Tag: Hezekiah

Posted in DO NOT WORRY, PRAYER, Safe with Jesus, Uplifting Christ

God Answers Prayer 1: Lessons from Hezekiah

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

Do you know the story the King who prayed for God to change His verdict within minutes after hearing it? His name is Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz.

There is something special about this King and his story because when God told him that his time was up, with no child, he was able to “convince” God to change his story. And received 15 more years.

  • What made him special and how relevant was he after his dead?
  • What can we learn from his story in order to tap into that “soft point” of God to have answers to our prayers quicker?

His Life in Summary:

  • He became king at age 25 and reigned for 29 years.
  • He did what was right in the sight of God.
  • He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor were before him
  • He held fast to the Lord and did not depart from following him
  • He kept God’s commandments.
  • God prospered him wherever he went.
  • When the enemy threatened him with letter, he took the letter to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord, and prayed.
  • He had no child, got sick and was near death
  • God sent Isaiah to tell him that it was over. So he should prepare and come home
  • He immediately turn his face toward the wall and prayed to God.
  • Before Isaiah got into the middle court, God sent answers to his prayer.
  • He got additional 15 years and gave birth to Manasseh who became king at age 12.
  • He died rich.
  • Jesus Christ was traced to him
  • What a life he lived.

It’s easy for many christian to want to pray and expect God to treat them like He did with Hezekiah. But they pay less/no attention to what Hezekiah did to attract that favor. Bishop TD Jakes once said that In order to enjoy what TD Jakes is enjoying, you must be ready to sacrifice and do what TD Jakes did. In other words, You can’t simply wish for a person’s successes without being ready to pay the price.

Three Things to LEARN:

  1. He feared God and served Him diligently: How is your relationship with God like? Do you have reverence for God? Do you give Him your BEST (time, energy, and other resources)? Do you obey His commandments? Do you serve Him with your gifts? Do you honor God with what you have, including your body? Do you love Him with all your heart, soul, and strength?
  2. He Trusted in God: Trust is fundamental to any great relationship. Proverbs 3 says Trust in the Lord with all your heart. How committed are you to God? Do you Trust him enough to let him handle your cases or situations? Do you Trust His promises concerning your Life? Are you able to wait and trust His timing? If He says “GO“, do you just go or apply some reasoning/logic? Do you really TRUST God?
  3. He talked to God about everything: When the enemy sent him the letter, He presented the letter to God. This show how close he was with God. He said (in my own words) “God do you read what I read? what are you going to do about it? if you don’t act, they will destroy your people”. When last you heard that good/bad news, who was the first person you talked to? How close is your relationship with God? How often do you talk to Him? And what do you talk to Him about? It’s interesting that as soon as he heard news about his death, he immediately turned to God. This was his habit.

God is able to give you the desires of your heart. He is faithful to His word and if you would diligently seek Him, you will find Him. If you draw near to Him, He will draw near to Him. Don’t just hope for the supernatural but begin to live in ways that would trigger the supernatural.
God answers prayers because He remains committed. The question is How committed are you?

Posted in Beyond Comfort Zone, CONTROLLING SELF, Uplifting Christ

Secure Your Borders

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

Let’s talk about WALLS today. The news lately is dominated by building walls. Yeah! “Trump Wall just got 10 feet taller”. It’s interesting to know that One continent that takes Walls or Border Security seriously is Europe, especially UK. That notwithstanding, almost every street has got CCTV to instill confidence in the British people that their country is well guarded, either at the borders or within the country.

photo credit: http://www.123rf.com

Narrowing this down to our personal lives, WALLS are set of values, principles, beliefs, etc that guard and guide (or direct) our thoughts and actions. Self Control is centered around building and maintaining these walls. It’s important because the enemy can easily slip through when we compromise.

  • Why do you need WALLS?

2 Chronicles 32 has interesting story about Hezekiah. When he realized that King of Assyria had plans to attack Jerusalem, he quickly repaired all broken sections of the wall, and constructed a second outside the first. He also increased his weaponry and made sure the city was well guarded. After these, he said to the people; “Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discourage because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side! He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!…” (v7-8, NLT) emphasis added.

Notice Hezekiah knew God was on their side, and He would help and fight their battles for them. However, that didn’t stop him from guarding the city. God expects us to do same. That is He is on our side, to help and fight for us but we’ve got to keep our walls intact.

God didn’t send angels to build the walls. He only came in when they were ready and had called on Him for help.

Your enemies can’t attack your life when your WALLS are built on Jesus Christ, our STRONG foundation. They may try to attack but God’s angels await to destroy them. However, when part of your walls are broken or you have no walls at all, you become vulnerable. Anybody can attack, steal, kill, and destroy.

  • WALLS AND BRIDGES

Often people are quick to criticize when WALLS are mentioned. They say BRIDGE connects. That’s so true but where would a bridge connect to your life? There has to be a secured entry point where the bridge would connect. By this you can filter what comes in with the help of God’s word and His Spirit.

  • Do you have broken or no walls?

The risk is high because the thief cometh. When you have compromised or no values, principles, or belief that guard your life, here are some of the dangers:

  • You will find it difficult to manage your key resources like Time, Money, and Energy.
  • You will have no requirement(s) for existing relationships and choosing new ones. Remember that some people are mere distraction.
  • You will have no specific standard(s) for dealing with challenges.
  • The enemy can blow you around like Chaff.
  • Anything at all can steal your Joy and Happiness.
Be on Guard; WATCH

In this year, let’s work hard to build and maintain our walls to ensure that our fields are well guarded. We can’t afford to let the enemy steal God’s precious blessings for our lives. Guard your Field.