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Introduction:
Imagine for just a moment that you are a king. Your capital city
is being threatened by the siege works of the greatest army of the
time. The commander of that army has publically mocked you,
threatened you, and explained that he is going to destroy you and
your city if you don’t surrender to him. Your army is no match
for his. Your city cannot stand for long under siege. Imagine the
fear in the city. Imagine the fear in you. Imagine the inner
turmoil in your own mind—the fear, the anxiety, the stress. What
will you do? Hezekiah chose to pray. In II
Kings 19:15-19, Hezekiah prayed: O
Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the
God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made
heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your
eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he
has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of
Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast
their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of
men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So
now, O Lord, our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the
kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. In II
Kings 19:35-37, God destroyed the Assyrian army.
Sennacherib turned tail and ran back home where he was killed by
his own sons. God brought peace to Hezekiah, nationally and
personally, in response to Hezekiah’s prayer. We need to see the
importance of prayer and its connection to peace for us. In Philippians
4:6-7, Paul said if we remove anxiety by laying out our
requests to God, then His peace that passes all understanding will
guard our hearts and minds. Hezekiah’s prayer is a great example
of that. Of course, I don’t believe the story of Hezekiah means
if there is war and we pray for national peace that God will
necessarily say yes. I don’t think it means anything we think to
pray for God will do. That is not how prayer works. I do think
when we pray properly, internal peace will always be the result.
However, notice I said when we pray properly. Sadly, many of us
think all we have to do is say some words in God’s direction and
that should be a prayer that brings peace. Let’s look at what
happened with Hezekiah and learn some principles to help us make
prayer the connection that calms. Discussion: I.
Believe in the power of God. A.
Some people pray but they don’t think God will do
anything. They either believe God isn’t really there, isn’t
really listening, or can’t really do anything. Hezekiah believed
in the power of God. In II
Kings 19:15, he praised God saying, “You have made
heaven and earth.” He hearkened back to the first words of the
Law. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”
(Genesis
1:1). B.
Just consider the power such a statement proclaims. Think
of the power it takes to say, “Let there be light” (Genesis
1:3), and there it is. Think of the power it takes to call
for life from that which has no life (Genesis
1:11) and there it is. Think of the power it takes to
bring a sun, moon, and stars into existence by saying, “Let it
be so,” (Genesis
1:14) and there it is. Think of the power it takes to
speak a fish, a bird, a cow, a rhino into existence (Genesis
1:20, 24). Think of the power it takes to breathe life
into a man (Genesis
1:26). Brothers and sisters, that is amazing power. It is
power so immense some people simply can’t fathom that God has
it. But He does. Listen to what God explained to Job in Job
38:4-33. Job had not done any of this. No man has done any
of this. None of this just happened on its own. God did this. C.
Ephesians
3:20
says God can do far more abundantly than all we ask or think. If
we want prayer to be our connection to God that calms us in time
of fear, doubt, anxiety, and stress, if we want the peace that
passes all understanding, we have to believe that God is more
powerful than we can imagine and recognize that He uses that power
for our good. II.
Believe God alone can give you peace. A.
Why did Hezekiah pray to God in this time of need? II
Kings 19:15 explains, “You are the God, you alone, of
all the kingdoms of the earth.” Jehovah was the only God. He was
the only one to whom Hezekiah could turn for help. B.
One of the reasons so many people offer prayers without
receiving peace is because they actually think they can get peace
from other places. So, they offer a prayer, but then they turn to
other things like money, drinking, drugs, gambling, eating,
personal manipulation and control. C.
Only when we realize God is our only hope, will we throw
ourselves truly on His mercy. Only then will we be like the
psalmist in Psalm
18:1-3. Only then will we cease to try to find solutions
in other places. III.
Don’t succumb to the devil’s lies. A.
In II
Kings 19:10-13, Sennacherib sent a message to Hezekiah. He
reminded Hezekiah about how he had defeated all the other
kingdoms. He reminded him how the gods of all the other lands had
not been able to help them. Sennacherib was sure he could beat
Hezekiah. He was sure Jehovah couldn’t help. Satan wanted
Hezekiah to believe God couldn’t and wouldn’t help. He made a
case. It seemed airtight. No one else had been able to stand up to
Sennacherib. B.
Someone else might have fallen for the lies. However, look
at Hezekiah’s prayer. In II
Kings 19:17, Hezekiah knew the reason no other gods had
stood up to Sennacherib. They weren’t really gods at all. They
were statues and that was all. Because Hezekiah recognized
Satan’s lies, he was able to maintain his faith in God. C.
Satan will lie to us. He will try to convince us that
God’s way won’t work. He will try to convince us that there is
no hope. He will try to tell us that God’s word isn’t right.
