Hezekiah's Prayer

The other day I was reading a passage in Isaiah about King Hezekiah. At that particular time in history Sennacherib was breathing out threats and was assembling the Assyrian army to take over Jerusalem. This was a very frightening time for Israel no doubt, but probably much more frightening for King Hezekiah, who was responsible for the people of Israel. What I was really impressed with was Hezekiah's reaction to the seemingly impending doom. Isaiah 37:14-15 says this: "Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord..." Directly following is one of the most beautiful prayers in all the Bible. The attitude that King Hezekiah assumes is one of total humility and dependence upon God. And you will notice that he did not turn to the prophets, or to his military officials, or to the opinions of other political powers that surrounded him-he turned to his God. When we are faced with hard times, difficult decisions, and pressing issues who do we turn to? What do we do? I hope that this passage will encourage us not to run first to other sources and save God for last, but to immediately turn to the one who holds our lives in his hands. I hope that we will learn to "spread it out before the Lord" in prayer and wait in humility and complete reliance for His sovereign answer.