I’m going to be reading from Isaiah 37, within verses 14 to 21. What’s going on is, Hezekiah is king of Judah, and the Assyrian army is coming. The Assyrian king is just saying, “Turn yourselves in. Don’t try to fight us. We destroy everyone.” Messengers bring the Assyrian king’s threats to Hezekiah, so verse 14: …Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Hezekiah prayed to the Lord. Then it says the prophet Isaiah comes to him: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, “Because you have prayed to Me…” (verse 21).

This is one of the great battles in history in Israel. They don’t fight. The Lord just sends angels and they destroy the other army. But why did He do it? The Lord says, “Because you have prayed to Me.” The very first thing Hezekiah did when there’s this big problem was spread it out before the Lord and pray to Him. Because he prayed and went to God saying, “Glorify Yourself in this situation. Let them know you are God.” Instead of, “Help me!” weeping, crying, “What am I going to do?” he says, “God be glorified. These people don’t follow you. They follow these gods of wood and stone. They’re nothing. You are the Great I Am, the Almighty God.”

We need to remember. We need it be our reaction to pray first, to go to God first. We need to train ourselves to turn to Him whenever there’s a problem. He should be on our thoughts all the time so when there’s a problem, it’s never, “What am I going to do?” it’s, “Hey Lord, I have this problem. Thank you that You can take care of this. We will walk through it together. You do the work. I’ll join You however You want me to.”

We need to abide with Christ, walking and talking with Him all the time, so that it’s completely natural, and a reaction for us to talk to Him first. Not try to solve our problems, get in a jam and then ask for help. Or make our own plans and then ask Him to bless them.

Now, there is one more prayer. In the next chapter, 38, Hezekiah is told by Isaiah that he’s going to die, and Hezekiah cries. He doesn’t pray a good prayer. He prays, “Lord, remember how good I’ve been.” We can’t earn our salvation, can’t earn it by being good. But what it says after that is, “I’ve seen your tears.” God says, “‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears…’” (Isaiah 38:5b, NKJV). He didn’t say, “I heard your prayer, and you’re right. You are so good. You deserve this.” God’s moved with compassion by Hezekiah’s tears.

So, just a little lesson on prayer today. Go to Him. He cares. We don’t earn it; we don’t prove to Him that He should help us. He’s the great God. He can. He cares. He saves.