1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Philippians 4:6 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

We are saved by grace. We will live victoriously when we lean hard on grace. 2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

The above Scripture was written regarding finances, but we can apply it to every aspect of our lives. His abundant grace is bestowed on us when we walk in humility.  James 4:6 says, “…Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

It takes humility to thank the Lord in everything we are going through. Prayer is the posture of humility. We agree with Him that He alone is our Provider. Pride is defeated when we acknowledge that we are absolutely dependent on Him.

Who are you standing in the gap for? James 5:19-20 says, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back…will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

There is no viable excuse for not praying. I have read biographies where the son was wayward. Yet the effectual fervent prayers from their mother’s broken hearts were answered in unimaginable ways.

Our mandate is to pray, but the answer is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:1 says, “The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever…”

Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” As we seek the Lord through prayer, He may put words in our mouths, or He give us parts of Scripture. Prayer is a posture of faith.

Think of the apostle Paul. In his prison letters, he told his readers that he was praying for them. Colossians 1:9 says, “…since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

Ephesians 1:15-16 says, “…after I heard of your faith…do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.”

James reminded his readers that Elijah had a nature like us. James 5:16 says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Praying for others is a strategic ambush against the enemy of our soul. In Ezekiel 22:30 the Lord posed a need. It says “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Sobering. 

The end of God’s armor listed in Ephesians 6:10-18 is prayer. Prayer is our weapon against the enemy. I love Joshua 8. He set up an ambush behind Ai. Verse 3 says, “…Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.”

He instructed them to wait for his signal. Verse 14 says that the enemy, “…did not know there was an ambush against him behind the city.” In verse 18 the Lord told Joshua to stretch out his spear toward Ai, “…for I will give it into your hand…”

The moment he stretched out his spear, the men in ambush arose and set fire to the city. Verse 20 says, “And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that…”

That is the power of the body of Christ on their prayer knees. The enemy does not know until he is ambushed. He’s powerless to retaliate because he doesn’t know where the fire is coming from. 

Through the prophet, the Lord said “…Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” In verse 3 Hezekiah prayed. He reminded the Lord of all the good he had done. The verse ended, “And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”

The Lord extended his life 15 years. I remember back when I was in high school. A dear friend was scheduled to have open heart surgery. I was there visiting him with a pastor friend. He told Buster, “You may want to live, but remember Hezekiah. He prayed and the Lord gave him 15 more years. Be careful what you do with your time left.”

Hezekiah’s son Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. He was evil. He rebuilt all the high places that his father had torn down. He caused his sons to pass through the fire, he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorceries. He set up a carved image in the house of the Lord.

2 Kings 21:16 says that he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood from one end to the other. He made Judah sin by doing evil ~ all because Hezekiah wanted more time.

In the second month, King Hezekiah reinstated the passover. 2 Chronicles 30:26 says, “So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon…there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.”

Hezekiah brought great reforms. They broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the high places and altars. He commanded the people to bring support for the priests. 

2 Chronicles 31:5 says that as soon as the commandment was circulated that they brought in, “…abundantly the tithe of everything.” They laid them in heaps from the third month to the seventh. Verse 21 says of Hezekiah, “In every work that he began…he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.” 

Are you prospering in your life? Is the Lord answering the desires of your heart? Think about what you are praying for. The next part in Hezekiah’s life really sobers me. We have to go to Isaiah 38 to pick up the story. Verse 1 says that Hezekiah was deathly sick. The prophet came to deliver a message.

The Lord is our Masterful Orchestrator. He moves on hearts to fulfill His purpose. Continuing with how He orchestrated during Hezekiah’s reign.

In the first month he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. He gathered all the Levites. 2 Chronicles 29:10 says, “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.”

He instructed them to clear out the debris. Verse 27-28 says, “…when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord also began…So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded…”

I love the suddenlies in the Bible. Verse 35-36 says, “…So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.”

Are you weary with waiting? Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart…” Isaiah 64:4 says, “…who acts for those who wait for Him.”

In 2 Chronicles 25 Amaziah became king. He was the son of Joash who started well, but did not finish well. In verse 20 it says, “But Amaziah would not heed, for it came from God, that He might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought the gods of Edom.”

Judah was defeated by Israel because they defected. The Lord masterfully orchestrated their downfall. Then Uzziah became king of Judah. He was 16. 2 Chronicles 26:4-5 says, “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord…as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

Verse 16 says, “But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction…” He died a leper. Jotham reigned in righteousness in his place. Verse 6 says, “So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.”

After him was Ahaz. He was evil. 2 Chronicles 28:22 says, “…King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord…” Yet his son after him, Hezekiah was righteous. He righted the wrongs of his father.

I recently had a mentee who wanted me to affirm her coping skills. They were all a frenzy of fleshly declarations. I told her about quoting Scripture as a faith affirmation. Her answer was, “I’m not able to just think about Scriptures.”

Scripture is our powerful weapon. 2 Corinthians 10:4. 2 Peter 1:4 says, “By which have been given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature…” When we affirm the promises that God has given us through His word, He hears faith coming from our hearts.

Speaking His promises will anchor our mind, will, and emotions. Quoting Scripture is how Jesus defeated the devil’s suggestive temptations. Luke 4:4-12. 

Hebrews 11:1 says, ‘Now faith…” Faith is present tense. We do not live by our faith from past trials. We need fresh, vital, now faith in this trial. What tries and purifies our faith? Our trials.

Hebrews 12:11 has a qualifier. Our trials produce the fruit of righteousness, “…to those who have been trained by it.” Embracing our trials takes NOW faith.

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” That is a promise backed by the Lord who cannot lie. Titus 1:2.

Our progressive sanctification is the outworking of what He has begun. Paul chided the Galatians for relying on their flesh. Galatians 3:1 in the J. B. Phillips. It says, “O you dear idiots of Galatia, who saw Jesus Christ the crucified so plainly, who has been casting a spell over you?”

In verse 3 he wrote, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”

Verse 5 says, “Therefore, He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

We know from Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the word. 2 Peter 1:3 says that we have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness.  All. No exception.