God: “Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
Hezekiah: turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.
Hezekiah: “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with whole-hearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes” he wept bitterly.
God: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen year to your life..”
I have heard this phrase in church most of my life, “Prayer changes the heart of God.” If we call ourselves Christ followers then we have to believe this phrase and most of us do. We would not be praying all the time if we did not wholeheartedly believe it. We read about Jesus praying, Moses praying, and so many other people who decorate the halls of faith, but we can also read about many other people in the Bible outlining this very important point about prayer.
Before we go into the verses above, let me outline some common responses to prayer from the people who do not wholeheartedly believe it. “Why pray if God is going to do whatever he wants anyways?” “Praying does nothing, I am still in this rut…” “Does God really hear me at all?” “Do I have to pray with a pastor to be heard?” I can go on and on. While they are all valid points, all of those phrases about prayer are the same ones we all have to answer in order to move forward in believing that God really does hear our prayers and answers them.
A quick point here; just because you don’t hear it does not mean it was not answered. Daniel prayed for three weeks and heard nothing until the angel came and told him that he had been battling the evil one all that time. If you have ever had children say “were you talking to me?” then you understand why we don’t hear the Lord all the time, we just flat out don’t listen sometimes.
I put the verses in Isaiah in a play format so you could see exactly what happened. God told Hezekiah he was going to die, Hezekiah turned to the wall where no one could hear him and prayed. The Lord then instructed Isaiah to tell him he was not going to die but live 15 more years and that the Lord was going to rescue him from the hand of the Assyrians.
God does hear our prayers! Our prayers can change the heart of God! Prayer changes the heart of God! If you are new to this whole prayer thing, open your Bible and read the exchange for yourself. This was not a play with actors or a fiction story some old scribe wrote just to make a point. Hezekiah was a real man and he prayed a real prayer just like you and I do. Don’t get all priestly on me and think you have to be on your knees in church with a humble heart to pray, that is nonsense. Talk to God like he is right next to you and listen like you expect to hear something. Start a prayer that continues like a conversation does today. He is waiting for you.
Prayer: Father help us to engage in prayer all the time. We don’t need to pray the Rosery seven times or walk on our knees to the alter to be heard. No, I know you hear my prayer when I pray it. I also know that you answer my prayer the minute I pray it. I pray that I would wait and expect a response from the loving Father that you are. Help us to remove all the noise in our lives so we can hear you speak. I pray that my prayer turns into a conversation with you Lord that never ends. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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