The Prayer of Hezekiah

Hezekiah was an extraordinary king, and he was possibly Judah’s most righteous and faith-filled king after David. He performed extraordinary acts of service to the Lord, especially in protecting and purifying the Lord’s worship. But Hezekiah was also a remarkable man of prayer, and his prayer can serve as a model for us in terms of how we should pray to the true and living God.

Our text introduces us to Hezekiah through two prayers he offers to the Lord. The first prayer requests that God be glorified in the defeat of Sennacherib’s army.

Such a thing is simple to grasp and appears to fit in with our understanding of prayer and our relationship with God in prayer. The second prayer, when Hezekiah becomes ill, is more difficult to comprehend. Hezekiah’s brief second prayer is recorded in II Kings 20:3:

“Recall now, O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a whole heart, and done what is good in your sight.”

Hezekiah is not praying unjustly and self-centeredly for himself when he prays for healing as a covenant-keeper. He’s not saying, “Lord, I’ve been good, so you owe me something.”

King Hezekiah, on the other hand, is delving deeply into his reasoning with the Lord in prayer.

“You are the essence of life,” he truly says to the Lord. You have always provided your people with life, health, and strength. He is dying of sickness. He’s been given a prophecy that he’ll die.

How would you have reacted? Many of us, I believe, would rather be angry than pray, or simply be in a state of numb desperation. But that is not Hezekiah’s attitude and in his prayer, we see the man of faith, the man of God, revealed to us. He is a man of prayer in the midst of his illness, terrible situation that he is confronted with, and distress about as serious as anyone can face.

Here is an expression of the very heart of faith: when we are in trouble, we turn to God, not away from Him. When faced with a problem, faith turns to God for assistance. It has no doubts about God’s presence or despair about his goodness.

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