Scripture

That night, the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib broke camp and returned to his own land.

Observation

The Assyrians have surrounded Jerusalem, and everyone is distressed. The Assyrians appear to be unstoppable.

King Sennacherib of Assyria sends a message to King Hezekiah that they cannot trust their God because the Assyrians have destroyed the gods of all the other nations.

Hezekiah takes the letter to the Temple and lays it before the Lord.

Isaiah sends a message to Hezekiah, that because he prayed, the Lord will not not allow the Assyrians to enter Jerusalem. Sennacherib will go back to his own land.

That night, the Lord kills 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. The king returns to his own land and stays there.

Application

Jerusalem is in a terrible situation, surrounded by a powerful enemy army. Hezekiah takes the situation to the Lord in prayer, The Lord rescues them, killing much of the enemy army and sending King Sennacherib to his own land.

When we are surrounded by enemies or under pressure from life, we must take it to the Lord in prayer.

The trouble is that the circumstances intimidate us. They seem invincible, and we get sucked into the wrong belief system. Every adverse situation needs to be prayed about.

If prayer doesn’t fix it by itself, add fasting into the mix. Lay it all before the Lord and let Him take care of it.

If God can kill 185,000 enemy soldiers in a night, He can take care of all the situations we face. We just need to surrender ourselves to Him.

Prayer

Lord, I yield my whole life to you right now. Thank you for the assurance that you are with me, that you care for me and that you fight for me. Amen.