0:00 Facing the Impossible
4:20 Hezekiah’s Prayer
5:30 God’s Answer to Hezekiah’s Prayer
7:35 Activation
7:58 1st Don’t respond to the bad news. Be still. Be quiet.
8:26 2nd Take your bad news and lay it before the Lord.
8:45 3rd Don’t begin by praying the problem. Praise and declare who God is. This will
8:59 4th Ask God for His answer!!
There is always an answer:
Faith comes from hearing Jesus. And you can hear Jesus.
Your world is falling apart. You just got bad news, gut wrenching, hand wringing news. What do you do? This video has 4 powerful steps to take when you need God most. Do the step by step activation at the end of this video and invite God into your darkest times.
It was 701 BC. The Assyrians (under King Sennacherib) had just arrived with an army of 185,000 men outside the walls of Jerusalem. King Hezekiah, of Jerusalem, had an army of less than 10,000 soldiers. The Assyrians demanded that Hezekiah surrender the city or be starved by a long siege and destroyed. This story is found in Isaiah 36-37.
Hezekiah prayed that even through it looked like an impossible situation, that God would be glorified. He prayed the whole world would that God did it. God saved them.
After he prayed, he received God’s answer from Isaiah, the prophet.
Isaiah 37:33-5 NIV
33 “Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, or throw up a siege ramp against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the LORD. 35 ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”
This is a huge.
There isn’t going to be a battle! Not one arrow will fly. No siege ramp. No starvation. God, Himself will defend the city. For his sake. Through this God would be glorified.
God’s Promise Fulfilled
Isaiah 37:36-38
36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38 It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
Activation
Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV
When you get a bad report: a pink slip at work, a “dear John letter”, a foreclosure notice on your house, notice you are being sued, a rejection letter from your dream university, or whatever the bad news, do what Hezekiah did.
*1st Don’t respond to the bad news. Be still. Be quiet. Immediately reacting and talking about bad things opens emotions of fear and anger.
Psalm 27:1
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
You got the bad news, now wait for God’s reply.
James 1:20
But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
*2nd Take your bad news and lay it before the Lord.
Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you
Isiaiah 37:14-16
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
*3rd Don’t begin by praying the problem. Praise and declare who God is. This will bring new perspective to your situation, push back fear and activate your faith.
*4th Ask God for His answer!!
Hezekiah asked the prophet, Isaiah to hear God for the people. Today, we hear God. He speaks directly to us through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Ask “God, what is your provision for me in this.”
There is always an answer:
Isaiah 65:24 NLT
I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
Jeremiah 33:3 NIV, God said:
“‘Call to me and I will answer you…”
Faith comes from the experience of hearing Jesus.
Once Hezekiah had God’s answer from Isaiah, he had a solid foundation upon which to believe that that army of 185,000 people would never launch an arrow at them or set foot in Jerusalem.
Romans 10:17 NKJV
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
“Word” here is “rhema” – which means “the spoken word of God.” Rhema words are the messages Jesus gives us by “quickening” scripture, impressions, pictures, the still small voice we hear at times, and the other ways He speaks to us.
Isaiah received a rhema word from God in answer to Hezekiah’s prayer.
You have been given the gift of hearing Jesus.
John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
As you go through this process, you are inviting God into your problem.