King Hezekiah
Posted by Drew Coffman | | Posted On Monday, May 25, 2009 at 6:06 PM
- El Escorial
King Hezekiah (Ezechias, on the right) has been on my mind frequently over the past couple of weeks, for the various events which He is known for in the Bible. A very human king, it is my opinion that Hezekiah is notable for one thing - His prayers. These prayers left him remembered not as another cog in the never-ending line of kings, but something more. Someone who was connected to God in a way which was admirable, and testified to the fact that God is someone who cares for his people in wondrous ways.
His ability to be a just ruler ebbed and flowed with his ability to stay faithful and true to the Lord. God moved and did amazing things in his life when he would humble himself and examine who he was in contrast to his Maker. Huge miracles consistently answered his prayers, creating unity and independence for his people and at one point literally lengthening his life. When he became prideful, both he and his people would suffer.
There is a valuable lesson to be learned from Hezekiah. We are all human, and make mistakes on a consistent basis. We put too much weight in ourselves and our own ability, forgetting the miracles which God and only God can perform - and will perform for us.
Isaiah 38:5-6 -
"This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. Yes, I will defend this city."
Like with many other stories in the Bible, this one amongst others, has surely been heard by my ears as a child growing up, but as a young man it is always fascinating to hear them again. As I'm making my way through the Bible it is really cool to read this stuff and actively engage in conversation (I sound like a school child here, ha) with folks like you Drew.
Speaking of prayer, this has been something that has been steadily growing to far greater prominence in my daily life, especially in the morning. My car rides to USF have been frequently quiet and void of any music and in its place I have been trying to spend more time in prayer.
Every morning over these past couple weeks have been a testament to the noise and the chaos in my life. I wake up feeling "rushed" into having to join the day and start working ASAP. So much in fact that in these past few days I have started to read my Bible before anything else after I wake up.
Normally I turn on my laptop and start reading about what's going on elsewhere in St. Pete and abroad in other people's lives, but lately I have been breaking the cycle of the that.
To be honest I enjoy it, and the more I star to think about it, the added noise and distraction that comes from flipping on iTunes or Twitter early on in the day really detracts from some quality time you could be sharing with God.
On that note, there has been more than a handful of conversations I've had with friends and family over this past week about how to approach prayer and all of them have been beneficial.
When taken to heart it makes sense to keep an ongoing dialogue with the Lord throughout the day. Often times I find myself bookending my days with a robust prayer session in the morning then little bits here and there as the day progresses.
In the past I have encountered people in young life, specifically the senior staff, who practice unceasing prayer. I need to read into this more, but from what I can recall these individuals who spoke about their prayer life mentioned that they never say Amen. There was another phrase they say, or may they said nothing all. That said, I was very taken back by it and it made me wonder about how I go about communicating with the Lord.
One leader in particular, Bill Loy, was one of the gnarliest dudes I had ever met. He went against the grain big time when it came to giving talks at weekend camps, and if I'm not mistaken I think this is the guy who I mentioned above who talked about unceasing prayer.
The dude was a straight up hippie in thought, but lacked the outward appearance for any kind of label. He really encouraged everybody in the room to abandon whatever they had been taught growing up as "the right way to pray" and learn what works best for you. He even suggested that what makes you think God requires you to speak when praying? What makes you think that you have to be silent when praying?
Needless to say he brought up a bunch of points for people to ponder, not necessarily to apply. To end this rambling, I hope that we all pursue a deeper prayer life it is mas importante.
It's weird how everything you said here was exactly what we were discussing on Wednesday in College and Career.
It's easy to discuss what prayer 'is' and 'isn't' on a philosophical level, just like we view actually praying. It's up to us to challenge those views in our own minds and connect to God in a deep way, breaking out of that tired old mindset.
Neat. :D
What your mom said :D