Hezekiah’s Prayer for Life

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign over Judah he was struck with a fatal disease. There are lessons for Christians in his subsequent prayer.

"In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, Thus says the LORD, Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, remember now, O LORD, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done what is good in thy sight (Isaiah 20:1-3 NAS).

Then Jehovah spoke to Isaiah: "Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you ... and I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake" (2 Kings 20:5,6 NAS, see also Isaiah 38:1-6).

Isaiah had told him to "set his house in order" because he was going to die. At this time Hezekiah had no children so he was not able to set his house in order in regards to a son taking the throne when he died.[1] The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus said that because Hezekiah had no children, he was concerned about leaving "his house and his government without a successor of his own body."[2] Josephus maintains that this is why Hezekiah lamented so bitterly with the news of his pending demise.

Because he was granted prolonged life, Hezekiah finally did have a son, Manasseh, who turned out to be one of the most evil kings Judah ever had. If Hezekiah had not asked for his life to be extended, Judah would not have inherited wicked Manasseh as king. Thus, we see that the power of Hezekiah’s prayer gave him fifteen more years of life and the defense of Jerusalem. But there can be consequences in praying for something that may not be God’s will. This is a lesson in trust for us. We need to be careful what we pray for and trust that our Heavenly Father has our best spiritual interests in mind always, and follow Jesus’ example.

"Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). Jesus knew that God’s wisdom was far superior to his own. Hezekiah seemed to forget that fact in his hour of distress. God had carefully watched over Judah for many years and He would have overruled the situation for the ultimate good had He let Hezekiah die. We should remember that God has our ultimate good in mind as well, even if we think things could be better. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28, see also verses 26, 27).

A second lesson for us is that when something bad happens to us, we should ask our Heavenly Father to help us through the trial rather than ask Him to change or remove the trial. We have no way of knowing if there might be a Manasseh in our future when we ask God to heal us or take care of a problem.

We notice that Hezekiah did not ask for anything in his prayer and yet, God granted him fifteen more years of life and said that He would defend Jerusalem— as if Hezekiah had asked for these things. The reason is that the record of the prayer given in 2 Kings 20 is incomplete. Hezekiah’s complete prayer is revealed in poetic form in Isaiah 38:9-20. The prayer is actually in two parts: Hezekiah first shares his grief with God (verses 9-14) and then thanks Him profusely for his deliverance from his terminal illness (verses 15-20).

Hezekiah talks about the distress of dying in verses 12 and 13 and then he says, "My eyes look wistfully to the heights; O LORD, I am oppressed, be my security" (Isaiah 38:14 NAS). From the context, we know that Hezekiah asked God to extend his life and that God did. There is a good lesson here for Christians today. It is the sentiment mentioned by Jesus when he said, "Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God: trust in me also" (John 14:1, Weymouth). Jesus did not put any stipulations on trusting in God. We are to trust God even when we are suffering or dying. We pray to our Heavenly Father when we are in "dire straits" but we should not be troubled at how our Father handles the situation.

But alas, we are human and when our trials are causing us spiritual, physical, mental or emotional stress, we sometimes become troubled. Stress is often part of a trial, and we can freely ask for God’s help with that as well. This is the beauty of God’s arrangement. As Hezekiah did, we too can spread out our trials and difficulties before God and then ask Him to be our security. We have the surety that God will help us become stronger as we face our trials.

Hezekiah concluded that "Truly, it was for my own good that I had great bitterness" (Isaiah 38:17 Tanakh). He realized that his trials were for his "own good." That is a powerful lesson for us, for even Jesus learned obedience through the things which he suffered (Hebrews 5:8). We are told that Hezekiah was a righteous man (2 Kings 18:1-7). "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects" (James 5:16 RSV). What powerful effects did Hezekiah’s prayer have?

The power of prayer was shown when Hezekiah received 15 more years of life from God, Jerusalem was saved from the Assyrian army, and there was "peace and truth" in the rest of his days (Isaiah 39:8). However, the power of prayer was also shown in what happened after Hezekiah prayed for the wrong thing. Isaiah had told him to "get his house in order." He did not tell him, "pray for a son so you can prepare him to be the next king." Because Hezekiah’s life was extended, he was able to father a son who became a very wicked king. Fortunately for Hezekiah, he did not live to see what happened to Judah because of his mistake.

We are living thousands of years later and we can learn from Hezekiah’s mistake in prayer. We must learn to be careful what we pray for. We do this by accepting our circumstances and praying for help, comfort and guidance when we are in the midst of a trial. We learn that our trials can humble us and teach us. Therefore, we can be thankful for them as Hezekiah was. Truly, it is for our own good when we have great bitterness (compare Isaiah 38:17).

