1. Title: Now Would Be A Good Time To Pray
2. Text: 2 Chronicles 31-32, II Kings 18-20, Isaiah 36-38
3. Audience: Villa Heights Christian Church, AM crowd. June 4, 2006, in the series “The Kings and I”
4. Objectives:
-for the people to understand that God answers prayer; that prayer is a godly response to many life situations; that prayer helps us through diversity
-for the people to feel that prayer will help them cope with life’s hard times; that they should take more of life to God in prayer; that they should repent of wandering
-for the people to apply themselves to prayer deliberately and specifically; repent of wandering from God; place themselves in God’s hands completely
5. When I finish my sermon I want my audience to make prayer a major part of returning, renewing, and re-committing themselves to God
6. Type: expository
7. Dominant Thought: Prayer is the godly response to many of life’s situations.
8. Outline:
Joplin, MO – home of a bazillion restaurants. Our cultural shift to eating out has produced a new challenge: what’s the right time to pray?
For instance, if you go out to eat Mexican food, it’s likely you’ll be given chips and salsa before you get your “meal.” Do you pray before the chips, or wait till after? And what if you’re somewhere and they bring you a salad, or some appetizer, do you pray before or after? What do you do if the waitress is coming with something for you, and you don’t want her to be standing there with your drinks, waiting for your 4 year old to finish thanking God for everything? What’s she supposed to do?
When is the right time to pray? Someone needs to check into these things.
Roberta Kenoyer, AKA, “Mom K,” formerly the dorm mom of Williamson dorm at OCC, had a knack for praying when you wish she wouldn’t. The prayer I’m thinking of usually came right after she caught a few guys doing something they shouldn’t – like holding down Larry Timm and shaving his chest hairs. (At least, that’s what I heard some guys were going to do.) Anyway, Mom’s prayer went something like this: Dear Lord, we are but children. Please help us to focus on why we’re here and how we should be living. Please forgive us for our childishness and help us to mature. It went on for a few minutes. Thanks, Mom! I wonder if it helped those guys. At least they learned when Mom thought it was a good time to pray!
Hezekiah is another king of Judah - #12, and a good king who knew when to pray. The year is about 728 BC. It’s just a few years before the northern 10 tribes, known as Israel, were completely taken out as a nation. Apparently sometime during Hezekiah’s 29 year reign, in 722 BC the Assyrians finally overran Samaria and deported what was left of Israel. That left Judah under the leadership of this king whose life is recorded in some 10 different chapters of the OT. The short version of Hez. goes like this:
II Kings 18:5-7
Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.
I wouldn’t mind some words like that being the record of my life after I’m gone from this earth. How did he do it? As I read through the stories of Hezekiah, one of the features that appears several times is his prayer life. Hezekiah was blessed by God, and it’s quite apparent that his prayers had a lot to do with that. So, what did he pray, and, when did he pray? When was it a good time for prayer?
So, from Hezekiah, let’s look at 3 times that are a really good time to pray:
I. When You’re Coming Back to God
Hezekiah inherited a nation that was a mess. They had turned their backs on God, and God let them suffer for it. Hezekiah had a plan, and he didn’t waste time getting it started.
2 Chronicles 29:3-6, 10
In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: "Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. Our fathers were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him.
10 Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.
And he did. Hezekiah launched a nation-wide revival to turn the people back to God. They went into the temple and took out all the junk that shouldn’t have been there. And they replaced the things that did belong there but were gone. Then, Hezekiah had them gather for a special worship time.
2 Chronicles 29:27b-30, 35b
As the offering began, singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed. When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.
35b So the service of the temple of the LORD was reestablished.
Then, Hezekiah reestablished the celebration of the Passover. It had been neglected for so long. They sent invitations not only through Judah, but all over Israel too – from Beersheba to Dan. And there was a great gathering for worship in Jerusalem. It went on for one week, and then they all agreed to stay for another.
II Chronicles 30:26
There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.
Then, in ch 31 we read about the way they went out and destroyed the idols people had been worshiping. Then they reestablished sacrifices and holy days. All of the people began tithing again. Judah had wandered off from God, but here they were returning to Him again.
