In this week’s blog, I will summarize the lessons I gained from reading about King Hezekiah. I am sure there are more lessons from his reign. He ruled in righteousness, and prayer was a priority in his life, showing that although he had power, influence, and affluence, he feared God and had a close relationship with him. King Hezekiah’s close relationship with God is evident in his prayers, which included meditation or reasoning with God.
In the Old Testament, prayer often involved remembering God’s past acts of delivering, protecting, and providing for the Israelites. Through recitals of past events, the Israelites repeatedly petitioned God, negotiating with Him. Abraham was the first person to deal with God, reasoning with Him about Lot’s deliverance in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:22-19:29). Moses also negotiated with God, reminding Him of His miraculous works delivering Israel from Egypt (Deuteronomy 9:22-29. Even King Hezekiah negotiated with God, resulting in an extension of his life (Isaiah 38).
A powerful aspect of worship is reminding God of his needs and past battles he has fought on our behalf. Reflecting on the “testimonies of God” assures us of His ability to see us through once again and reveals His attributes as a faithful, forgiving, and merciful God. We are overcome by the power of the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimonies (Revelation 12:11). Since God came through for us in the past, we can trust that He will do so again today and in the future. Additionally, we have two prayer mediators: Jesus, who continually prays for us, and the Holy Spirit, who prays with groanings on our behalf( Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:26). Since we have co-mediators in intercession, we can expect favorable responses to our prayers.