A businessman was late for an important meeting and couldn’t
find a parking space. As he frantically circled the block, the man
got so desperate that he decided to pray.
Looking up toward heaven, he said, “Lord, take pity on me. If you
find me a parking space, I’ll go to church every Sunday for the rest
of my life, and not only that, I’ll give up drinking.”
Miraculously, a parking space appeared.
The guy looked up again and said, “Never mind. I found one.
1
Q: Have you ever prayed to the LORD earnestly and
He answered your prayer directly?
Q: What was the most surprising answer to your
prayer request?
- For me, I remember a time in my life where I
had a bad week. It was bad because I had allowed some pride in
my accomplishments to creep in to my thoughts. It was
affecting my relationships with the people in my office. Once
I realized this, I prayed earnestly to the LORD to humble me.
While I recognized the seriousness of this prayer, I had no idea
what would happen.
- That very night as I was out visiting some
people, the LORD gave me the opportunity to share the gospel with a
young lady. Right then she prayed to receive the LORD Jesus as
her Savior.
- This humbled me. I was only a
messenger. But God miraculously intervened and brought another
soul into His family. And He allowed me to see it in person.
In Psalm 116, the writer is facing imminent death.
We do not know who wrote the Psalm or the exact circumstances. But
it was very serious. Some have applied this Psalm to Jesus facing
His impending death on the cross. Certainly the themes in this
Psalm could be applied this way.
But since we do not know exactly who or what was
going on, let us look at this Psalm through the eyes of Hezekiah.
He was one of the kings of Israel, a good king in fact. And in his
life, he faced a profound set of circumstances that would test the faith
of any believer.
1. The Trouble
3 The
cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me;
I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. (Psalm 116:3, NIV)
Hezekiah was King of Judah, the southern part of
Israel that included Jerusalem. He was a great man of faith.
This is how Scripture remembers him:
5 Hezekiah
trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him
among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6
He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he
kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the
LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He
rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. (2 Kings
18:5-7, NIV)
Hezekiah faced down the King of Assyria, the most
powerful nation in the world. There were over 185,000 soldiers
surrounding Jerusalem at this time. Against all odds and in the
face of terrible ridicule of himself and the LORD God, Hezekiah prayed
to the LORD. He trusted in the LORD and brought the calamity of
Jerusalem's impending doom before the LORD in prayer:
15 And Hezekiah prayed to
the LORD : "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,
you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made
heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O
LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult
the living God.
17 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste
these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into
the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood
and stone, fashioned by men's hands. 19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver
us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you
alone, O LORD, are God." (2 Kings 19:15-19, NIV)
Through the prophet Isaiah, the LORD sent word to
Hezekiah that Jerusalem would be saved. That night the LORD sent a
death angel to King Sennacherib's camp and 185,000 soldiers died.
When the King of Assyria awoke the next morning, he saw the carnage and
quickly went back home. Not an arrow was fired on Jerusalem and no
Israelite was killed or even wounded in the battle. The battle
belonged completely to the LORD.
That's the kind of faith that Hezekiah had.
What we often forget about this story is that Hezekiah had contracted a
fatal illness during the siege of Jerusalem.
In those days Hezekiah
became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of
Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your
house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."
(2 Kings 20:1, NIV)
Q: How do you face imminent trouble like this?
Do you cower in fear and tears, do you pray, or do you strike back?
If your trust is in the LORD Jesus, then you are a
child of God. You have certain rights and responsibilities as a
member of God's family. You have the trust of God's constant love
and concern for you. This does not preclude danger or troubles
coming to you. But you have the promise of God's presence before,
during and after the calamity.
And nothing, no nothing, can enter your life
before it first passes through the filter of God's love for you and His
wisdom concerning your life. If there is trouble to face, then the
LORD wants you to face it with Him.
2. The Cry
4 Then I called on the name
of the LORD : "O LORD, save me!" 5 The LORD is gracious and
righteous; our God is full of compassion. 6 The LORD protects the
simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. 7 Be at rest
once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. 8 For you,
O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my
feet from stumbling, 9 that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living. (Psalm 116:4-9, NIV)
The LORD is indeed gracious. Grace is the
basis for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Grace is at the core of
God's character for "God is love" (1 John 4:8,
NIV).
The LORD is also full of compassion.
Otherwise, none of us would be here. Think of all the times that
God could have said to you, "Enough!" So many times God could have
righteously and justly wiped me off the face of the planet. But He
had compassion over and over and over again.
Hezekiah never asked to be healed.
Interestingly, he only prayed to remind the LORD of his utter devotion:
"Remember, O LORD, how I
have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and
have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.(2
Kings 20:3, NIV)
Q: When you are very sick or hurt, is your first
prayer a request to be healed?
- So often we first ask to be relieved of
whatever pain we find ourselves in rather than thank the LORD for
His love and His presence.
Q: Do you you find yourself questioning God's
judgment in the difficult circumstance ("why me, LORD?")?
- We know that God knows everything and has
allowed difficult circumstances in our life for a reason (Matthew
6:25-34).
- We know that all difficult circumstances in
the life of a believer will help to prove the genuineness of one's
faith (James 1:2-4).
Hezekiah's faith is a model for us when facing
personal illness. Our lives should be lived in devotion to the
LORD no matter what happens. And when tragedy strikes, we can also
say to the LORD, "Remember my devotion to you!"
