Answered Prayers
When we pray we want to receive what we are asking for. However, God does not always give us what we want. Sometimes, He says, No." Other times, He says, "Wait," because we are not ready, or it is not His timing. However, there are times that He does say, "Yes." However, a yes answer can be a good result, or it can have drastic results for us or others. (Isaiah 38:5) This is why we must be careful what we pray.
Hezekiah was told he was going to die, so he should prepare himself for that to happen. Since he did not want to die, he prayed for God to heal Him, instead. God heard His prayer and added 15 years to his life. That may have been good for Hezekiah, but it was very bad for his kingdom of Judah. During those years. he showed the Babylonian delegation his treasures, and he had a son named Manasseh. Because of his pride in showing off his wealth, the Lord decreed that Babylon would come and take everything he had shown. Also, Manasseh became the king at his death. He was the most evil of all the kings of Judah, and it was because of him that Judah was taken to Babylon in exile. He got what he wanted, but not without a great cost.
I would urge all of us not to pray for our will to be done, but for God's will in everything that we pray. Yes, we can let Him know what we desire, but at the same time, let Him know, we are not able to see everything like He can, so we want the Lord to make the decision about what to do and how to answer us. That is a much better way to pray than what Hezekiah did.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 40-43.
Hezekiah was told he was going to die, so he should prepare himself for that to happen. Since he did not want to die, he prayed for God to heal Him, instead. God heard His prayer and added 15 years to his life. That may have been good for Hezekiah, but it was very bad for his kingdom of Judah. During those years. he showed the Babylonian delegation his treasures, and he had a son named Manasseh. Because of his pride in showing off his wealth, the Lord decreed that Babylon would come and take everything he had shown. Also, Manasseh became the king at his death. He was the most evil of all the kings of Judah, and it was because of him that Judah was taken to Babylon in exile. He got what he wanted, but not without a great cost.
I would urge all of us not to pray for our will to be done, but for God's will in everything that we pray. Yes, we can let Him know what we desire, but at the same time, let Him know, we are not able to see everything like He can, so we want the Lord to make the decision about what to do and how to answer us. That is a much better way to pray than what Hezekiah did.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 40-43.