"My Will Be Done Or Thy Will Be Done”

But some of us do not have to be reminded because there are all kinds of emergencies that come up each day that remind us to pray.

Illus: A mother and her five year old son were headed to McDonald's. Before they reached the drive way to McDonald’s the mother noticed a car accident.

Whenever the mother saw something terrible like that, she made it a habit to pray for those who might be hurt.

She decided this would a be a good time to teach her son to do the same.

Instead of praying, she said to her son, "We should pray."

From the back seat she heard his earnest request: "Please, God, don't let those cars block the entrance to McDonald's."

Almost every day things happen that remind us we need to pray.

Hezekiah was a man of prayer.

• Hezekiah was King of Judah for 29 years.

• More space is given to Hezekiah in Scripture than to almost any other king since the time of Solomon.

Look at 2 Kings 18:1-7, we read, “Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Ne-hush-tan. He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.”

Make no mistake about it; this was a great man of God. He was a godly man and he was known for his godliness and goodness.

Because he was a king we may think that Hezekiah had a good start in life but this was not the case.

His father Ahaz was one of the wickedest kings in Judah's history, and during his reign the religious life of the nation reached an all-time low.

Look at 2 Kings 16:2-4 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king and he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

Notice, the Bible tells us he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

People are not aware that God is watching us when:

• We do good!

• We do bad!

God has to watch us daily because if He did not He could not judge us fairly on the judgement day.

Ahaz was the worst of all the kings of Judah.

• He imitated the worst of the Israelite kings - Ahab and Ahaziah - by a re-introduction of the Baal worship, which had been rooted out of Israel by Jehu and out of Judah by Jehoiada.

• Ahaz adopted the Moloch worship of the Ammonites and Moabites and sacrificed at least one son, probably his firstborn, according to the horrid rites of those nations, and the Canaanite tribes.

• He followed the detestable ways of the nations that the Lord had driven out.

• He offered up sacrifices and burned incense at the high places on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.

This was the type of Father King Hezekiah had.

• With a father and a background like that we may wonder how Hezekiah became such a noble and spiritually minded man.

• Where did his faith in God and his spiritual character come from?

Certainly not from his home background as we have seen.

It can only have been that Gods’ spirit had worked directly in his life.