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The Bible Breakdown
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The Bible Breakdown
Isaiah 38: Prayer Changes Things
What if earnest prayer could alter the course of your life? Join me as we unravel the extraordinary power of prayer through the compelling story of King Hezekiah's healing in Isaiah, chapter 38. Faced with a terminal illness, Hezekiah's earnest plea to God not only extended his life by 15 years but also manifested a miraculous sign—the sun's shadow moving backward. This narrative serves as a testament to the immense impact that faith and heartfelt prayer can have, even in the most dire of circumstances.
Together, we'll reflect on this inspiring biblical account and delve into personal practices that help reinforce faith and trust in God. I'll share a simple yet effective routine of listing personal worries and reaffirming trust in divine intervention, highlighting how faith has the power to catalyze change in our lives. Drawing inspiration from Isaiah 12:2, we celebrate God’s strength and victory and engage in a communal prayer for guidance and transformation. Don't miss this chance to explore the profound role of prayer in overcoming life’s obstacles and discover how trusting in the Lord can lead to extraordinary outcomes. Join me for a journey of reflection and inspiration that promises hope and renewal.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Isaiah, chapter 38, and today's title is Prayer Changes Things. Prayer Changes Things. In this chapter we're going to see how God does an amazing miracle and he does something that has only happened one time in recorded history. We're going to look at it today and it's just amazing what God can do when we turn ourselves over to him. But we'll get into that in just a moment. Before we do that, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. They're doing an amazing job over there and the more we dig, the more we find, if you have your Bibles.
Speaker 1:I want to open up with me to Isaiah, chapter 38. Have you ever heard something and it just was so amazing that you just had to sit and just kind of go? Huh, you know, that's just that. That is. I don't know what to do with that. Right, Like you hear of somebody who maybe you thought they were never going to get married and they do or you hear of, you know, somebody who got a great promotion. Well, multiply that times like a million and it's going to be what we're going to hear about today. And if you've been following with us, remember the overall theme of Isaiah is that God is our salvation, and God really did that.
Speaker 1:In the past couple of chapters in the life of the nation of Israel and Isaiah, kings of Acre and Assyria came after Israel and God said whoa, whoa, whoa, you are not coming this way. And as they prayed and they talked to God about it, god just ambushed the nation of Assyria and just, I mean, crazy, crazy, crazy, great victory. Well, now there's another battle that's coming and what I love about this is man, this just hits us because there's times when there's these outward things and sometimes it can be so easy to trust God when you really have no choice. You know what I mean. You've got this massive army and you're like I mean, I can't do anything about this. I might as well trust God. But then there's other areas where it can sometimes be hard to trust God and many times it's the other way around. We all have areas where we just trust God and other areas where we don't. Well, I love this because over the course of these just three and four chapters, there's different times where you see how, when it was time to trust God, they either did or didn't, and then you see what God does as a response. The past two chapters was about trusting God in impossible circumstances. This one is a little bit closer to home. So if you're ready, isaiah, chapter 38, verse 1 says this Now, about that time, hezekiah became deathly ill.
Speaker 1:About what time? About the time that God saved the nation of Israel. Sennacherib gets killed and the nation of Israel is now able to start recovering and flourishing. So let's read that again. About that time, hezekiah became deathly ill and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, went to visit him. He gave the king this message this is what the Lord says Set your affairs in order, you're going to die. You will not recover from this illness. Thanks, isaiah, appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Verse two when Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. Remember, o Lord, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you. Then he broke down and he wept bitterly. Wow, you can't help but feel sorry for Hezekiah. Obviously, he felt like he wasn't finished yet and he begged God for healing. Verse 4. Then this message came to Isaiah from the Lord Go back to Hezekiah and tell him this is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor, david, says I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add 15 and seen your tears, I will add 15 years to your life. I will rescue you from this city from the king of Assyria and this city from the king of Assyria. Yes, I will defend this city, city, and this will be the sign from the Lord to prove to you I will do as I promise. I will cause the sun's shadow to move 10 steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz. So the shadow of the sundial will move backwards 10 steps, which means it will go backwards, as in you know, almost like going back in time. But it will show, go backwards and you can do that just with a cloud going over the right way. When the King Hezekiah heard, when the King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem.
