Let's all get together...

On Sunday my cohort and partner in crime Dylan was not well. He was stricken with a bad case of "everything on the inside wanting to be on the outside" (thank you Brian Regan for the description). How this came about is a seeming mystery, but we suspect that it may be some kind of divine trickery being played on him for making fun of Kyle for being sick - but who knows.

Anyway, all that was to say that He was not here on Sunday and so I had the opportunity to speak to both the Middle School and High School students together. This always makes for an interesting time. It's always quite humorous to observe this awkward social environment and note the changes in certain student's behaviors. We do love experiments here in the Student Ministries :)

Despite the awkwardness of the situation it really was a sweet time.

Our discussion for the morning centered around King Hezekiah and the impending doom being proposed by Assyria. It really was a perilous time for Judah and its capital Jerusalem. So, we explored the background of what was going on and then focused our attention on King Hezekiah's prayer (found in Isaiah 37:14-20). This is a most amazing prayer for several reasons. It is quite genuine and personal. Hezekiah does not pray abstractly or ritualistically, but refreshingly from his heart. He lays the burdens confronting him and his people before the Lord with great humility and yet, wonderful boldness. The prayer is also direct and honest. Hezekiah pleads for rescue and protection from Assyria. He notes their power and strength, but trusts that it is all at the hand of the Lord and He will deal with them accordingly. He then proclaims his unwavering trust in the Lord, the one true living God. He recognizes that none of the other nations' false gods could save them, but the God of Israel is REAL and will save them.

With all of this right in front of us, I posed some inescapable questions.

- Do we trust the Lord with the same intensity and surety as King Hezekiah?

- If so, do we then pray with such genuine honesty and faith as King Hezekiah?

These questions are most pressing and dire for all of us to ponder. See, Hezekiah was surrounded by enemies, his people were living in fear, the spiritual temperature of Judah was mild at best and to top it off he had Assyria showing up on his doorstep insulting him, his people and his God. This is likely a situation that not many of us comfortable, church going, optimistic Americans can fathom or understand. Thus, Hezekiah's prayer does not affect us as it should. It lacks the force that would come if we truly could place ourselves in Hezekiah's place (or even in the place of an Israelite living in Judah at that time).

So, we need to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to help us rightly understand the circumstance of Hezekiah in order for us to grasp the wonder of his prayer. From there, we must confront ourselves with the above questions and search long and hard for their answer. For, Hezekiah's God is our God and His faith ours. Thus, we must seek God in prayer as Hezekiah did, with intensity and purpose, laying our burdens before the Lord and imploring Him to act on our behalf.

Revival fire fall on your people in this day, O Lord!

For His Kingdom...