When the Assyrian army came up close to Jerusalem, it used unusual tactics. It did not attack but tried to coerce and frighten the Judeans into submission. At one point King Hezekiah received a letter from Rabshakeh who was the chief of the officers in King Sennacherib’s army. The letter not only taunted Hezekiah but spoke blasphemous things about the God of Judah as well.

King Hezekiah was understandably distraught when he read the letter. After all, the threats were based on truth, "Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered" (2 Kings 19:11)? Hezekiah did exactly what he should have done — he prayed. He took the letter and "spread it out before the LORD" (verse 14). Sometimes, we tend to just say, "LORD help me." God wants us to share with Him our deepest troubles and concerns. Of course, He already knows what they are, but He wants us to come to Him and share the details with Him— to become more intimate with Him. We remember that Jesus prayed all night, spreading out his concerns before his Father (See Luke 6:12). Certainly, Jesus could have just said "help me Father" and His Father would have understood. Instead, Jesus spent an entire night spelling everything out to God in detail. Should we not do the same as Hezekiah and Jesus?

In his prayer Hezekiah asked for the deliverance of his people. "Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his [Sennacherib’s] hand" (2 Kings 19:19). Hezekiah had brought the people out of the degradation that his wicked father, King Ahaz, had allowed. He tore down the idols, he reinstituted the Passover celebration, and "kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses" (2 Kings 18:4,6, 2 Chronicles 30). Hezekiah loved God and he loved Israel and Judah as well. He knew that the people needed to get back to the ways of God.

One might wonder why it was so important that Hezekiah pray for the deliverance of the remnant of Judah left alone in Jerusalem. After all, God certainly would not have let his chosen people be completely eliminated by the Assyrians. Still, Jesus specifically taught Christians to pray "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). God’s Kingdom will come whether you or I, as Christians, pray for it or not. But we learn that it is a good thing in God’s eyes that we pray for something that He has already promised. It was a good thing for Hezekiah, and it is for us. It helps us to strengthen our relationship with God as we give up our own wills. That is the power of prayer.

There is another interesting part of Hezekiah’s prayer. "And now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou alone, O LORD, art God" (2 Kings 19:19 NAS). Hezekiah’s chief concern seemed to be that the rest of the world would know that Israel’s God was the one true, living God.

There is power in the words, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" because "they shall prosper that love thee" (Psalm 122:6). The power of prayer will be made manifest in the Kingdom when mankind will learn the same lessons we learn from the recorded prayers of the heroes of faith. The whole world will come to know that "Thou alone, O LORD, art God."

David’s Prayer for Forgiveness (Psalm 51)

King David, who at one time was considered a man after God’s own heart, committed two major sins in one series of events (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). When these sins were revealed to him by Nathan, David gave the prayer found in Psalm 51. David’s prayer was somewhat in the form of spreading things out before Jehovah.

David could have prayed, "I’m sorry LORD, would you please forgive me." Instead, David showed God that his plea for forgiveness was from the heart and that he wanted to repair his relationship with God. David’s attitude of repentance made this prayer so powerful.

David gets right to the point in verse one saying, "have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness" (Psalm 51:1). In verses 2 and 3 he says, "wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me." David felt dirty after his sins and he wanted God to help him clean up. One of the very first things he says is, "I acknowledge my transgressions." Recognizing our wrong doings, as a prerequisite to start changing, is an age-old concept, also found in 1 John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

In verse 7 David says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." David was alluding to Numbers 19:16-19 where hyssop was used by a clean person to sprinkle water on someone who had touched something unclean like "a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave." God is certainly clean and David is asking God to purge or cleanse him from his sins. This shows us how serious David was about renewing his relationship with God.

The hyssop goes back to Exodus 12:22 and 23. The blood of the Passover lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts and lintels with hyssop.

David did not want to be ousted from the same relationship with God that the Israelites had when God protected the firstborn of Israel and directed them out of Egypt. Instead, he pleaded with God, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). David concluded that by himself he could not change himself. He did not say, "I will change, I promise." He asked God to create in him a clean heart so that he might continue in God’s favor. Even though he was punished, David’s writings indicate that God did show him favor after this prayer.

The prayers of two men of God thousands of years ago were so powerful that they have reached down through the centuries to help in our development as Christians. Hezekiah and David brought power to their prayers by being humble, acknowledging their sins, asking for mercy, praising God, asking for blessings for God’s people Israel, and wanting desperately to continue their relationship with God. Let us remember that if we have the same attitude, great will be our power of prayer.