Prayer and Victory

Intro

One of my favorite stories. The impact of prayer and promises of God.

Main Idea: God responds to prayer

Exp. Sennacherib has invaded northern kingdom. Ch. 18, Hezekiah sold gold from the temple. Thought to buy them out. Assyria wanted more. They keep moving south.

Section #1: Isaiah reminds Hezekiah of God’s promise (1-7)

Exp. Hezekiah enters the temple, but this time for the right reason. Called for Isaiah. Verses 3-4. Hoping God has heard the words of the Rabshakeh. He prays for remnant. Giving up on God protecting them now.

App. Have you felt this way? Maybe you felt like too late for you, but God can save your kids? We can’t get into that mindset. Leads to doubting God’s ability, and justifies our sin.

Exp. Isaiah responds. Verse 6-7. Do not be afraid. God gives the game plan. Hears a rumor, returns, dies in Nineveh.

Section #2: Assyria is overconfident (8-13)

Exp. Sennacherib finds out Judah isn’t giving up. He responds with overconfidence. Verse 9-13. They have destroyed other nations and their gods haven’t saved them. What makes their God different? His success led arrogance.

Arg. Not uncommon from today’s society. Normal for an unbeliever to act like an unbeliever. Easy for us to be frustrated at the Olympics. Righteous anger. What’s most dangerous is for a believer to act like an unbeliever. We must guard ourselves against this.

Exp. God has already called his shot. Sennacherib will fall. So will the enemies of sin and death.

Section #3: Hezekiah seeks the Lord (14-19)

Exp. Hezekiah’s prayer is outlined as such:

Recognizes God’s greatness

Verse 15. Begins with adoration. Typical Jewish format. Challenge us to pray this way.

Laments his problem to God

Verse 16-18. Assyria is coming. Mocking God. Destroyed other nations.

Asks for God’s assistance

Verse 19. Come and save us. So the earth may know. He isn’t just praying for his own sake, but for God’s glory.

Section #4: God destroys Assyria (20-37)

Exp. God speaks through Isaiah to Sennacherib. God calls out Sennacherib’s words. Verses 23-24. Sennacherib challenges God’s reign over creation. Verses 25-28. God ordained his victories. God will treat them as they have treated other nations. He gives a talk to Judah, which we’ll come back to, but the story ends exactly how God said it would in verse 7.

Verses 33-37. We met him in Samaria sacrificing his children in the temple. He dies in the Assyrian temple by the hand of his children. God called his shot, and they were defeated. God ordained his victories and his defeats.

What do we do?

Takeaway #1: Seek God faithfully

Exp. We cannot expect unbelievers to seek God. We should be the champions of seeking him.

Ill. Christians who don’t pray is like football players who don’t like contact. It doesn’t make sense.

Arg. What you can’t understand from this story is that the entire story shifts gears when Hezekiah prays. The entire story is leading to disaster while Hez does it himself. When he surrenders, God responds and the story goes another direction. God hears our prayers. There is a great mystery to whether God changes his mind when we pray. I honestly don’t spend much time on it because I know my prayers are heard by the almighty.

Christ - Prayer was meaningful enough for Jesus to engage it. He escaped to be in the presence of the Lord faithfully. He even did it in his darkest hour. Both in Gethsemane and on the cross. Jesus made a way for us to approach the throne with confidence.

Hebrews 10:19–22

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

App. What do we do.

Pray regularly. Regular rhythms ensure you are speaking with God at all times of your life.

Pray with weight, not length. Speak to God with the weight in which you feel in your life.

Takeaway #2: Trust God’s deliverance

Exp. God even gave Hezekiah a sign to prove his victory. Verses 29-31. Here is that remnant again. The sign is that in the third year, you will reap the fruit of the ground. No wars, just provision. God’s giving him a three year vision when Hez didn’t think he’d get through tomorrow.

Ill. God claimed the victory because he was planning ahead. We’re planning vacation in November. If we were scared of bankruptcy, then we wouldn’t plan it. But we expect to have the money.

Arg. God is claiming victory and he’s telling Hezekiah there will be a sign three years from now.

Christ - The three years symbolizes the three days prior to the resurrection. On the third day, we would reap the fruit of what God planted: victory over sin and death. We don’t reap what we planted, but what God did. Jesus delivered us from the enemies of sin and death.

App. What do we do?

Know your enemy. Your enemy is not other people. It’s sin and death.

Pray for deliverance. Specific sin. Call it out.

Trust in Jesus. Give life to him. Trust his victory.

Conclusion

God delivers the victory and hears our prayers. Let’s seek him out.