I can tell they were returning. First, because they had left. It’s hard to return to something if you don’t leave in the first place. They had. There were idols, altars, and high places all set up to worship false gods all over Judah. They had abandoned the very first command, to have no other gods before God. 2nd, I can tell they were returning because of what they did. They didn’t just say they were sorry, they showed it too. They smashed idols. They reestablished holy feasts. They began to tithe again. They made sacrifices. They bowed and worshiped. And they prayed.
When John the Baptist hit the scene just before Jesus, he had a one-word message: he told his audience that they needed to repent, and to bring forth fruits of repentance.
Repent is an important word. It means to have a change of heart that leads to a change of life. That’s what Judah was doing as a nation – repenting – and that’s a great time to pray.
The Bible is full of prayers of people who are repenting or who are told to repent: Ezra, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, and others. There are passages that tell how important it is to repent. Jesus said He came to call sinners to repentance. Peter said it’s what we’re supposed to do to get into a right relationship with God. In Revelation, 4 churches are told to repent.
Perhaps it’s best illustrated in the story of the Prodigal son in Lk 15. A boy receives his inheritance early, then he wanders off and wastes it. Jesus says that when he came to his senses, he headed back home, rehearsing a speech of repentance for his father. Only his father didn’t need it. His son had come back home, and He welcomed him. That’s what God wants His wandering children to do – come to your senses: turn around and come back.
2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Some of you have wandered off and need to come back. You’ve stepped back into some old habit that you know is wrong. You’ve messed up a relationship. You’ve been living a lie. You’ve been putting other things before God. You’ve neglected your spiritual well-being. You’ve listened to Satan’s lie, and now it hasn’t turned out to be as great as he said it would be.
What do you say? What do you do? Now would be a good time to pray!
Now would be a good time to confess your failure to God and make some changes. Now would be a good time to repent and return. Now would be a good time to read David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. Now would be a good time, like the Prodigal son, to come to your senses and come back home and say, “Father, I’ve messed up. I’m sorry.”
In fact, right now, at this moment, would be a good time to do that. For a couple of minutes, we’re going to pray. Today is Pentecost Sunday. Last year on this Sunday, more than 220 million Christians from 156 nations participated in the Global Day of Prayer. Today, an even greater number of Christians are participating again. A central message of those prayers being offered today is repentance on the part of God’s people for our failures to be what God wants His Church to be in today’s world. Would you take a couple minutes and join with those hundreds of millions of believers today who are praying that prayer?
Now would be a good time to pray. (Prayer Time)
II. When The Task is Bigger Than You Are
Hezekiah gives us another reason to understand that doing what’s right doesn’t guarantee life is going to all just be peachy.
2 Chronicles 32:1
After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.
This story from the life of Hezekiah is an important part of history. Part of that history includes Hezekiah’s plans for Sennacherib’s attack. Rather than let them show up and have the Gihon spring provide their enemies with water, he had his men block up the spring and divert its water underground into the city. They started at both ends, tunneling through the rock until they met. The result was a 1,750’ tunnel that is actually one of the greatest water engineering works of its day. Today, if you visit Jerusalem, you can walk through the tunnel Hezekiah dug. It descends into the Gihon spring and exits into the Pool of Siloam.
Another evidence of this history is found in the records of the Assyrians. They seem to really like to make pictures of them going and conquering other people. 2 different “prisms” have been found that helped archaeologists solve the puzzle of some language translation. These contain accounts written by Sennacherib, including his account of what he did on his expedition into Judah. There are also reliefs from the walls of tombs and ancient palaces, including a picture of Sennacherib and scenes of the Assyrians conquering their neighbors.
Sennacherib didn’t attack Jerusalem at once. He was subduing other cities, and a long siege of Jerusalem was going to be a lot of work. So, he tried to get the Jews to just surrender. He sent his officials to speak…
Isaiah 37
[Sennacherib] sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ’Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them…?”
