Prayers of Deliverance
Up until now we have discussed the cheerful prayers. Ones like prayers of thankfulness that offer praise to God for what He has done, or prayers of adoration that simply praise God. We have seen prayers asking for wisdom and guidance, as well as prayers of petition. The last three types of prayers to discuss are the difficult ones. They are when we come before God with a broken spirit and ask Him to intercede or prayers of repentance. Today we are discussing prayers of deliverance. The idea of deliverance is to be rescued or set free. Perhaps the greatest prayer of deliverance is when we ask God to save us and set us free from our sins. There are times when prayers of deliverance are needed to ask God to rescue us from a physical situation, this was definitely the case for Hezekiah.
“14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, 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. 16 Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to taunt the living God. 17 It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have hurled their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.””
2 Kings 19:14-19
Crisis often brought the Israelites back to God, and for King Hezekiah his crisis was being surrounded by Sennacherib King of Assyria and his army of 185,000. If you look back at the previous chapter, you would see that Sennacherib was an arrogant man who believed that he could defy the will of God and take over Jerusalem simply because he had not been stopped in any of his other conquests.
We see that King Hezekiah did not rely on human counsel and wisdom; he went straight to the One who governs all, God. Hezekiah pleads the sovereignty of God, “15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, 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” 2 Kings 19:15. He asks God for His protection and guidance in dealing with the unruly king. Hezekiah acknowledges that it is only through God do nations rise and fall, “He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.” Job 12:23 but Hezekiah asks God to see the situation that he is in. This is not to say that Hezekiah doubts that God is aware of the plight he faces, instead Hezekiah is asking God to respond to the foolish words spoken by Sennacherib. Hezekiah sums up the situation that he is in and asks God for his protection.
Unfortunately, it often takes a crisis for us to turn back to God. When things are going well we tend to think that it is our own doing. When bad times come upon us and we are in a situation that is too large for us to handle, that is often when we turn to God. It is during these times that prayers of deliverance take place. This should not be the case. Prayers of deliverance are also present with those who are walking with the Lord and are not in sin. Good times can be a stumbling block for those who are saved, we should not leave God’s Word when things are going well. Hezekiah was a good king and followed God’s teachings, “3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.” 2 Kings 18:3. He did not turn to God only when confronted by a problem, Hezekiah had a personal walk with the Lord that made it possible for him to believe that God would answer his prayer of deliverance. It is through this type of faith that the scripture, “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” Romans 8:31 truly comes to life. When we are faced with the impossible, we know that God is for us and that we can come to Him and pray for His deliverance.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex