Tuesday, August 14, 2007

On Prayer again

I can't explain why sometimes God answers our requests to heal the sick and why other times He does not. But I still think it's worth asking.

Consider the sickness of King Hezekiah as told in 2 Kings 20:

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.
Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.' "

I can't explain why God chose to extend Hezekiah's life. During his 15 bonus years he would make the horrible mistake of showing off his wealth to the neighboring Babylonians, who immediately begin making plans to take over Israel and claim that wealth as their own. So much for the idea that with age comes wisdom...

However, this much I understand: Had the King accepted his fate without making a plea to God, he wouldn't have lived those additional 15 years.

One of Memorial's dearest members, Bill, lies in a hospital with West Nile Virus. While we understand it is not for us to decide who lives or who dies, we do know that God has a history of listening to His children's cries and changing the course of events at times, so we will not give up.

But, for Bill the answer is a "yes" either way. He has lived a long (87 years) and faithful life. Stepping on into eternity isn't such a bad answer to our prayers. This is where we just have to trust, realizing all the while that God sees more, understands more, and loves us more than we could ever comprehend.



P.S. In regards to the previous post, you can listen to some Robin Mark music here and here. For those who don't know, Robin is the writer of the song "Days of Elijah", which can be heard at that second link. Including the "No God like Jehovah" part, Brenda...

3 comments:

TREY MORGAN said...

Shane,

It's aways so hard to know what to pray for. I know in everything I ask, in my heart I pray for the Lord's will. I think we have to accept it that way. It's not always easy, and I don't always understand it ... but God does know best.

Thanks for sharing your heart and challenges with us today. I have many of the same questions!

Blessings

Terry Rush said...

All I know is we just keep praying. But, I can't begin to figure it all out. If I did, even then I'd be mistaken. His ways are higher...as well as His thoughts.

Brenda said...

I know the Lord does things for many reasons. Maybe He wanted Hezekiah to be an example in many different ways. Why would someone who followed the Lord so well, turn his back after his prayers were answered?
I know many times I do that.
I ask for something very specific, and then when I get it, I am filled with excitement that I may forget what got me there in the first place. It's the nature of sin and satan that brings us to that point.

As far as life and death, I've seen life end, and I've seen life extended and never will have known if or what the prayer may have been. All I know is that it's all His will and no matter the efforts I put into it, I can't change God's will, but I can follow it and accept it. Good stuff Shane!

And as for the song...I have the CD but honestly, don't like his version of it. I like the way Hillsong sings it much better. ;o)