Today let’s look at Hezekiah’s prayer in Isaiah 37. The Assyrian King Sennacherib who had completely surrounded Jerusalem sent a letter to the king of Judah, Hezekiah and threatened him.　In the past Hezekiah responded to the harsh and abusive language of the field commander that was sent as a plenipotentiary ambassador to negotiate by sending people to the prophet Isaiah asking for prayer. Towards that the Word of God that was spoken was, “do not be afraid of what you heard-those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.” (37:6) However, the condition didn’t change at all. Rather it became more serious. At the beginning of a problem by one’s own faith and prayer one is able to overcome it, but as it continues it becomes difficult to overcome. How was Hezekiah able to overcome the difficult situation?

I. First before the Lord (Vs. 14)
First of all Hezekiah went before the Lord. Please look at verse 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 Hezekiah saw the terrible contents of the letter which hurt him, “he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.” (1) He prayed before the Lord putting everything in the Lord’s hands. This a model of what a person of faith should be like. When we see the contents of a letter that hurts us or when we are showered with terrible words, first of all we must bring it before the Lord and “spread it out before the LORD.” (1) We mustn’t quickly go to a lawyer for advice, or to talk to the consumer loan specialist, or see a counselor for counseling, but first of all go to the Lord “and spread it out before the LORD.” (1) The Lord knows everything, but even so we “spread it out before the LORD” (1) and make it known to God. That is because surprisingly we are weak to other people’s words. Even just small trivial words can keep us from sleeping all night. The tongue is a small organ, but it brags with great exaggeration. “It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire.” (James 3:6) Words are a very small thing, but they have very strong power. When we are hurt or agonized by words we shouldn’t try to solve it by ourselves, but bring it to the Lord. All we have to do is let the Lord know about it. The Lord is able “to empathize with our weaknesses.” (Hebrews 4:15) He became exactly like us, “yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) He can understand our weaknesses well. Also he can give us help in a fitting way. Therefore, at such times you should first go to “the LORD and spread it out before the LORD,” (14) reveal it to the Lord and confide in Him.
Phil. 4:6, 7
“The peace of God, which transcends all understanding” (Phil. 4:7) is given to us by not being “anxious about anything” (Phil. 4:6) and “in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,” (Phil. 4:6) presenting our “requests to God.” (Phil. 4:6) If we do that, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:7) We have been given the privilege of prayer. However, we don’t find it easy to use that privilege, we don’t find it easy to come before God because we don’t completely believe in God. More than God we believe in ourselves. Because we are depending on other things than God we don’t try to pray. Before we do anything else we need to come to God and let Him know our thoughts. If you do that you will be freed from the problem and you will be able to have “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding.” (Phil. 4:7) If each time like Hezekiah we show our true selves before God and pray, then the Lord will clearly show you how magnificent God is and give us the courage and strength to stand up. Until now you may have not been able to stand up in front of the king of Assyria’s words. You may have put your head down and stayed inside your covers, but if you bring each individual thing before the Lord and pour out your hear in prayer, everything will begin to change. The prayer will change and your situation will change too.

II. Hezekiah’s prayer (Vs. 15-20)
Next, let’s look at how Hezekiah prayed. Please look at verses 15 to 20. Here Hezekiah’s wonderful prayer is recorded. He starts his prayer with verse 16. “LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”
Hezekiah first of in his prayer recognized God as God and praised him. “Cherubim” (16) are among the angels the highest ranking angels. In the Garden of Eden they had a sword of fire to protect the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24) Also they are the angels that are above the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant watching over it. (Exodus 25:20)”God is enthroned between the cherubim” (16) so he is the highest of highest in heaven. As you know the Assyrian King brought the God of Israel down to the same level as other Gods, but the God of Israel is not on the same level. The God of Israel surpasses all other gods. He is the creator that has “made heaven and earth” (16) and the whole universe. In other words, Hezekiah in prayer first of all recognized God as God and praised Him. This is what we in prayer must at the very beginning do. Especially when you are in a time when you have been put in a predicament, when you are in a pinch, first of all recognize the Lord and praise the Lord.