Speaker 1:I said the prime of my life, must I now enter the place of the dead? Am I about to be robbed of the rest of my years? I said never again will I see the Lord God while I still am still in the land of the living? Again will I see the Lord God while I'm still in the land of the living? Never again will I see my friends or I will live in this world. My life has been blown away like a shepherd's tent in a storm. It has been cut short as when a weaver cuts a cloth from a loom.
Speaker 1:Suddenly, my life was over. I waited patiently all night, but I was torn apart, as though by lions. Suddenly, my life was over. I waited patiently all night, but I was torn apart, as though by lions. Suddenly, my life was over. Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane, and then I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew tired from looking to heaven for help. Am I in trouble? Lord? Help me, but what could I say? For he himself sent this sickness. Now I will walk humbly throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt. Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health. You restore my health and allow me to live. Yes, this anguish was good for me, for you have rescued me from death, you have forgiven all my sins, and for the dead cannot praise you, they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to the grave can no longer hope in your faithfulness. Only the living can praise you, as I do today. Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next. Think of it. The Lord is ready to heal me. I will sing praise with instruments every day of my life in the temple of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Isaiah had said to Hezekiah's servant make an ointment from figs and spread it over the boil and Hezekiah will recover. Hezekiah had asked what sign will prove that I will go up to the temple of the Lord. So what happened was and you can read about this back in, I believe it's 1 and 2 Kings Hezekiah got sick and he prayed for God to heal him, and God sent the word through Isaiah that said okay, I'm going to add 15 more years to your life and I'm going to show it to you by doing a divine miracle that had only happened one other time, when he caused the time on the sundial to move. And it's an absolute, complete, total miracle to prove to Isaiah that he was going to be healed. And so Isaiah, by the wisdom of God, told him to put this certain ointment on whatever this boil was that was killing Hezekiah, and he was healed from it. And then, as a response, isaiah just writes this poem, just celebrating what God had done.
Speaker 1:And the lesson for us in this, the principle, is that prayer changes things, and I love. In this he says God, you use this for my good. Those are really the two things I think we can take out of this chapter that we can all learn from, and that is number one never give up until you've prayed. Never give up anything until you've prayed about it, because when we pray about it prayer number one we pray about things because God tells us to, he tells us to ask, seek and knock. But then the second thing is prayer doesn't as much change God as it changes us, and it changes us to put our hope and our confidence in Him, and then we realize that God, god, always does what is best, and to realize that, god, you're able to take even the worst things and use it for my good. That's what Romans 8.28 is all about. It says and so that perception that God gave Isaiah was God, you use everything, even this, for my good, and that's what prayer does. Prayer activates our faith, but it also activates our trust in God, I want to ask you this question Is there something that you are worrying about but you haven't yet prayed about?
Speaker 1:Can I tell you? I have this kind of deal I've made with myself and I can't tell you. I always do it, but I try to, and that is, I'm not allowed to worry about something until I've prayed about it. And one of the things I've noticed is that when I pray about it, it's usually a little bit harder for me to worry about, because I now know God is moving and I know he's moving already, but now I've released it to him and it's a little bit harder to worry about because I know God's going to do something. And so I want to ask you this question Is there something you are worrying about that you haven't yet prayed about? What would it look like today if, after you're done with this podcast, you took just a few moments and you prayed about it? You know, one thing that's even better is if you took out your journal and you wrote out those top things that you're worrying about, and you write them out as a prayer.
Speaker 1:One of the things I love to do is I'll make a list of all the things that I'm worrying about and at the bottom of it, almost like I'm adding it all up, I'll put a line and under it the equal sign will be I trust the Lord. I trust the Lord with my family and finances and decisions and opportunities and setbacks and failures and successes and all the different things. I trust the Lord. Try that and watch what the Lord does, because I promise you, prayer changes things. Let's pray together right now.
Speaker 1:God, thank you so much for today. Thank you that you're with us and you're for us in every way. I pray God as we pray, as we put our hope in you. Your word says the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much that. Without faith it's impossible to please God. But as we turn our hearts and our lives over to you and we pray, prayer changes things. As we pray God, I pray you will change things, but most of all you will change us. In Jesus' name, we pray amen, amen. When God's word says read this with me Isaiah, chapter 12, verse two this wonderful promise God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has given me victory. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Isaiah.
