He listens and He answers!

So my Sweet Hubby and I made a commitment that this would be the year we read the Bible cover to cover. Quite an undertaking for two former Catholics who had been taught from early childhood that Biblical interpretation should be left to the Priests! But that's a past life and we now know that we, ourselves, are fully equipped with the Holy Spirit! And so in January we began! Oh how we have enjoyed our time in the Word!!! If we had only known all these years what we were missing...how much more personal our experience with our Lord and Savior could have been...sigh...

We are currently in the Book of 2 Kings and today we read 20:1-22:2.

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, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness."
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 wept bitterly.
But before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, this message came to him from the LORD: "Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. 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 heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own honor and for the sake of my servant David.'"

As I continued with my reading and study this morning, I kept coming back to those two verses: "...he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD..." and "Then he broke down and wept bitterly." I can relate! Many is the time on this walk of mine that I have 'broken down and wept bitterly.' And I can picture Hezekiah, lying in bed - ill. Deathly ill. The scripture goes on to mention a "boil." An abscess? Deadly infection? He was dying. I can "see" him turning on his side, fetal position. Isn't that the position we assume when we're seeking comfort? The one most familiar to us from before we have memory? And he prayed to the Lord...and he wept bitterly. And the Lord heard. And He answered Hezekiah.

Recently, in a discussion about prayer, one of the pastoral staff at our church put it like this: God ALWAYS answers prayer...Sometimes the answer is GO (yes), NO (self explanatory!), or WHOA (wait, not right now). But He is FAITHFUL!! Always.

Take delight in the LORD and He will give you your heart's desires. Psalm 37:4