Monday 15 Sep 2014

September 15: Isaiah 38:1-5

Key Verse: Isaiah 38:1
In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”

Devotion:
What would you do if you were told that you were doing to die very shortly? Not too difficult to imagine yourself getting on your knees and begging God to change His mind about your imminent demise! But how would you feel about the fact that you would die before you wanted to? Would you feel like God has turned His back on you or would you feel like God thinks of you as a failure that has to be fixed?

I’m not sure how I would feel because I know that I have done many things wrong and I know that I may well deserve for my life to be taken. But the greatest thing is that I also know that because of God’s great mercy and His patience with me, I have a lot of work to still do for Him. I know that He can use me still and that he will continue to use me as long as He wants to.

God is not bound by the ways of the world. He is the creator of everything and has complete control of it all. Yes God does allow some pretty horrible things to happen and many may well blame God for those things or get angry with Him for allowing it all; but we are the ones who have made this all probable! We are the ones who have done many things wrong, maybe not us personally but the world and the people around us have done so much wrong that we should not expect anything less. Just because we are caught up in this is not God’s fault. We just happen to be here and now!

Never forget that God is willing and able to answer prayers. Never forget that he is listening to your every prayer and that He is still in control. Hezekiah was sure that he had done as much as he could to please God and yet he did not blame God for his sickness. When Isaiah came to tell him of his demise he got down to some serious praying. God listened and answered; not because he knelt down once but because this would have been continual prayer lifted up until God answered! Hezekiah asked with faith and with perseverance. God answered because of that faith and perseverance.

Points to Ponder:
How do you ask for things you want?

Do you pray as hard as you ask?