II Kings 19:16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
The word here for “incline” in Hebrew sounds a bit like “natah” – and is commonly translated as “stretch out” in the ESV. In the King James Version it is translated as “bow down” your ear, The Message, has “open your ears”, and the New English Translation uses “pay attention”. In the NIV a simple “give ear” is used – not such a common phrase today really.
Hezekiah has in verse 15 reminded himself of who God is, and who he is in his sight, and now in verse 16, he is petitioning for a close audience, asking for God’s full attention. I love the personal touch that this brings – the intimacy, the relationship, the hope and trust that is there. It’s like Hezekiah is saying “if only I can have God’s attention, I know everything is going to be all right – I just need Him to hear this prayer”.
I actually love that Hezekiah speaks to God as if he is in the room with him. His faith is amazing – in the middle of this international crisis, when everything is changing, and all is at risk, Hezekiah turns to his intimacy with God and wants to have a real conversation with Him. He wants God to draw closer to him as he, Hezekiah draws closer to God.
Jesus’s brother James says something similar in James 4:8 “draw near to God, and he will draw near to you”.
We know from Hezekiah’s story that everything he had done since becoming King was about drawing nearer to God – cutting down every idol and opening up the temple. We see his personal devotion as well as his Kingly actions as Hezekiah publicly humbles himself in sackcloth and goes to the altar.
This intimate prayer is birthed from an intimate lifestyle relationship.
What a lesson for me today – to humble myself into a lifestyle of relationship with God, and to allow a lifestyle of prayer to emerge from that place.
Principle of Change 56 – an intimate lifestyle with God will produce intimate prayers.
Strength – Consistency – how we treat others and how others are treated, is critical to our own wellness. How we treat others and how others are treated, impacts our prayer life with God.