This is also a common feature with the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, Jesus told them to pray like this: “Our father who art in heaven. Hallowed by thy name…” (Matt. 6:9)
The prayer that Jesus taught was “Our father who art in heaven. Hallowed by thy name…” (Matt. 6:9) First we must put our eyes on the Lord’s greatness and praise that greatness. That is because by at the very beginning putting our eyes on God’s greatness and praising that greatness, you will realize that the problems that you were holding became very tiny without you realizing it. You thought you never have had such a big problem, but as you praise the mighty God, you will see the problem becomes so small and so tiny. You realize that the problem that you were so worried about is in fact not a problem at all. ”God is enthroned between the cherubim.” (16) When we realize that only God is the creator that has “made heaven and earth” (16) and when we know that he loves us so much “that he gave his only begotten son,” (John 3:16) Jesus Christ, then an assurance that he will never forsake us, and that he does things for our good is born. If that’s so, it is not necessary to be distressed. There is no need to worry about anything. There is nothing to fear. All you have to do is put everything in God’s hands. You can do that when you put your eyes on God’s greatness and recognize that.
Do you believe that God is omnipotent, the creator of the heavens and the earth? Do you believe that God knows all things and can do all things? If you believe that, if you believe that from the bottom of your heart, you definitely don’t need to be distressed. But what about the bills? How am I going to pay them? But if you really believe that God is the richest in in the world, then it isn’t necessary to be distressed. God will do something for you. God is your heavenly father. All you have to do is ask your Dad. Your Dad will do something about it. God is the creator that “made heaven and earth.” (16) He is the omnipotent God who can heal you. God, your Savior, will as the Bible says put forth his hand and heal you. Even sicknesses that the doctors that are called super doctors can’t heal, God can completely heal.
“If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26)
Of course, it is important to go to the doctor and get appropriate and adequate treatment. That is because God uses such methods to heal us. Therefore, for those who believe in God, “hopelessness” is not in their dictionary. If you pray, “I will depend on you; I put all in your hands. You are the Healer”, then God will not leave you hopeless. Money is not the solution. Medicine is not the solution. Medical care and skill is not the solution. The only solution is God. If you believe in in God, if you pray in faith, there is nothing to be distressed about. No matter what the present situation is, even if you are in the depths of poverty, even if you have been told you only have a few more months to live, the Lord who “made heaven and earth” (16) will do things for your good.
Next, please look at verse 17. Here it says, “Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.”
Here Hezekiah says, “Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see.” (17) If God is all knowing and all mighty, if He knows everything, then why is he praying like this? That is because the Lord wants to have a face to face relationship with us and wants to directly hear the cries of our heart firsthand. The Lord wants to hear everything from you. God wants to “give ear” to your cries, to listen to your distresses, your troubles, your agonies and give you answers. He wants you to ask more.
Before the T.V. reported about a father who endlessly sent e-mails to his teenage daughter’s cell phone. To his teenage daughter to receive e-mails from her father, especially e-mails with pictures seemed annoying. They asked the father why he continued to send e-mails to his daughter. He wanted to talk with his daughter. He wanted a deeper relationship with his daughter. For the father his daughter is always his daughter. When his daughter was little she always said, “Daddy, Daddy”, but as she got bigger, around the time of adolescence she put distance between him, and conversation disappeared. With that reality the father felt lonely. He knew his daughter, but he wanted a relationship with his daughter.
In the same way, God wants fellowship with you. He wants you to talk to Him, to ask of Him, to walk with Him. Therefore, He wants you to pray to Him more, to call out to Him more. We must not keep our problems within ourselves, but like Hezekiah so that God will listen, so that God will see them, we must pray “Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see.” (17)
Please look at verses 18 and 19. Hezekiah continues praying like this, “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.”
Hezekiah is describing the reality of idols. “It is true… that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.” (18) That is because they all “were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.” (19) No matter how splendid a thing it was, even if it was a national treasure or it was designated as an important cultural asset, they still “were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands” (19) nothing more. Therefore, the Assyrian kings could lay “waste all these peoples and their lands” (18) very easily. However, Israel’s God, the Almighty Lord is different. He is a different case from the gods made by “wood and stone”. (19) God is the living God who “made heaven and earth.” (16) This is connected to the prayer of Hezekiah that can be seen in verse 20. “Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God.”
This is the ultimate goal of prayer: “Know that you, LORD, are the only God.” (20) In other words, Hezekiah sought to praise the name of God. This is the goal of prayer when we pray. The pressure that Hezekiah received was that their God was treated as being on the same level as the other gods. When God is treated like that, God’s glory is hidden. Therefore, he is praying “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God.” (20) Of course, he wanted to be saved from Assyria. It is natural that he wanted somehow to be set free from that problem. However, more than anything he wanted by the drama of deliverance for God’s glory to be seen. He prayed that Israel’s God, the real God domestically and in foreign lands will be known. .
God’s glory is hidden. Many people don’t believe in Jesus so the Lord’s glory is hidden. If you still have things that you haven’t been able to surrender to the Lord, if there is something else that you are holding on to that is also hiding the glory of God. We must pray that we can show the glory of God more and more.
However, in most cases, the prayers of us, Japanese, are only requests to God. If you listen to the words of prayers, in most cases they are in trouble and it is like calling on a god in distress. Even so that is better than not praying at all, but real prayer is communication with God, not a one way conversation. The ultimate goal of prayer is for the glory to God to be seen.
At this time for Hezekiah to avoid the threats of Assyria it was necessary for them to be saved by a method that only God can do. If they overcame by Hezekiah’s strength, it would been done by Hezekiah’s strength and wouldn’t show God’s glory. What Hezekiah sought was for the Lord to deliver them by God’s method which only God can use from the hand of Assyria. Even if he was surrounded by Assyria and by that he would have to continue to struggle, if that will show the glory to God, then let it be. He prayed like that. He didn’t just pray for God to help him, to deliver him from this predicament, to set him free from this problem, to heal this sickness, but he prayed only for the glory of God to be seen. Even if the problem isn’t solved, even if this sickness isn’t healed and it leads to death, even so he prayed that God’s glory will be seen.
Please open your Bibles to Matthew 26. Here Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane is recorded. Jesus in agony with the cross before him said to his disciples Peter, John, and James, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Matt. 26:38) Then Jesus went a little ways from there, and knelt and prayed. At this time the prayer that he prayed was this: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39)
This is really the essence of prayer. “If it is possible…Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39) Hezekiah’s prayer is the same. “Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God.” (20) He prayed, “Not as I will”, (Matt. 26:39) but may your will be accomplished. May your glory be seen.

