Praying at the Crossroads SESSION EIGHT: THE PRAYER OF HEZEKIAH • 2 KINGS 18:1-37; 19:1-37 • MAIN POINT We must make prayer a first instinct rather than a last resort. INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to introduce the topic of discussion. When was a time you had to deal with a bully in your life? How did you respond? If someone or something seemed determined to harm you or someone you love, to whom or what would you turn for help? Why? In times of trouble, is prayer usually your first instinct or last resort? Explain. No matter who you are, where you live, what your economic status is, or what your religious life is like, trouble and troublemakers will find you. A Christian’s response in the face of such realities may tend toward panicking or devising a plot to make things better. Sadly, the last course many of us choose is prayer. Rather than panicking, plotting, or using persuasion, the Bible urges prayer in times of trouble. In fact, prayer should be our first response not our last resort. A wonderful portion of Scripture that drives this point home is 2 Kings 18–19, which concerns a man named Hezekiah. His story reveals that prayer does what no plotting or persuasiveness can do. WATCH VIDEO SESSION 8 OF PRAYING AT THE CROSSROADS—THE PRAYER OF HEZEKIAH. UNDERSTANDING Unpack the biblical text to discover what the Scripture says or means about a particular topic. ASK A VOLUNTEER TO READ 2 KINGS 18:1-37. Based on verses 1-8, what kind of king was Hezekiah? Considering his commitment to the Lord, are the events in the rest of the chapter surprising to you? Why or why not? Page 1 of 7 What can we learn from Hezekiah about the nature of trouble even in the life of the godly? Are you inclined to believe your faithfulness to God should exempt you from attacks and trials? Explain. Chapter 18 gives an impressive resume of Hezekiah. Hezekiah did what was right in the Lord’s sight (v. 3). He uprooted kingdom wide idolatry (v. 4). He trusted in the Lord and held fast to Him (vv. 5-6). He was accomplished on the battlefield (vv. 7-8). And the rest of the chapter lets us know that even a man this highly regarded in Scripture faced a menacing terror, namely the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians were the biggest bullies on the block during Hezekiah’s day. They were known for their dominance. Assyria brutalized, terrorized, and tormented other nations. Often they impaled victims as a means of psychological warfare. Understandably, Hezekiah was shaken when this empire set its sights on Judah. As God’s people, we face antagonism from various sources. We must remember that, ultimately, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens” (Eph. 6:12). Why is it important to remain aware of our true foe and his schemes? Under King Shalmaneser, Hezekiah watched Assyria defeat the Northern Kingdom of Israel (18:9- 12). Now under a new bully, Sennacherib, Hezekiah and the Southern Kingdom were under attack (v. 13). What was Hezekiah’s initial response to the Assyrian threat (vv. 14-16)? What was wrongheaded about his response? When faced with opposition, why do we often turn to human means before we place our trust in God? What are your tendencies when you face attacks? ASK A VOLUNTEER TO READ 2 KINGS 19:1-20, 35-37. What stands out to you in Hezekiahs’ prayer? What did Hezekiah acknowledge and believe about God? What did he acknowledge and believe about Assyria? Page 2 of 7 Some people believe that speaking and acknowledging evil aloud is faithlessness. In what way did Hezekiah actually demonstrate faith in verse 17 by acknowledging Assyria’s power? Hezekiah didn’t pray immediately, but after an unsuccessful attempt to make a deal he pivoted from bargaining to bowing. In chapter 19, Hezekiah stopped trying to pay his way out and decided to pray his way out. His prayer was recorded in 2 Kings 19:15-19, and verses 35-37 demonstrate that his prayer was successful. What his plotting and persuading didn’t accomplish, his prayer did. Assyria retreated, and Sennacherib was killed through divine action in response to Hezekiah’s prayer. The Lord fights our battles for us and welcomes us to call on Him in times of trouble. We aren’t sufficient on our own, but the Lord Jesus has already won the battle. Hezekiah teaches us that prayer does what neither our panicking, nor plotting, nor persuasiveness can do. APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. In the video session we were encouraged this way: “Want what you want, but want what God wants more than what you want.” In what circumstance do you need to apply this to your prayer life currently? Think about the struggles you’re facing. How do you need to respond in prayer? Who will join you in praying? How does a reliance on God’s strength over our own strength and wisdom point others to His glory? PRAYER Praise God for the privilege and power of prayer. Acknowledge your fears, challenges, and enemies to Him in prayer, seeking His strength and solutions. Yield to God’s timetable, trusting that He will demonstrate His power and justice at the right time. COMMENTARY 2 KINGS 18-19 18:1-4. Following his father’s death in 715 B.C., Hezekiah assumed the throne and reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years until 686 B.C. Ahaz had been a disaster as a king and even more so Page 3 of 7 as a father and spiritual influence. In addition, he had seen the brutal power of Assyria as it obliterated the nation of Israel. Hezekiah also would have been aware of his own nation’s sin as it followed the destructive path of Israel (17:18-19). It would be easy to excuse Hezekiah if he had simply perpetuated the past, taking the path of least resistance. Instead, we read the strongest affirmation of a king in 2 Kings, rivaled only by that of his great- grandson Josiah: He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David. There are no qualifications. Indeed, we read, for the first time, that he removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. Hezekiah was the polar opposite of his father; he was also a king like David who led his nation in external reform and spiritual renewal. His crusade to rebuild his nation is described in considerable detail in 2 Chronicles 29- 31.. 18:5-8. Hezekiah’s God-pleasing life was not an accident. He had made godly choices. He had three major characteristics. First, he trusted in the Lord. It was the quality of faith that would be most directly tested by the Assyrian onslaught, but it set him apart. The second quality was exclusive loyalty: He held fast to the Lord (in contrast to Solomon, who held fast to his wives; 1 Kgs. 11:2). The third quality was Hezekiah’s consistent obedience: he kept the command the Lord had given Moses. As a result, the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. 18:9-12. The writer of 2 Kings takes us back to 724 B.C., when the Assyrian king Shalmaneser attacked Samaria, and to 722 B.C., when it fell. By reviewing the events of chapter 17, he reminds us of the power of Assyria, against which Hezekiah had rebelled, and of the penalty for sin. He also contrasts Hezekiah with the weakness that characterized the Northern Kingdom. He does not say it in so many words, but he wants us to see the great difference a godly king makes. Israel had neither listened to the commands of the Lord nor carried them out. Now we will see what could happen when a king listened and obeyed. 18:13-16. Sennacherib of Assyria, who succeeded Sargon in 705 B.C., had no intention of allowing Hezekiah’s rebellion to go unpunished. In 701 B.C. he attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. He made his headquarters at Lachish, twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem, and wrote in his annals that he had Hezekiah “shut up in Jerusalem, his royal capital, like a bird in a cage.” Hezekiah suffered an uncharacteristic but understandable lapse of faith. He sent a message to the Assyrian king, confessing the “ sin” of rebellion: I have done wrong. He then asked the king to withdraw, offering to pay whatever price he demanded. The demand was for three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Hezekiah could pay this amount only by emptying the Page 4 of 7 temple and royal treasuries of their silver and stripping off the gold he had used to cover the temple doors and doorposts. Notably absent is any reference to seeking divine guidance or aid. 18:17-27. The Assyrians didn’t play by the rules. Rather than withdrawing, the king sent his military officers with a large army to negotiate with Hezekiah. Actually, he had no intention of settling for anything less than Judah’s surrender. The Assyrian field commander was a skilled propagandist. He used a combination of truths, half-truths, threats, promises, and mockery to deride Judean confidence.