THE PRAYING KING

There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 2 Kings 18:5 TOD ! "ednesda#, Januar# 2$, 2%%& 2 Kings 18:1'12( 1):)'1) *e+. Keith ,annes

-.e/ekiah trusted in the 0ord 1 .e held fast to the 0ord1 and the 0ord was with .im.2 One reason3 .e/ekiah 4ra#ed. ,ost kings tried to look great on their thrones( .e/ekiah did the best work on his knees 5 and not 6ust when he was in trouble. 7or .e/ekiah, 4ra#er was a habit. 8n our reading for toda#, .e/ekiah and his 4eo4le are in dee4 trouble. ss#ria is like a shark. 8t has alread# gobbled u4 the ten tribes of 8srael, and it is 9ir9ling ba9k to de+our Judah. The ss#rians mo9k and belittle .e/ekiah and his :od. ;enna9herib e+en sends a letter to .e/ekiah full of trash talk against the 0ord. .e/ekiah reads the letter, walks straight into the tem4le with it, and shows it to God. .e -s4reads it out,2 as if to ha+e :od read it. 8s 4ra#er diffi9ult for #ou3 Join the 9lub. There are likel# some <hristians for whom 4ra#er is eas#, but for most of us, it is a dis9i4line. 8t does hel4, though, to get physical about it. Kneel. Or stand. 0ike .e/ekiah, take #our 9alendar, #our 9he9kbook =and #our 4a#9he9k>, #our kids? re4ort 9ards 5 and s4read them out before :od. Show .im #our life. Show :od #our trouble. This is the most 4owerful 9ommitment #ou 9an make in this 9oming #ear. @e like .e/ekiah, and 4ra#.

Ara#er: 7ather, gi+e me the 9ourage to la# o4en m# life before !ou. !ou see me and know me. Tea9h me how to 4ra#, 0ord, and gi+e me the dis9i4line to make it a habit. 8n Jesus, men.