2 Kings
Chapter 19
Turning
Cares Into Prayers
As we come to Ch.19 of 2 Kings – Hezekiah
is King in
A) But at
this time the Power house in the Land is the nation of
B) As an
army they were Unbeatable in
1) They were so advanced in warfare that in 150 years
they had not lost one battle.
C) They had
developed the ability to besiege a city by building ramps out of earth.
1) They made their way into the city by way of battering
rams that they had devised.
Unbelievably Brutal
A) The
Assyrians were also renowned throughout the world as an army that showed no
mercy.
B) When they
wanted to take their prisoners back to
1) they would drive hooks through their noses.
C) There
would be an eye in the hook and they would then put a rope through the hook
1) Attach prisoners make them march 100yr of miles
D) The
Assyrians were so cruel as a people that they were not beyond skinning people
alive.
Well the Assyrian led by Sennacherib were
oppressing
A) King
Hezekiah receives a Threatening Letter from Sennacherib
RD
10 "Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of
14
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it;
and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
Perhaps this week you have received a
threatening letter.
A) Perhaps
you have gotten distressing
news in the mail.
B) A bill
that can not be paid..... Divorce papers.....
A Two week
notice from work.
C)
It might not have come by way of the Postal
Service.
D) But a
situation has been handed to you that
DISTRESSES
you and DISCOURAGES you and
FRIGHTENS
you.
E) Perhaps
it is marriage. Perhaps it is in business.
Perhaps it
is your health.
1) You have come here today Stressed and Afraid.
Maybe You can relate to Hezekiah
A) He had reason to be freaked out.
B) 200,000
Assyrians, Unbeatable in
Unbelievably
Brutal, were right outside of
C) You at
the things coming against you today in your life – feel like army is out to get
you.
D) We live
in a World Full Of Stress!
According to an article in Time Magazine –
Stress is the Epidemic of our age.
Over 50% of all adults suffer adverse health effects due to
stress.
Americans
spend over $20.3 billion per year to cope with stress.
Long-term stress
is strongly associated with depression, heart disease, gastro/intestinal
disorders, and weakened immune system.
40% of workers reported their job was
very or extremely stressful;
25% view their jobs as the number one
stressor in their lives;
* 40% of job turnover is due to stress.
According study, conducted at the
Researchers have also found a connection between teen
suicide and Stress. Suicide is the 3rd
leading cause of death people 15-24 yrs old
Stressed out and can’t cope.
Jesus knew that life
would be this way:
A) He said in
B)
C) That men’s
hearts would be failing them because of fear.
1) Hearts will stop because of anxiety and
tension.
This is the first generation in history
that fulfills that prophecy.
A) Men’s
hearts are LITERALLY failing them for fear.
B) What is the
answer: We need to do what Hezekiah did:
1) He took
that letter and spread it out before the Lord
C) IN other
words we need to TURN OUR CARES INTO PRAYERS
“Cast all your care upon Him, for He
cares for you.”
A)
Cast – Energetic word – doesn’t say – lay it aside – but cast it – throw it out there
to the Lord
B) FWY Friday - Cast the traffic – (Every time it started to move)
1) So I started doing it too
C) The
Word also carries the meaning of making a deposit –
1) You deposit – your money into the bank for Protection
& for them to take care of it
D) Idea is the same here – Deposit your cares
into the hands of the Lord / So He can take care of it
What Cares: All!
A) Family cares – Spiritual cares / Provision
Marriage / Ministry – God says unload it man!
B) Our cares can consume our mind – overwhelm us –
they can cause us stress – anxiety
C) But they cause God no stress at all.
Care
to us is exhausting, but God is all-sufficient. Care to us is sinful, but God’s
care of us is holy. Care distracts us from service, but the divine mind does
not forget one thing while remembering another.
But
Peter doesn’t tell us to cast our cares upon the Lord because – he can handle
it.
A) Do it
because He cares for you – do it because you are important to Him
B) Do it
because – He is interested in your life.
TURN
TO
Then He said to His disciples,
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat;
nor about the body, what you will put on.
23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
C) To a
world where men are overcome with worry, Jesus said: Don’t worry
1) More to Life than provision!
Illustration:
24
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither
storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than
the birds?
God
Is In To Trivia
A) Many
times we feel that something is too small to bother the Lord with, so we bother
each other.
B) We feel
that something is too small to burden the Lord with, so we burden each other.
C) The Bible
tells us that God transcends time and space.
D) He is so
vast that by way of illustration we are told that He measures the universe
between His thumb and little finger.
1) Because of that we sometimes are prone to think
that God is so great that He couldn’t possibly be concerned about my car keys.
E) God takes care of the birds everyday –
You who have been made in his image/ more important to Him
Relationship with you – you are more
valuable.
STORY: There was a college girl who felt that she didn’t want
to pray selfishly, yet she desperately wanted
to get married.
Feeling that it was inappropriate to
ask the Lord for a husband she prayed: “Father, I’m not praying for
myself. But would you please send my mother a son-in-law”
We should
have the liberty to come to God for EVERYTHING that
concerns us.
We are
valuable to him
Jesus continues by asking what good does it
do to worry?
25 And which of you by worrying can add one
cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are
not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?
Doesn’t help !
Another illustration by contrast:
27
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say
to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which
today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will
He clothe you, O you of little faith?
