“I
have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you.” (v.5)
Hezekiah
was ill, and the initial word from Isaiah was that the king would not recover.
In response, Hezekiah turned to the Lord in prayer, weeping bitterly, seeking
God’s favor. God’s response was immediate; no sooner had Isaiah left the middle
court than God sent him back with a new word: “I have heard your prayer and
seen your tears; I will heal you” (v. 5), and fifteen more years would be added
to Hezekiah’s life.
Here
we see a king who lived by faith, knew that prayers matter to God, and turned
to Him in his greatest need. We also see a God who hears our cries and delights
to answer prayer.
In
February of 2016, I had a heart attack and needed a quadruple bypass. The
cardiovascular surgeon could not give me 100% assurance I would make it through
this surgery. Oh I was an excellent candidate but nothing is guaranteed. My
wife and I had an overwhelming sense of peace about the whole thing, and firmly
believed God would bring me through this. Nevertheless, we prayed for His hand
of protection on my life and for wisdom and skill for all involved in the
operation.
I
was ready to go if He called me home, but (like Hezekiah) I asked Him for more
time - time to spend with family, to watch them grow, to see them all marry, to
have grandchildren and time to spoil them, to grow old with Lori and spoil her
too. Like Hezekiah, God gave me more time. He could have healed me by taking me
home, but He chose to increase my days here.
I
am now a living witness that God hears prayer and delights in answering it. He
heals in many ways: through prayer, through medicine, through physicians He has
gifted, through the natural healing processes He has put within our
bodies and by taking us home.
One
day we shall have a heavenly body that is perfected and needs no maintenance at
all.
The Truth
“Now this is the confidence that we
have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if
we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
that we have asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14)
