"I will add fifteen years to your life, and will rescue and this city from the king of Assyria."
2 Kings 20:6
Difficulties and hardships don't come at the best time, do they? King Hezekiah was in the prime of his life. He was blessed with great wealth. He had achieved military success which brought long awaited peace to Jerusalem. Then it happened-bam-hardship. Even though he had served and obeyed God faithfully, he was struck with an illness that would take his life. Through the prophet Isaiah he had the benefit of knowing how many days he had left on this earth. (I am not sure that I would want to have that information.)
Hezekiah did exactly what most of us would do or perhaps have done in this situation: prayed and wept. He reminded God of his faithful service and whole-hearted devotion. He begs for more time. Yes, this is exactly what I would do and have done.
Several years ago, it seemed the Lord was ready to call my mother home. She had contracted an unidentifiable infection in her lungs following routine gall bladder surgery. The doctors told us they did not think there was anything else they could do. As we sat in the ICU waited room we prayed and wept. We reminded the Lord of my mother's faithful service and whole-hearted devotion to Him. We begged for more time. Like Hezekiah, she got more time, now over 15 years.
Did we change God's mind? Honestly, I think we did. There is not enough time or blog space to tell all the reasons to support my declaration but I stand on it.
Why does God answer some prayers the way we want them to be answered and other times He does not? God is sovereign, that is all I can say. If my mother had not received more time, been able to love and spoil her grandchildren would I still say that God is sovereign? Yes I would and so would she.
My mother has made the most of her extra time. Hezekiah did not make the best decisions during his extra time. What would you do with more time? Would you ask for it?
I found an interesting link on the topic of Hezekiah's prayer. Check it out. Dangerous Prayer
I am crazy about you guys. Thanks for hanging there. and for all of your prayer and encouragement. We are closing in on our seventh month. Wow!
I am crazy about you guys. Thanks for hanging there. and for all of your prayer and encouragement. We are closing in on our seventh month. Wow!
12 Comments:
I loved this part of scripture. And I love that God gave your mom extra time...and that she is honoring Him by using it well.
Crazy about you, too, Wendy! Thank you for being obedient to the Lord to reach out and invite us to do the chrono one-year Bible with you. His truth is changing and growing our hearts!
Yes I would pray, beg plead grovel. I would pray that I used that time wisely.
I agree with Sharon - thank you so much Wendy for inviting us on this journey. For praying for us daily, for writing and researching.
And thanks to all the others that are doing the journey too. Thanks for your honesty and willingness to share so we may learn and grow with you too.
Blessings,
Lynn
Wendy, you have given me much to think about today. Does God change His mind? I know James 5:16 tells me that "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
My Mom and I were just talking yesterday about the sovereignty of God. Sometimes He answers in the way we desire, other times He gives us the strength and grace to endure. Both of those answers are miracles.
I have a CD by Deborah Klassen and on it she sings a song, "He is able". I just have to share the lyrics. I only wish you could hear it:
Like peering through a window blurred with rain
Emotions run together in a flood of doubt and pain
We've prayed as best we can
Now we must leave it in His hands
Chorus
Yet I know when my eyes fail to see He is able
And even though it seems impossible to me
He is able
And if He chooses not to move in
the way we prayed He would Confident,
He's working all together for my good
I will stand behind His word For He is able
Questions seem to haunt us night and day
How could God allow my heart be torn this way
Does He listen when I call
Is He even there at all
Chorus
...I will stand behind His word for He is able
He is able
Bridge
And as the night turns into dawning and evaporates away
I stand to face another day
And I will stand behind His word
For He is able, He is able, He's able!
Regardless of God's answer, my head and heart know He IS able.
Well, haven't left much time to share what the Lord spoke to me today. He spoke through Isaiah 38:5, "I have heard your prayer and seen your tears." If you want to read my thoughts you know where to find me :)
Hold on to the truth today that God knows and notices you.
Hugs,
Joy
PS. Thanks for the link too Wendy. I think often I'm too afraid to pray big...what if I'm trusting and believing and God says 'no'? Will that affect my relationship with Him? I want to believe I'd hang on without feeling like He didn't love me enough to answer 'yes'...and yet, it's because of His love and knowing what's best for me that He answers the way He does.