29
"And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an
anxious mind. 30 For all these things
the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these
things.
Love
this – Your father knows your needs
You be of a different mindset than the World.
A) Those in
the world are consumed with this life
Their needs their wants – Covetous to the core
31
But you seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to
you.
B)
C) One final
thought:
32
"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom.
Your heavenly father takes great pleasure
in blessing you. He gets a kick out of it.
A) Surprise
– He loves to blow our minds
B) Me with
my kids – or my wife –
C) So Cast ALL YOUR CARES - ALL MEANS ALL - because HE CARES FOR YOU!
D) Easier
said than done! Paul in Phil. 4 gives us
some helpful insight
In writing to the Christians in
A) Anxious =
full of care
B) Paul is
saying: “Be full of care for nothing”
C)NOTE: Paul is saying that it is God’s
intent for you and me to be careFREE
D) QUESTION:
Are you careFREE
Christian, or are you FULL of care!
Now anybody can give a command.
A) But one great thing about the Bible is that it does
not merely give COMMANDS or make DEMANDS.
B) It shares
a practical plan.
1) Its the worst when somebody casually says: “Don’t
worry” and doesn’t give you a plan to come to that place.
2) AKuna Matata – No worries – Just ignore
problems
C) Paul does
not simply say that “Nothing should fill you with care”.
1) He gives to us some practical advice of how to deal
with distress and fear.
“Be
anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.”
D) Take
every care that you have and make it a prayer to your Father
QUOTE: “When your knees start knocking,
kneel on them”
A) When you
are afraid and confused you will find your life being FILLED
with care.
B) The only
way to get FREE of those cares is to turn them into prayers.
C) Prayer is
a The Place Of Stability
D) Physically
speaking, it is very hard to trip and fall when you are on your knees.
1) It is a very stable posture to assume.
When you are worried and your knees are
knocking, so to speak, there is a temptation to feel the need to DO SOMETHING
in a hurry. REACT
A) When we
react to those worries we very often trip and fall over our words or our
actions.
B) But when
our knees are knocking and we kneel down on them,
1) when we STOP and take the time to spread our
concerns out before God,
C) We are in
a SAFE place... a STABLE place.
Pray With
Thanksgiving
RESULT
Peace That
Passes Understanding
The person who turns their cares into
prayers will experience the PEACE
OF GOD
A)NOTE: It is
NOT a peace that COMES FROM understanding.
B) God’s
peace is a peace that PASSES UNDERSTANDING
C) When
those disturbing letters come around, my first reaction is to LOOK OUT.
1) But the Word of God says that my first reaction is
to LOOK UP.
D) As I
pray, when I get up off of my knees, I find that something great takes place.
1) I don’t always have the answer, but I have a peace
that PASSES understanding.
E) THAT is the beauty of prayer.
1) Others have a hard time understanding why you are
at such peace
Turn back to 2 Kings – where we see this
PRINCIPLE PUT INTO
PRACTICE
Spread Out the
Letter
14
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it;
and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
.
He
didn’t tell the Lord what to do, he just spread it out
A) Have you
ever found yourself telling the Lord what to do to remedy your problem? I have.
“Lord, I think I have a line on what really needs to
be done here..... And maybe you haven’t thought of this.....”
B) Hezekiah
just laid out the papers and said: “Lord, we’re
stuck.
1) But For the sake of Your glory do something”
C) This was a
wise prayer. Because the Lord has ideas and plans that you could never dream
up.
1) He has created alternatives that you could never
think up.
Notice that Hezekiah began his prayer with worship
15
Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: "O LORD God of
A) It has
been said that worship wipes out worry. There is
Biblical basis for this.
B) In
teaching His disciples about prayer Jesus taught that worship should be at the
front of our prayer.
C)
The first reason for this is that God is worthy of our worship.
1) He created us for that purpose and He has sought us
for that purpose.
D) Fulfilling the reason for our existence when we
worship
The
second reason for this is that worship brings perspective to our problems.
A) When I
begin to focus upon the glory and majesty of God,
B) my
problems, that seem insurmountable, begin to shrink in the light of His
greatness.
C)EXAMPLE:
IF you stand at the foot of the Himalayan mountains they tower over you, some
29,000 feet in height.
D)But if you go up in a satellite they are
insignificant.
E) The way
to see beyond the immensity of our problems is to get ABOVE them.
1) The way to get above them is to worship the Lord.
Hezekiah
sought God’s Glory RD V.16-19
Answered
A)NOTE:V.35 It came to pass.
Trouble does pass.
B) These things
are for a season. Don’t give up.
1) One angel wiped out 185,000 Assyrians.
C) The battle
was won because of a simple prayer from a desperate king.
One last thought
A) God did
not intervene and save
B) They didn’t deserve it. He saved it for reasons
outside of them....... to save it, for
mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
C) God had
made promises to David.
NOTE: There is a GREATER-THAN DAVID in
your life...... Jesus.
A) The Father will defend you and protect you and see
you through what ever difficulties you may face for the sake of His name, and
the sake of Jesus.
B) Many
times we don’t EXPECT the Lord to deliver us because we know we don’t DESERVE it.
1) I don’t deserve it, but I should expect it.
NOT on the basis of my merit, but for His
sake and the sake of His Son.