23. Hezekiah

Sometimes a country gets good leaders, and sometimes a country gets bad leaders. Hezekiah was a great leader. He was a man of prayer, and prayer first. Whatever situation he was in, he got on his knees first. This is the kind of leader we all want, and the kind of leader we all aspire to be. For the most part, Israel was safe in the hands of Hezekiah. 

But life is not a sprint, it is much more a marathon and we shall all be remembered, not so much for how we started, but much more for how we finish. When Hezekiah was about to die, he prayed to God and he was granted another 15 years of life. During those final 15 years it got a bit tricky for Hezekiah and his finish was not as great as his start - to say the least. 

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Idea 1: Prayer must be the first thing we do EVERY TIME Well I don’t know about you but I find praying first is a real challenge. I guess it’s because I am a typical bloke. The most natural first thing for me to do is to work out the solution. Now sometimes that seems to work, especially with the smaller stuff, but a lot of the time it doesn’t.

As I look back on my life following Jesus, I am staggered how much I put up with before I start praying. Hezekiah was very different, and this is why he is marked out as such a good king. Even when enemy nations seemed to be camped out on the borders of his nation, he made sure that he prayed first. It was because of this that he earned such a good reputation and also why Judah experienced so much protection from God.

•  Take a moment to think about one or two incidents in your life where you did pray. How much better did it go for you because you used prayer as a first resort?

•  Why do you think that we fail to pray, often until we reach breaking point?

Idea 2: Hezekiah didn’t just pray, he acted on the back of prayer There are essentially three chapters in 2 Kings dedicated to King Hezekiah (18, 19, 20). From what we read about him, particularly in the first two of those three chapters, he lived a pretty Godly life. I say this because it was said of Hezekiah that ‘he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord’. That is a great thing to be said of you really. At this time in their history, both Judah and Israel had the propensity to embrace other gods. But during Hezekiah’s reign he smashed up idols, shrines and something called Asherah Poles. This is because he prayed first and then he acted - the two always go together.

The trick here, though, is to stay committed to prayer and action throughout your life. A few years ago, my wife said to me “I love it when you pray, because stuff happens and life changes for the better.” A while back I was reminded that she had said this to me, but I also acknowledged that my prayer life was nowhere near as sharp as it was then. I reminded her of what she said, and that she hadn’t said anything similar since. It just serves as a reminder to me, that steadfastness and commitment to prayer and action is such an ongoing discipline.

•  How is your prayer life? Is stronger than it used to be? Or, has it got eroded over time?

•  What changes can you make to your lifestyle, so that you can prioritise prayer going forward?

Idea 3: Will we pass the baton on, or will we drop it? In 2 Kings 20 we read of Hezekiah apparently on his deathbed. Once again, he prays and God grants him another 15 years. Unfortunately for Hezekiah, these 15 years seem to tarnish his reputation. It is during these 15 years that he becomes proud of the gold and silver in the temple and he shows it off to messengers that would turn out to be his enemies. God is furious with Hezekiah. Isaiah prophesies that Judah and all their wealth will be taken into Babylonian captivity but this would not happen in Hezekiah’s lifetime. 

Hezekiah’s response is incredible.  He is selfishly pleased that peace will last as long as he lives. Today, we live in a world that has used and abused its wealth. The prospects for future generations actually look quite bleak. It could easily be argued that this is true within the church as well as in the world at large. It is time for us all to stop and think about what kind of world, what kind of church are we handing onto the next generation.

•  How are you living today? 

•  What investments are you making for the next generation?

Actions

Hezekiah spent a lot of his life in prayer, and backed that up by fighting battles that ensured the peace and freedom of his country. But in the last few years of his life he lost the plot a bit and dropped the baton for future generations. How are you living your life? Are you intentionally fighting battles to keep your family, your church, your mates free? Take some time out to pray deeply and intentionally into how you can use your life to create a better world for those around you and for future generations.