2 Kings 19:14-16
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. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
Picture it. King Hezekiah took the scroll that was sent to him, full of blasphemy and threats, and he spread it out before the Lord. It wasn’t empty talk. The Assyrians really had stomped all over people. The Jews were way out-gunned and outnumbered. It was a good time to pray. And God listened:
2 Chronicles 32:21-22
And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword. So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others.
Number 1, don’t ever cross an angel! Think about the power. God sent “an angel” who “annihilated” 185,000 fighting men! Sennacherib turned tail and went home in disgrace. Later, 2 of his sons murdered him.
Number 2, understand that God was the reason this happened. The poet Lord Byron understood this when he wrote “The Destruction of Sennacherib”:
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still!
Now, II K 19:35 is one of those verses that, translated in Elizabethan English in 1611, sounds a bit off the wall. I remember the first time I noticed this verse as a kid. It was funny to me then, too:
II Kings 19:35, KJV
And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
And you think you felt bad when you got up this morning! How’d you like to arise early in the morning and “behold, you’re a dead corpse”?! Better yet, how’d they do that? This is another one of those Ripley’s Believe It Or Not items!
OK, back on track here…
Not only did God destroy the enemy, they didn’t even make an attack. That’s part of the point God made ahead of time. It wasn’t a one-sided battle. It wasn’t even a battle!
Why? Because God’s people, rather than depending on their own strength, came to Him in prayer.
What we’re supposed to do about that is simple. We’re supposed to take to God our tasks that are too big for us alone. Until we do, the victories we have will all be man-sized victories.
2 Corinthians 2:14-16
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?
None of us. And that’s why we need to take our tasks that are too big to God. He can handle them. Have you got one of those? Now would be a good time to pray.
Some of you have been faced, this week, this month, this year with challenges that you can’t handle. Now would be a good time, today, to go home and take your bill, your grade card, your schedule, the letter someone wrote to you, your layoff notice and spread it out before the Lord. Let Him handle the injustices. Let Him deal with the things that are too big for you.
Here’s one last time that is a good time to pray:
III. When You Realize Your life is In God’s Hands
Isaiah 38:1-5
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." 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. Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: "Go and tell Hezekiah, ’This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.
Not many people are told the day they will die. There are a few exceptions. When the doctor calls you into his office to tell you it’s cancer, you realize you life is in God’s hands. When you’ve had some close brush with death – a car accident, a serious surgery – you’re reminded that your life isn’t your own, and it’s in God’s hands. No one who has had an experience with these things continues to live just the same as before. It’s interesting to read in Isaiah some of what looks to be Isaiah’s personal journal just after these days:
Isaiah 38:15-20
But what can I say? He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this. I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul. Lord, by such things men live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live. Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back. For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness. The living, the living--they praise you, as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness. The LORD will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the Lord.
I notice about Hezekiah that he’s not just wanting to have more years here, he has a reason for those years – to praise God, to tell his children about God, to sing to God. It’s not just about living longer. It’s about truly living.
David wrote:
Psalm 31:15 My times are in your hands…
This isn’t just about your years being in God’s hands. It’s about your life – your health, your effectiveness. It’s about committing to God whatever days He has given you to live.
Here’s a good realization to have: you will die. And so here’s a good prayer to pray once you come to that realization: “Lord, I’m in Your hands here. The life you give me is for You to use, so I’m going to praise you as long as I have it, and after that I still belong to You. My times are in Your hands.”
The Scriptures tell us that the final enemy that’s going to be defeated is death. That enemy isn’t going to be completely undone until the Lord returns and raises us from the dead. When I look around, I see a lot of people who are trying to beat that enemy now. Modern medicine sometimes comes across like a desperate scramble to add a few more years to our lives. Do you ever feel enslaved to something that’s supposed to be serving you and helping your life? I say, happy is the person who says to the Lord, “My times are in Your hands.” To live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Conclusion:
There’s another facet of this whole thing to remember. Your eternity is in His hands too. He has made the way for you to live with Him forever. If you still act like that doesn’t matter to you, now would be a good time to pray. Now would be a good time to make an appeal to Him to be washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Now would be a good time to say, like Peter as he sank into the stormy sea, “Lord, save me!” Now would be a good time to arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.
