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2 Kings 20:1-3

¹In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." ²Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, ³Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Hezekiah had been faithful to God throughout his reign. Perhaps it was because of this that the LORD warned him of the time of his death through the prophet Isaiah. When he heard the news, he immediately went to prayer, weeping and pleading with God. He based his plea on his life of walking faithfully before God, his wholehearted devotion, and doing what was good in God's eyes.

How many of us could pray that prayer? In a way all of us who are in Christ can indeed pray that. In Him we have the righteousness of God. I do believe that a submitted life carries weight before the Throne. James reminded us that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. A righteous man prays God's will.

The Lord heard Hezekiah and sent Isaiah back to give him a cure and a promise of fifteen more years. Hezekiah needed assurance that the word was from God. Isaiah prayed and asked God to make the shadow of the sun go backward ten steps. It did!

Recently I heard of three different people who had been given notice that they would soon die. One accepted it with peace. The others believed that they had to pray like Hezekiah and expect a miracle. Is our faith bolstered in either case by our obedient walk as in the case of Hezekiah?

Challenge: Walk faithfully before the LORD in wholehearted devotion doing what is right in His eyes.