2 Desperate Prayers of King Hezekiah

“Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” Isaiah 38:3

As I was reading through God's Word with the Sweeter Than Honey Bible reading plan this summer, on July 6, I came to Isaiah 37-39, and the two desperate prayers Hezekiah, King of Judah, prayed.

​Hezekiah's first prayer of desperation is found in ​​Isaiah 37:14-20. It's a prayer for the saving of a nation. Hezekiah's second prayer of desperation is found in Isaiah 38. It's a more personal prayer asking God to spare his life and give him more years. Let's look briefly today at these two prayers of desperation and see what we can learn from them to impact our own prayer life.

Hezekiah’s First Prayer of Desperation

Hezekiah's first prayer of desperation is for the Nation of Judah.

“Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:

‘O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone are the Lord.’” Isaiah 37:14-20

The thing that caught my attention when I was reading Hezekiah's first prayer of desperation was that he went up to the house of the Lord and spread out the letter he had received from Sennacherib before the Lord, and then he prayed his prayer of desperation.

• What do you need to spread before the Lord today?
• What desperate prayer do you need to pray?
• What should be the motivation behind your prayers?

What should be our motivation for praying desperate prayers? Hezekiah lays it out clearly.

​“…that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone are the Lord.” Isaiah 37:20b

In the margin of my Bible, beside Isaiah 37:14-20, I have written, “pray over the prodigal.”

• I spread the prodigal before the Lord.
• My prayer for this child is desperate.
• My motivation is written in Isaiah 37:20b.

Hezekiah’s Second Prayer of Desperation

Hezekiah’s second prayer of desperation is more of a personal nature. In chapter 38 of Isaiah we read that Hezekiah was sick and at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah came to him and told him that the Lord said for Hezekiah to set his house in order and prepare to die.

"Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, and said,

'Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.'

​And Hezekiah wept bitterly." Isaiah 38:2-3

After Hezekiah's second prayer of desperation, notice in Isaiah 38:5 what the Lord tells the prophet Isaiah to say to the king:

“…Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.” Isaiah 38:5

Friend, God hears your prayers of desperation. He sees your tears, just as He did with King Hezekiah.

After Hezekiah is given a miraculous sign and is miraculously healed he writes this:

“Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love You have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.” Isaiah 38:17

It was for my welfare! When's the last time you were able to say, "it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness"?

And let's not miss this:

"Now Isaiah had said, ‘Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.’ Hezekiah also had said, ‘What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?’” Isaiah 38:21-22

Hezekiah, at the point of death, is concerned about when he can go to the house of the Lord again.

Two prayers of desperation—one for a nation, one for his own person.

​What prayers of desperation are you praying today, friend? Remember, God hears you!!

Let us know how we can pray for you.