He will try to tell us that others know better than God. He will
try to tell us that God doesn’t know what he’s doing. As he
lied to Eve in the garden, he’ll lie to us because he is the
father of lies. His lies steal our peace. If we want prayer to be
the connection that calms, we have to see through the devil’s
lies in order to trust God. IV.
Trust God’s word. A.
In II
Kings 19:20-34, Isaiah gave a prophesy from the Lord
regarding what would happen to Sennacherib and Assyria. He
declared that Sennacherib would not come up into the city or even
shoot an arrow there. God gave His word and Hezekiah trusted it.
There were times when God had told His people to take up arms and
fight. But this time God simply said He would take care of the
enemy. Hezekiah trusted God and that night God did what He said (II
Kings 19:35-37). B.
This is one of the most important aspects of letting prayer
be the connection that calms. There are a lot of people that pray,
but they don’t trust God’s word. When God says, “Seek first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
will be added to you” (Matthew
6:33), we need to believe Him. God has promised to take
care of us when we seek Him first. If you don’t trust that God
will care for you, it doesn’t matter how much you pray, you’ll
never have peace. You have to take God at His word that He has
your best interests at heart. C.
Part of trusting the word of God, means obeying the word of
God. Handing things over to God in prayer doesn’t mean just
sitting on our thumbs. It means doing what God has asked of us and
leave it up to Him to take care of everything as He has promised.
Notice Philippians
4:8-9. Right after Paul said prayer could bring us peace,
he also explained that we need to act in accord with his teachings
to have peace as well. When we trust God’s word, we study it,
submit to it, and trust God to care for us through it. D.
As Romans
8:28 says, God causes everything to work out for good for
those who love Him. Trust God in that. No matter what you face,
understand that He is there for you and will see you through. You
may not be able to see how at the moment, but you can trust God.
It is that trust that causes us to pray, causes us to submit, and
grants us peace. V.
Be more concerned about God’s glory than your will. A.
This is perhaps the most important key to having peace
through prayer. So many don’t have peace through their prayers
because they are self-centered in their prayers. They are treating
God like a vending machine, asking for things to spend on their
own pleasure (James
4:3). When are minds are eaten up with our own
selfishness, we will not ever have peace. B.
But notice Hezekiah. In II
Kings 19:16, Hezekiah saw that the main problem with
Sennacherib’s letter was it mocked God. He wasn’t as concerned
about the danger to Jerusalem as he was about God’s name. Then
when he asked God to deliver them, he prayed, “God, save us,
please, from his hand, that the kingdoms of the earth may know
that you, O Lord, are God alone” (II
Kings 19:19). Again, Hezekiah was most concerned about
God’s glory and will. C.
Sadly, this is one of the main problems for us, keeping us
from having peace. We are often filled with anxiety because things
aren’t working out the way we want. We aren’t as concerned
about God being glorified as we are getting whatever it is that we
want. Therefore, we pray and then we get all worked up because we
are afraid that God’s will won’t coincide with what we want.
However, when we want what will most glorify God, we don’t have
to worry about God being willing to help. God will accomplish what
will glorify Him most. We can pray, submit to God’s word, and
trust Him to accomplish what will most glorify Him. Even Jesus was
able to have peace in the garden through His prayer because He was
willing to pray, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew
26:39). If we want prayer to be a connection that calms,
we have to want what God wants more than we want what we want. VI.
Actually pray. A.
Before we finish this lesson, we do need to see something.
It is so obvious we may overlook it. We’ve talked about
attitudes, desires, motivations. However, if we stop here, we
still won’t have the connection that calms. We need to see that
Hezekiah received peace because he prayed. In II
Kings 19:20, Isaiah says, “Thus says the Lord, the God
of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I
have heard.” Without this prayer, God would not have brought
peace to Hezekiah and Israel. B.
We need to have our attitudes and desires in the right
place. We need to have faith and trust. We need to submit. But we
must not forget this great key. If we want peace, we really do
have to pray. We really do have to let our requests be made known
to God (Philippians
4:6). We really do have to cast our cares upon God (I
Peter 5:7). C.
If you want prayer to be the connection that calms, you
have to pray. If you really want it to be the connection that
calms, make it your constant work. As I
Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, we should rejoice always, pray
without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances. Walk in
God’s presence. Recognize His presence at all times by praying
with Him. Walk hand in hand with Him by offering up continual,
consistent prayer. Prayer can bring you peace, if you consistently
pray. Conclusion: When Hezekiah prayed, God gave him actual, physical, national peace. In just the same way, if we pray as Hezekiah did, He will give us internal, mental, emotional, and spiritual peace. But we must make sure we have the right attitude, the right faith, the right submission. When we do, God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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