Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed. “Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to.” And he began to cry bitterly. Isaiah left the king, but before he had passed through the central courtyard of the palace the Lord told him to go back to Hezekiah, ruler of the Lord’s people, and say to him, “I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and in three days you will go to the Temple. I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David. – 2 Kings 20:2-6

I loved that he prayed. I need to be prayed for, prayed with and need to be free to pray. I learned that I am not in an empty place when I am waiting on God and in fact, prayers of faith bring in answers of peace. I will call on God as long as I live. The experiences I have had because of prayer, the engagements and the encouragements, continue when I pray. Situations can be reversed through prayer. It is God’s purpose, through mercy, to be asked. Even if irreversible, prayer has to be the best preparation for death – it is there that I will find my strength and God’s grace to finish well.

In the best way possible, the king turned to prayer in his prayer closet. I wonder if he was able if he would have went to the temple to pray. However, today I am encouraged because I can turn my face to Jesus when I pray. I believe that if I were given a death sentence today, I too would be praying for healing. Hezekiah did not even have a son yet, Manasseh was born three years after this prayer was uttered. I also love his attention to his walk with God. He saw his intentions as being right, his principles were right, and he ruled right.

I love that I did not read “spare me,” or “take me,” or “God’s will be done.” Rather, “remember me,” and by that I read – whether I live or die, I want to be yours. The answer was immediate, before Isaiah even left the court. God honours Hezekiah with a personal mention of hearing his prayer and seeing his tears. Prayers filled with life and affection matter to God. So much so, that God did more for him than what he asked. While he prayed to be remembered, God healed him. In fact, it could have been a miracle seeing that in three days he was supposed to go up to the Temple. In addition, God gave him much longer to live than I am sure he expected. In addition, He was going to take care of the Assyrians.

The Lord says, “I am the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt. You have no God but me. I alone am your savior. – Hosea 13:4 GNT

My worship of God does not exist in words, but in faith, hope and prayer. God is the “I am,” the only God. God values the honour given to Him, that is due to Him, when I place my hope and send my prayers to Him and Him alone – when I seek and put the hope of my salvation in Him.

Psalm 137 has a few “remember” words as well in its prayer.

“All the mighty men of God outside the Bible have been men
of prayer. They have differed from one another in many
things, but in this they have been alike.” – R. A. Torrey