Morning sisters~
I thank you too Wendy along with the others for devoting yourself to leading us this year on this journey. I remember last fall when you first posted about doing this and my thoughts to myself were, "I don't have time to that on top of Coordinating MOPS and taking care of my family and all the other day to day activities." Little did I know God had another plan :) In January I felt the pull to start reading and I am so glad that I did! My life has been blessed so much by each one of you and I will share that through this website I got to meet Lori and she has become the long awaited answer to my prayers for a mentor. You all get to be blessed by her comments everyday, she is so amazing ladies! She has helped me wade through the waters of some tough situations over the past two months, always keeping my eyes focused on God and His will and what His Word says. If I had never started reading and posting on this site I would have never found the mentor I have been praying for for so long.
Joy, I love the words to that song! He is able, sometimes it is so hard to see that when we are in the midst of the trial. My health has been such a struggle you guys, it has been such a hardship on me these past few years and with all the medical things not really working as I had prayed I can get discouraged and down really easy. It is hard. BUT I know that God is working. I have not really taken good care of myself as far as exercise and eating well since Will has been born and I know this is all part of His plan to get me to do all unto Him. I am on an elimination diet right now to try to narrow down what some of my triggers are that make my head stop up and trigger the sinus infections. It is a slow process and I stay hungry all the time. It is very hard, but I know God is working and HE will be the one who heals me, not doctors or anyone else. Wendy you asked if we would ask for more time. Yes, but I will admit there are some days when I feel so bad and I am so tired and fatigued going home to be with the Lord sounds like the most wonderful thing in the whole world.
Joy I am learning that when God says no it is because He has something even greater in mind. I will share that I am praying right now for my son and my husband to be baptized together. My son was saved back in March and has not wanted to be baptized yet, he is still scared to do it. I am praying that God will save my husband and they will be baptized at the same time. "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart," Psalm 37:4. If we are delighting in Him, don't you think He places those desires in us? Just something to think about, my friend asked me the same thing as I pray about an upcoming decision.
Hope you ladies have a wonderful day! Rainy here in TN. Good day to be inside and watch movies, read and play Wii with Will :)
Love you guys,
Brandee
PS Welcome Patty!
Wendy,
I came over to your blog today through the Devo. It is so very good!! Thank you!
I spent my 'prayer chair" time yesterday looking up scriptures on FREEDOM!
Good, Good Word!
Blessings,
Pat
Honestly, I'm not sure I would ask for more time but we never know what we would do until we are in that situation. I'm glad God gave your mom more time.
I came over here after reading today's P31 devotion. I know that it was a message from God for me this morning.
I am doing a study by Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, and Kay Arthur in SS. Beth's section focused on 2 Samuel 7:18 and going *This Far*.
Yesterday I wrote on my blog about taking risks and trusting God, and my latest fears.
In your prayer at the end of the devotion you said "Help me to remember my place of "thus far" when Your plan for my life leads me to another season that may be risky and cause me to walk by faith and not by sight." This is my prayer. God spoke encouragement to me through all of this and I just wanted to let you know and say thank you.
Much love to you!
Wendy,
Even though up until the last few weeks, I have been on again-off again with this study, I do want to thank you for the time, effort, and encouragement you put into it!You have truly been a blessing and I thank you for this community of Godly women that has been built through you.
I once had the opportunity to ask for more time and didn't do it. My mother had just had surgery and things had gone well. But then(unbeknownst to me) she contracted a staff infection in the hospital which attacked her liver. That night at church we had an annointing prayer time in which people could come to the alter to be annointed and prayed over either for themselves or on behalf of someone else. I felt that I should do this for my mother, but I couldn't do it. I also felt that there was no need, because my mother didn't need for me to- that everything was fine with her. My friend later told me that she had gone up on behalf of my mother. That night I recieved the phone call from my dad that she had passsed away. I have often wondered if it was God's voice urging me to pray or if it was His voice saying,"She's O.K. She's with me now."
