Skip to main content

Prayer's Purpose

2 Kings 20: 2-3 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

God didn't give me a specific verse today, but instead prompted me to read about Hezekiah.  Hezekiah is an example of strong faith and provides hope in prayer.  Just prior to this prayer, Hezekiah was given the word that he was going to die because of an illness that had come upon him.  He then prays and God delivers him from illness and delivers his city from the king of Assyria.  All I have today is a question.  Why did God answer this prayer?  Hezekiah didn't even ask for anything.  He simply invites God to remember their relationship.  Interesting.  And God's response was simple, "I have heard your prayer and seen your tears."  Okay, I have done that plenty of times, prayed to God and cried about it, but I haven't gotten the answer I was hoping for.  Hezekiah relies on his relationship with God as the purpose for his prayer, not his request.  Do I pray like this, remembering to share who I am with God, or am I all about the requests I have for Him?  I may need to examine my prayer life and go a bit deeper with God, especially in times of great need.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mercy and Compassion

Jude 22-23 Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. This is something I have struggles with, loving those who frustrate me.  How can we be merciful to those who are "corrupt" without being judgmental?  It is definitely not our place to judge one another, it is our place to love one another.  Sometimes loving the people who are rude or cruel is the hardest part of being a Christian.  My humanity would like to judge people for their behaviors and choices and lash out at them.  I believe we are only able to show true mercy and compassion for others when we accept these for ourselves from Jesus and then He lives them through us.  Allowing God to change our hearts in order that Jesus' mercy and compassion shine through is a journey.  It's not always easy.  On those difficult days, I remain quiet and ask God to love on me, so I...

The Heart of Jesus

John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. I have had a difficult time finding a single verse today.  I have been all over my Bible, reading and thinking.  I'm settling on this verse, mostly because it is closely related to one of my favorite verses.  I sometimes get caught up in thinking I need to do certain things to grow in my faith.  These things are not inherently bad, nor are they necessarily good.  Two big stumbling blocks for me are fasting and tithing.  I find myself getting hooked into the religious value of them rather than the relational value.  I find that spending time with God gives me a clearer picture of my own motives for wanting to do these things.  I find that I usually feel the need to fast when I'm feeling poorly about my body image.  I find that wanting to tithe usually comes after reading verses in the Old Testament about God blessing Israel for its offerings.  Both of these are mot...

For Mom

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. This is a post for Mom.  She is the embodiment of these words written by Paul.  When I think of Mom and who God created her to be, this is it.  Each of these phrases describes her perfectly.  Mom learned very early on in her walk with Jesus to let Him have His way in her life.  Who she is and has been to people is the testament to that.  Her patience with a super naughty 2-year old, namely me, rivaled that of Job.  I don't ever remember her getting angry.  Quite frankly, Mom and the word angry in the same sentence is laughable.  She never bragged or boasted about us (even though we know she's proud of us) because that wouldn't be showing love to her listener.  Mom was never rude, she was always serving others, and she was never jud...