July 21, 2025 -Because He Prayed

2 KINGS 19:1-19

ISAIAH 37:1-20

2 CHRONICLES 32:9-19

2 KINGS 19:20-37

ISAIAH 37:21-38

2 CHRONICLES 32:20-23

Chronological Bible Readings

2Kings 19:10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?

Isn't that just like an enemy to try to make you doubt God and what He can do. Sennacherib boasted about himself and told of the things that he did to defeat all the other nations. He sent his messenger to talk about how mighty he is and how he defeated all the other countries. As far as he was concerned the God of Israel was no different than all the false God's out there. If Hezekiah had been focused on the things of this world then he could have fallen prey to that lie. Looking at the circumstances and what had happened in the past if he didn't seek God and keep his focus on Him then it would be easy to be afraid.

2Kings 19:14 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. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, 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. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

But instead he went to the Lord and prayed. I picture him laying this letter out on the ground and falling on his knees to pray. He praises God and calls on Him because he sees the letter for what it is. Sennacherib's ridicule of the Lord. Today I am listening to a podcast "Exploring my Strange Bible" it's on the ask and you will receive verses regarding prayer in Matthew. So, prayer stands out to me. I am sharing a video of this message below because in the podcast he uses one of the Bible Project video's that doesn't come through on the podcast but is on the video. Worthy of a watch if you have difficulty with praying regularly. Or you question "Why pray?"

2Kings 19:17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 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. 19 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.”

The statements of the Assyrian kings accomplishments are true and Hezekiah acknowledges that. But he also knows the truth about the gods of those nations and even more important the truth about his God. I love that it's not just about the deliverance of the people but the fact that their deliverance will reveal and give glory to the Lord and prove that He alone is God.

2Chronicals 32:18 Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. 19 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.

There was not just a letter but they spoke to the people in their language so that the people would know and understand all the lies that they were looking to spread. Another tactic of the enemy. Spread the lie around in ways that are understandable to the masses. If the king won't listen then maybe the people will panic and stir up problems and change his mind. Today the enemy stirs up the masses by telling them all kinds of lies about the Lord and he does it in the language of the culture and people are drawn to it because it is easier to hear than the truth.

2Kings 19:23 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 heights of Lebanon.

I have cut down its tallest cedars,

    the choicest of its junipers.

I have reached its remotest parts,

    the finest of its forests.

24 I have dug wells in foreign lands

    and drunk the water there.

With the soles of my feet

    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

25 “‘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.

Hezekiah prayed. He asked and he received what he had asked for. He shoots down Sennacherib's claims and says that everything that he accomplished was only because God had ordained it long ago. God exalts himself not only over the false god's but over all the kings of the earth. God is sovereign and nothing happens outside His knowledge and plan. This is another thing that makes us ask then "Why pray?" Another good reason to watch the video below.

Isaiah 37:21 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,

Why pray? Because we are told to. We see over and over again in scripture that God say's because you have prayed.... Why did God respond the way He did to Hezekiah's prayer? Because he prayed. Because he trusted God and went to Him instead of listening to the lies of the enemy.