I had a very disturbing experience yesterday. I had taken my youngest son to the book store to browse books and to beat the heat.(we don't have air conditioning). While I was looking for a book to read, I couldn't help but overhear the conversation between an elderly gentleman and another man. The older of the two was telling the other about his daughter's recent death and how she had suffered horribly with cancer and how she had finally chosen to have the hospital to administer an over-dose of morphine. He talked about how she had chosen the day she wanted to die and how her family was around her. He said it was sad but that it was good to see her suffering stop. He then said that she just went to sleep and that he could have very easily done the same thing with his many surgeries over the years and would have never known the difference. My point in telling you all of this is that I would ask for longer and I would spend my time telling others about His truth. But none of us knows how much time we have left and we should all be doing this everyday! At first I thought the man was talking to someone he knew, but then I saw him telling others his story. He must have been in such great pain! When I first heard him, my heart reached out to him and I immediately began praying for him. But I did not go over to him and tell him about Christ. Ladies please pray for boldness for me in this area! I miss opportunities that God has for me when I let fear overcome me in this way.
Thanks for listening. Sorry if I am rambling!
blessings,
Carmen
Wendy I really liked reading that link "Dangerous Prayer". Be careful what you pray for just like be careful what you wish for. Is my prayer lined up with God's will? Because God's will is where I should want to be. Jesus is our example of the perfect pray-er. Thought provoking article I'm going to chew on the rest of the day. Thanks!
Morgen
Wendy ~
Thank you ~ for the illuminating citation on the sometimes "danger" of getting what we ask for exhibited in Hezikiah/Manasseh.
I am delighted your Mom has had these years, and that her grandchildren have grown up knowing what a blessing God gave them in her. And what a blessing He gave us in YOU.
Peace, blessings & joy (also known as PB&J ~ sustaining food for everyday living!) ~
Linda
Thanks Wendy for the Link...Dangerous Prayer. It was very thought provoking.
I also have had trouble in times of prayer whether I should confidenly plea my hearts desire for a person or situation or should I just pray if it be your will Lord? This confusion sometimes has caused me not to pray at all.
If it is God's will how a circumstance or situation turns out do I need to pray at all?
The answer I judge is YES. We are asked to pray unceaslessly, placing our Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving,and Supplications before Him. (ACTS)It's one of the ways we communicate with Him. Hezikiah's prayer showed me that God can change his mind...but. the link states to me that... ultimately He knows what's best for each of us.
When I was a teen I would ask God to please allow me the experience to be married. (to my High School Sweetheart of course :))
He has!
Then it was allow me time to experience being a Mom...after a miscarriage and a year of trying.
He has!
Then I wanted to have the experience of being a GramE. I am.
He has!
I now ask to grow old together with the love of my youth and my life...my husband. 32 years now and only God knows if this will happen.
So in a way, I have always asked for more time...more before His Triuphant Return, than due to an illness however. Writing it out like this sounds a bit selfish to me.
Won't heaven be that much even better than life here on earth?
Should my prayers be less self-centered and more other centered?
I do think at this stage and season of my life I am ready to say give me the time to become the person you have intended me to be and the work you have planned for me to do. I know now that everything that has happened in my life is a part of my becoming... the peaks and the valleys. I have learned so much about myself in relationship to the Father. I can still praise Him when things go wrong. They are allowed for a reason. It's seeing the positive in the negatives of life that continue to give me hope.
I recall a video of Barb Johnson (One of the first set of "Women of Faith" Girlfriends on the Porch)
at one of the conferences before she passed away (She had a brain tumor I believe). She said something like whether I live or whether I die I will be in the hands of God. I believe she based her comment on Romans 7&8,
"FOR NONE OF US LIVES TO HIMSELF ALONE AND NONE OF US DIES TO HIM- SELF ALONE. IF WE LIVE, WE LIVE TO THE LORD; AND IF WE DIE, WE DIE TO THE LORD. SO, WHETHER WE LIVE OR DIE, WE BELONG TO THE LORD." VERSE 9 GOES ON..."FOR THIS VERY REASON, CHRIST DIED AND RETURNED TO LIFE SO THAT HE MIGHT BE LORD OF BOTH THE DEAD AND THE LIVING."