3. The Response of the LORD
1 I love the LORD,
for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. 2 Because
he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. (Psalm
116:1-2, NIV)
Q: Do you ever stop to marvel at the fact that God
hears your prayers?
- After all, He is in charge of the universe
but He listens and hears the cry of a single soul.
God heard the cry of Hezekiah. And the LORD
God responded:
4 Before Isaiah
had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5
"Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is
what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your
prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from
now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. 6 I will
add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city
from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my
sake and for the sake of my servant David.' "(2 Kings 20:4-6, NIV)
He even gave a sign to Hezekiah to assure him of
his healing: God made the sun's shadow go backward ten steps.
The sun was shining on some steps visible from Hezekiah's room.
The LORD actually caused time to go backward for a few minutes, visible
by the direction of the shadow. Or He simply made the shadow from
the sun on Hezekiah's steps go backward rather than forward.
Either way, it was clearly divine intervention in
the laws of nature. And Hezekiah was healed. He was given 15
more years to live.
Q: What would you say is the greatest response to
prayer you have experienced?
- My son was born with a serious medical
condition and his life was very fragile for many years. At six
months old, he contracted a fatal illness. He was in ICU for a
month and not expected to live. If he live, the doctors told
us, he would be a vegetable (nonresponsive physically or mentally).
- Yet God brought healing to him in response to
many prayers that people all over the country lifted up to God.
My son came home with normal mental and physical abilities.
Q: If God intervenes in your life, what is your
natural response?
How can I repay the LORD
for all his goodness to me? (Psalm 116:12, NIV)
There should be two:
- Gratitude in your heart.
- A difference in your life.
4. The Response of the LORD's Servant
We see four differences in the life of the
Psalmist as a result of God's response to his prayer.
(1) Peace
Be at rest once more, O my
soul, for the LORD has been good to you. (Psalm 116:7, NIV)
God is real. But He is never more real to you than when He
responds directly to your prayers. And the reality of God's
presence brings us peace. We know He is there. We know He is
listening. And we know He cares.
6Do
not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, NIV)
The Bible does not say to be thankful for everything - bad things
happen and we are not thankful for them. Yet the Bible says, "in
everything ... with thanksgiving" (Philippians 4:6, NIV). We can
be thankful to God in all circumstances even if we are not
thankful for all circumstances.
Taking our concerns to the LORD will bring peace when we leave
those concerns with the LORD.
Knowing of the LORD's divine intervention in our life in the past
should bring us even more peace when we pray.
(2) Witness
I will lift up the cup of salvation and
call on the name of the LORD.
(Psalm 116:13, NIV)
When we publicly proclaim the truth of the LORD and His faithfulness,
we bring a witness to the world. The world and its desires are
naturally opposed to God (1 John 2:16).
15Do
not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16For everything in the world—the cravings of
sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and
does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and
its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives
forever. (1 John 2:15-17, NIV)
What will turn the tide in a world that is passing away from its own
sinful desires? What will cause people to stop and think about
what they are doing? What will change attitudes and thoughts about
the reality of God and the salvation He offers? The only thing
that can change them is our witness.
Lift up the name of Jesus Christ and the gospel He died to provide.
(3) Faithful Service
14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in
the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints. 16 O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am
your servant, the son of your maidservant ; you have freed me from
my chains ... 18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people. (Psalm 116:14-16,18, NIV)
The Psalmist declared that he would be faithful in serving the LORD.
This was his response to God intervening in his life to save him from
death. In fact, he points out how costly it is for God to watch a
believer die: "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of
his saints" (Psalm 116:15, NIV).
Because of the high cost God puts on your life, you should be
inspired to serve Him with this same zeal. Never forget that in
Christ, God has spared you from eternal death - that unspeakable place
called Hell. And the high cost that God put on your life was none
other than His Son, the LORD Jesus. To Him we owe our lives and
our allegiance.
Q: Are you serving the LORD? Are you serving faithfully?
Are you serving Him with your whole heart?
- It does not matter what type of service God has called you to
do. If it is the LORD's work, it matters to God.
23Whatever you do, work at it with all
your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know
that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It
is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24, NIV)
(4) Public Praise
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to
you and call on the name of the LORD ... 19 in the courts of the
house of the LORD—in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
(Psalm 116:17,19, NIV)
The fourth response to the LORD's intervention in our lives to save
us is to praise Him. Offer up thanksgiving for what He has done.
Offer up praise for His greatness.
Praise is the outward expression of the love we feel in our hearts.
The love of God in your heart should never be stifled or trifled.
His love for you cost Him the life of His Son. Praise is the
natural response to such a great outpouring of love.
Q: What is the tangible effect of praising the LORD publicly?
- People around you are encouraged.
- Believers are strengthened.
- Unbelievers are caused to ponder and wonder.
He put a new song in my mouth, a
hymn of praise to our God. Many
will see and fear and put
their trust in the LORD. (Psalm 40:3, NIV)
Conclusion
God is real. God really does care for you.
As a believer in His Son, the LORD Jesus, you hold a very special place
in God's heart. Be sure to have a grateful heart for His eternal
salvation that you realized through the
gospel of GRACE. And when God answers a prayer, especially in
a serious situation, be sure that you are a witness to the world of His
love, mercy, and power demonstrated in your life.
End Notes
1. Retrieved 11/21/2009 from
http://www.firstpreskville.org/sermons/whypray.pdf
© 2009. Randy Lariscy.
All rights reserved. |
