isaiah to enquire of the Lord. Isaiah sent them back with a reassuring message from the Lord. The Lord had indeed heard the blasphemy of the commander of the Assyrian army and promised to destroy the enemy. 

Hezekiah also went to the Lord in his time of need. He went to the temple and prayed one of the most powerful prayers in the Bible, which has a lot to teach us even today.

Hezekiah tells God about his problem. He begins his prayer by acknowledging the Lord as sovereign and supreme over all. Hezekiah recognized the Lord as the one who created the heavens and the earth and so affirming that he trusts the Lord can help him. And then Hezekiah simply presents the problem without giving the Lord any instructions. Finally, he states the purpose of his prayer, which is that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that the Lord alone is God. 

What is the purpose of the prayers you pray?

Lord, help me turn to you with pure motives in my prayers, I pray.

Extended Reading — 2 Kings 18:9-37; 2 Kings 19:1-37; Psalm 46, 80, 135

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