These verses bring such comfort to me and are a revelation, in a way, of the hope I can hold on to at the time when it is needed.
It's like Matt Redmon's song the Heart of Worship..."When the music fades and all is stripped away and I simply come..." If you have Oswald Chambers devotional, the reading for today is about stripping all else away and simply coming before the Lord as simply "me".
I judge some of us have layers to peel off and scars from deep wounds to heal completely before we are able to strip all away and simply come as "me" before the Lord.
Heavenly Father, I am so thankful for the time you have given me on this earth and for all you have allowed me to experience of my hearts desires. It seems I always just want one more thing. You know the saying, If you give me an inch I'll take a mile well, I judge. I am asking that the layers we all may be carrying just melt away and that scars of past hurts
would heal quickly...so that I can simply come to you as "me" the me you intended me ahd all my other dear sisters in faith to be. In Jesus Name I pray Amen
Love from Debbie in Illinois
Dear Wendy,
Both your blog message and Proverbs 31 devotion (through which I came to your blog site) have greatly encouraged me today! You've given me much to think about, and I esp. appreciate your discussion of the God's sovereignty and the part prayer plays in our relationship with Him. I am so thankful for the years the Lord's given to your Mom, and how she's serving Him! I'm grateful to the Lord how He answers our prayers and encouraged to go on seeking answers from Him in difficulties, asking for grace and mercy and help, not coercively, but in reliance on Him for joy!
Love, Andrea
Hi Ladies,
Wendy, thank you for today; you really got us all thinking! I have let quite a bit of the day go by as I ponder your post and the link you shared. I have often considered the question "Does God Change His Mind?" This past fall I did a Bible study by Jennifer Kennedy Dean on "Living a Praying Life" and she gave her perspective on this question. Her explanation is that God reveals to us what the situation will look like unless He intervenes. He does this in order to engage the person and awaken a response that will open the way for God to intervene and change the course of events. He chooses to bring His people into the activity. He chooses to work through the praying lives of His people.
In King Hezekiah's situation, God knew the king had no heir and God also knew that the people of Judea would be exiled and held captive in Babylon. King Hezekiah's actions both prolonged his days so he could have an heir, and, with the Babylonian King, laid a bit of the groundwork for the eventual exile.
Ultimately, God showed His power as a result of Hezekiah's prayer. He moved back time; He healed a very sick man; He gave Hezekiah knowledge of how long he had to live his life and the "freedom" to choose how to live it even though God knew how it would be lived out. He increased Isaiah's power. He gave Hezekiah decedents to fulfill His ultimate plan and timetable. And He set the stage for the coming of the Savior!
I agree with Jennifer Kennedy Dean; God does not change His mind, rather He reveals it to us to get us involved with Him in fulfilling His plan for us. Our relationship is built on prayer.
In closing I would like to include this quote from C.S. Lewis:
" Petitionary prayer is, nonetheless, both allowed and commanded to us: “Give us our daily bread.” And no doubt it raises a theoretical problem. Can we believe that God ever really modifies His action in response to the suggestions of men? For INFINITE WISDOM DOES NOT NEED TELLING WHAT IS BEST, and INFINITE GOODNESS NEEDS NO URGING TO DO IT. But neither does God need any of those things that are done by finite agents, whether living or inanimate. He could, if He chose, repair our bodies miraculously without food; or give us food without the aid of farmers, bakers, and butchers; or knowledge without the aid of learned men; or convert the heathen without missionaries. Instead, He allows soils and weather and animals and the muscles, minds, and wills of men to co-operate in the execution of His will. “God,” said Pascal, “instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.” But not only prayer; whenever we act at all He lends us that dignity. It is not really stranger, nor less strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than that my other actions should do so. They have not advised or changed God's mind—that is, His over-all purpose. But that purpose will be realized in different ways according to the actions, including the prayers, of His creatures. " - C.S. Lewis from "The World's Last Night and Other Essays"
Karen, CA
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