Praying Effectively

Dato Daniel Tay

2 Kings 20:1-18: About this time King Hezekiah fell ill and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, "The Lord tells you that you are to put everything in order, because you will not recover. Get ready to die."

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed : "Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to." And he began to cry bitterly.

Isaiah left the king, but before he had passed through the central courtyard of the palace the Lord told him to go back to Hezekiah, ruler of the Lord's people, and say to him, "I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor Daid, hae heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you,and in three days you will go to the Temple. I will let you live fifteen yers longer. I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own hnour and because of the promise I made to my servant David."

Then Isaiah told the king's attendants to put on his boil a paste made of figs, and he would get well. King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that the Lord will heal me and that three days later I will be able to go to the Temple?"

Isaiah replied, "The Lord will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. Now, would you prefer the shadow on the stairway to go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?"

Hezekiah answered, "Its easy to make the shadow go forward ten steps! Make it go back ten steps."

Isaiah prayed to the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairway set up by King Ahaz.

About the same time the king of Babylonia, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, heard that King Hezekiah had been ill, so he sent him a letter and a present. Heekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them his wealth - his silver and gold, his spices and perfumes, and all his military equipment. There was nothing in his storerooms or anywhere in his kingdom that he did not show them. Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, "Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?"

Hezekiah answered, "They came from a very distant country, from Babylonia."

"What did they see in the palace?"

"They saw everything. There is nothing in the storerooms that I didin't show them."

Isaiah then said to the king, "The Lord Almighty says that a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia."

King Hezekiah understood this to mean that there would be peace and security during his lifetime, so he replied, "The message you have given me from the Lord is good."

v4- word came back that he would be healed
*God is the same as Hezekiah's time as today

Introduction
Inspiration from nature
*How does a person pray effectively?
*Isaiah said that Hezekiah was going to die
*Isaiah prayed and move the heart of God

Inspiration from invention

Inspiration from prayer

Praying effectively
1. v2 - Turning the face to the wall
*Prayer is the most important thing to Christians
*1 Thessalonians 5:17: (Pray continually): pray at all times
*Matthew 21:13 : (No house celebrationan charity but prayer) : and said to them, "It is written in the Scrptures that God said, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer.' But you are making it a hideout for thieves!"

*We may do things and think we can get away, but nothing can be done when its too late

2. v2 & 3 - Praying and pleading (to remember his good deeds)
*What makes a prayer special?
*not like chanting
*Remember God by serving in various ministries
*Remember God by walking and doing good
*Nehemiah build the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days
- so many opposition
- says a lot of 'Remember Me' to God
-we can pray to God saying 'Remember Me' anytime
*Holy of Holies - only the High Priest gets to go in. There is a bell with him to notify that he is alive and a rope tied to his leg to pull him out in case there is no sound from him.
- when Christ dies, the curtain separting the Holy of Holies divided, to show that we have direct connection to God and that God is now our High Priest.

3. v3-wept bitterly
* If we don't lead holy lifes, we can't have the posture
*How can you have the posture to weep bitterly and touch God's heart?
*How can we love other nationality like us?

Conclusion
1. Response of World Cup
Man Utd's goalkeeper - Van der Sar manage to defend the goal for 1302 minutes = 15 games of 90 minutes each
*He is known to have a 'safe pair of hands'
*God is our 'safe pair of hands'
*The perfect does not become more perfect. God will always be the same, last time till today
*If we pray like Hezekiah, we will be able to touch the heart of God

2. Response of Hezekiah
*When our prayer is answered, what should we do?
2 Kings 20:12-18: (as stated above)

*The issue was Hezekiah's illness
*Hezekiah forgot the main issue, he addressed his wealth to the King of Babylon
*v16;17: (as stated above)

*He did not show of how he turn his face to the wall, prayed and wept bitterly

3. Response of our Answered Prayers
*Many people would respond:
"I am not Hezekiah, I will not follow his footsteps"
*We are suppose to pray for the success of our children, instead, we pray and boast of how smart our children are
*We pray for promotion because we want and think that we are a self-made man
* All these will cause a person to so easily become a proud person

*We are reminded that when we pray, we cannot ever forget the good things that God has done for us
*We should instead tell people what God has done for us through testimonies
*We should look for inspiration in answered prayers
*In all humility, all things come from God

*"The Lord of God is one, we will have to love God with all heart, soul and strength and love our neighbour as ourselves."



**Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path**