HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER
by Tony Alamo
Hezekiah was a Godly king. His first act of obedience to God was to cleanse, refurbish, and reopen the temple, which had been neglected and polluted during the days of the reign of the idolaters. This was because of his spiritually weak father, Ahaz. Hezekiah’s job was to root out Canaanite fertility cults as well as other pagan cults and their contaminations. His reformation was so thorough that he destroyed the high places. He removed hilltop contamination. He destroyed the bronze serpent of Moses (Num. 21:9), which had become an idol for them to worship. Hezekiah celebrated the Passover. He warred against the Philistines. He repossessed the cities that his father had forfeited (II Chron 28:18-19), even capturing additional cities of the Philistines, with the exception of Gaza (II Kings 18:8) and Gath. He began to rule over these Philistine cities, and Ashdod, under the prince of Grec, was included when he led them in the revolt against Assyria and its king. Hezekiah suffered many Assyrian invasions during his reign. As a wise king (and by that, I mean he feared God), he made every possible attempt to increase his country so that he could eventually overthrow the Assyrian’s dominion, in direct opposition to the actions of his father, who had previously made alliances with the Assyrians (II Kings 16:7-9).
The purpose of every Godly reformer will be to build up the moral and spiritual defenses of his country. The economy of Hezekiah’s country, and the military, along with the trade, fared well. It was early in the reign of Sennacherib when Hezekiah revolted against Assyria. The Bible gives strong reference to the zeal, cunning, strategy, wisdom, prosperity and holdings of Hezekiah.
Sennacherib made a long blasphemous exhortation as to his attack on Hezekiah’s dynasty. He said, “As for Hezekiah, the Jew, who did not submit to me all 46 of his strong walled cities, as well as the small cities in their neighborhood…I besieged and took 200,150 people, great and small, male and female. Horses, mules, donkeys, camels, cattle and sheep without number I brought away from them and counted as spoil. Himself, like a caged bird, I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city. Earthworks I threw up against him—the one coming out of his city gate, I turned back to his misery. The cities of his, which I had despoiled, I cut off from his land, and to Miniti, King of Ashdod; Padi, king of Ekron; and Sili-bel, king of Gaza, I gave them.”
Sennacherib continues telling that the “terrifying splendor” of his majesty overcame Hezekiah. The Assyrian king bragged of placing Hezekiah under a huge tribute. He took (carried-away) jewels, antimony, gems, couches of ivory, elephant hides, maple, boxwood, and many other valuables, as well as his daughters, his harem, and his musicians.
Hezekiah “removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not” (II Kings 18:4-7).
“Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us” (II Kings 18:28-32).
This is, in essence, what this evil one world government is doing to us and what they are saying to us and our children. Exactly as the devil does, they are tempting our members by bribing and threatening the parents, telling them they must cease from attending Pastor Alamo’s church and sever all relationships with him, or they’ll never see their children again. Of course, such talk is not only from the devil Antichrist, but is even unlawful, unconstitutional.
They say, as Sennacherib’s enforcer Rabshakeh, “Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
“Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh. And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
“So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
“So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
“And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD” (II Kings 18:33-37, 19:1-14). Hezekiah spread the letter out, as if God didn’t already know what was going on. Hezekiah knew this, but He wanted to have a little talk with Jesus and His Father by the Holy Spirit anyway.
Hezekiah’s Prayer
“And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth. LORD, bow down Thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed 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 have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech Thee, save Thou us out of his hand [and the hand of the beast], that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even Thou only.
“Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the LORD, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of His Carmel. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me. Because thy rage against Me and thy tumult is come up into Mine ears, therefore I will put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest” (II Kings 19:15-28).
“Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake.
“And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead” (II Kings 19:32-37).
These are only a few of the benefits of being in the good favor of the living God by living a perfect life before Him. Perfection is only possible by living in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. False teachers say that no Christian is perfect. They are liars. When we are in the Lord Jesus and He in us, we are perfect. This perfection is why, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1). The people who preach “no power in Christ” shall perish! They are weaklings and want you to be weak with them and be in the Lake of Fire with them! God has sent them strong delusions and has made them to believe the lie they teach. God gives them a reprobate mind—they are rejected by God! By His Spirit, we can do all things, Godly things (Phlp. 4:13). You will be able to go through the tribulation period in the Spirit of God. We are in the beginning of the tribulation period now. He will fight for you, if you will fight the good fight of faith by doing the gospel as well as saying it.
It’s easy to talk, so let us have a little talk with the Lord Jesus now by saying this prayer to God in the name of Jesus.
Prayer
My Lord and my God, have mercy upon my soul, a sinner. 1 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. 2 I believe that He died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of all my sins. 3 I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit 4 and that He sits on the right hand of God at this moment, hearing my confession of sin and this prayer. 5 I open up the door of my heart and I invite You into my heart, Lord Jesus. 6 Wash all of my filthy sins away in the precious blood that You shed in my place on the cross at Calvary. 7 You will not turn me away, Lord Jesus, You will forgive my sins and save my soul. I know because Your Word, the Bible says so. 8 Your Word says that You will turn no one away, and that includes me. 9 Therefore, I know that You have heard me, and I know that You have answered me, and I know that I am saved. 10 And I thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving my soul, and I will show my thankfulness by doing as You command and sin no more. 11
You've just completed the first step in a series of five steps which are necessary to receive salvation. Your second step is to deny yourself and take up the cross daily for the purpose of mortifying yourself, that is, for putting to death your own will, your soulful self, and the world with all of its lusts. All these must be baptized into the death of Christ.
Step three is your resurrection from the satanic life of Adam unto the sinless life of Christ. Step four is your ascension into a position of authority to reign for God on earth, and the fifth step is to reign for God on earth to the end for the purpose of bringing about the kingdom of Heaven on earth. You must learn the Word of God, then submit yourself and do what the Word says, so that the Church and the world may see evidence of your submission to God's Word, His order, and His authority in and by you.
Praise the Lord. May God reward you abundantly.
Pastor Tony Alamo
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Prayer footnotes:
1. Psa. 51:5, Rom. 3:10-12, 23 return
2. Matt. 26:63-64, 27:54, Luke 1:30-33, John 9:35-37, Rom. 1:3-4 return
3. Acts 4:12, 20:28, Rom. 3:25, I John 1:7, Rev. 5:9 return
4. Psa. 16:9-10, Matt. 28:5-7, Mark 16:9, 12, 14, John 2:19, 21, 10:17-18, 11:25, Acts 2:24, 3:15, Rom. 8:11, I Cor. 15:3-7 return
5. Luke 22:69, Acts 2:25-36, Heb. 10:12-13 return
6. I Cor. 3:16, Rev. 3:20 return
7. Eph. 2:13-22, Heb. 9:22, 13:12, 20-21, I John 1:7, Rev. 1:5, 7:14 return
8. Matt. 26:28, Acts 2:21, 4:12, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14 return
9. Matt. 21:22, John 6:35, 37-40, Rom. 10:13 return
10. Heb. 11:6 return
11. John 5:14, 8:11, Rom. 6:4, I Cor. 15:10, Rev. 7:14, 22:14 return