The Prayer of Supplication

In Isaiah 37 we see the story of a king named Hezekiah.

Hezekiah was a good king. The Bible tells us that he walked in the ways of the Lord and God honored and blessed him. But he got into a difficult situation. He found himself in conflict with the king of Assyria, who besieged Jerusalem, so that no food could enter.

At that time the king of Assyria said in Isaiah 37:10, in a letter to Hezekiah :

"Thy God, to whom thou trustest, do not deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria."

This is exactly the kind of thing the devil, the accuser of believers, tells us over and over again.

And Hezekiah took this letter and bowed to the LORD. He spread the letter of accusation to the ground and said : "Please, O LORD, do you hear the accusations against Your people ? Do you hear the wanderings and imprecations of the king of Assyria against You, holy God ?"

Hezekiah continued to cry : "God, will you go down ? Will you glorify Your name again ? Are you going to make a breakthrough in the power of the enemy that is far too strong for us ?

It is a prayer of supplication that we all need in our lives. We all need to shout : "O God, are you going to heal my body ? O God, are you going to free my family from these patterns of addictions ? Are you going to free my mind from fear, doubt and unbelief ?"

When we pray thus, we present a supplication before the Lord. "Do not worry about anything ; But in all things make known your needs to God by prayers and supplications, with thanksgiving" (Philippians 4: 6). The Lord loves to hear the supplications from the heart of his child !

Gary Wilkerson