III. The answer to Hezekiah’s prayer (Vs. 21-29)
Next, let’s look at the result of Hezekiah’s prayers. Let’s look at verses 21 to 29. First look at verse 21. “Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah; ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.”
God heard Hezekiah’s prayer and in response to Hezekiah’s prayer “concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria” (21) the Lord speaks against Sennacherib king of Assyria. The contents are in verses 22 to 29. Verse 22 says, “Virgin Daughter Zion despises and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.”
“You” (22) is Assyria (the Assyrian king, Sennacherib). “Virgin Daughter Zion despises and mocks” (22) Assyria. “Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as” (22) Assyria flees. This is the attitude that Assyria took towards Jerusalem and other countries. This will be returned to Assyria in exactly the same way. Matt. 7:2 says, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” It is exactly like this. Assyria despised and mocked Zion, Jerusalem. In the same way next they will be despised and mocked.
“Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!” (23)
This “you” (23) is also Assyria (the Assyrian king, Sennacherib). Assyria was not conscious that they were prideful to God. They thought they were speaking to Hezekiah, but in reality it was wrong. It wasn’t against Hezekiah, but it was pride towards the God that Hezekiah believed in. For example, even if a person is a non Christian, he hears the word of God. Even so if he doesn’t look to God as God, if there are times that he blasphemes God, that is rebelling against God, and is nothing other than pride. We must be careful.
Please look at verses 24 to 26.

“By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost height of Lebanon.
I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk water there.
With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.
26 Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass,
That you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
The words of verse 26 are really important words. Assyria spoke proudly about their achievements, but they were able do this because everything was in God’s providence. They were nothing more than a tool that God used. Everything is in the hands of God.
It is important to know God’s sovereignty. Everything is planned by the Lord. When we accept that the Lord is doing everything, we have peace of mind. Even if things are bad, misfortunate, troubled, not a good situation, unfair, if we know that God’s hand is working there, we are able to accept that condition.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Since January I have been enjoying reading thru the Bible again this year. As I was reading the Bible there is a verse that was left in my heart. That is Exodus 6:1. “Now you will see.” Now you may not understand what God is going to do to the Pharaoh. No matter how much you preach the Word of God, his heart is hardened and he can’t hear. That is because I have hardened his heart and by that God’s great works a performed. That is so that all people will know that the Lord is God. Now you don’t understand, but “you will see”. (Exodus 6:1) Then we read about the result and as you know by the Lord killing all the first sons of the Egyptians, Israel was able to leave Egypt. At that time they didn’t understand that, but now they “will see”. (Exodus 6:1) If so, we can enjoy the situations we are facing. If we think about what God is going to do for us, we can be excited. Also we can leave everything in the Lord’s hands.
Please look at verse 27 to 29. I will read verse 28. “But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.”
These are wonderful words. The Lord knows each and everything thing that the Assyrian King Sennacherib does. God knows where he is and when he comes and goes and how he rages against God. He can’t deceive God. God knows everything about what he is thinking. No matter how much we rebel against God, no matter how much we complain in our hearts, God knows all things. Even so God is now here inviting me. Even so God is leading you. God’s intentions are there; He has a plan. There is not even one thing that is beyond the dominion of God’s sovereignty. God plans everything, and is related to everything that happens. Therefore, we can have a deep feeling of relief. It is not necessary to fuss about anything. It is not necessary to get angry. It is not necessary to be fearful. Rather, we only need to have a peace of mind and leave it all in the Lord’s hands. .
This was the answer of the Lord to Hezekiah’s prayer. When are distressed about something or in agony, when we know that God’s hand is there working, there is no greater peace of mind. Hezekiah in prayer was able to have that assurance. He received the promise that prideful Assyria will be destroyed. In our lives we too may be threatened like Hezekiah. However, we must not fear the words of blasphemy of the Lord. Rather like Hezekiah we need to “spread it out before the LORD” (14) and pray to the Lord. If you do that, God will listen to the prayer. Then by the Lord’s hand everything will be changed for our good. Therefore, let’s pray. Change your bitterness into prayer. Then God will do an amazing work and that bitterness God will change into blessings.