SEPTEMBER 21 "THIS ONE THING DO RIGHT?

     IF there's one thing King Hezekiah did right, was HE PRAYED.  Twice in our text today we read, in response to Hezekiah's prayers, Ch. 37 verse 21, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me...."  and  Ch. 38 verse 4, "This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears".  BECAUSE YOU HAVE PRAYED....remember those words. And it could equally be said that, because you have NOT prayed....that we can rightly say, events have just easily, taken a turn for the worse. We cannot pretend, just to appease our own conscience, that prayer does not impact our lives and the lives of others. This would be just short of insanity. There is to much circumstancial evidence to every point to any other verdict, than the verdict that prayer does change events and lives as we know it.  We have to accept that because we have prayed our lives are different and we must also accept that because we have NOT prayed our lives are also different.  Prayer is the difference maker. Hezekiah did some foolish things in his life, but there's one thing he did right and that was he was a praying man and it is when he stopped praying and seeking God that he falls flat on his face.
     Many of us have our priorities backwards. We are committed, we are faithful and reliable people and faithful to church, we do many things right but the one thing we do not do right is....PRAY.  "Why?", you may ask...to many reasons to consider, but we know there are seasons when prayer pays great dividends and there are other seasons we wonder why we pray at all and those are the seasons that take many out and once we have come out of the lifesytle of prayer, and managed to do without, it is hard to get back into it. Every congregation hates a sermon on prayer as much as they love a sermon on prayer.  They love it for the part that tells of all the possibilities through prayer, but they hate the part that in all reality, truth be known, they still will not pray.
     The bible commands us to "pray and pray without ceasing". The bible promises us that "the fervant prayers of a righteous man availeth much".  There is no two ways around those scriptures and many more that admonish us to pray. We must make sure that we don't pray to be religious as perhaps our parents did. That we don't pray to be seen of men, as some disciples do. That we don't pray to appease our consciences, as sinners do. We pray because we have a clear conviction and understanding that prayer can change the course of lives and the lives of others. We pray because we know it is our civic duty and responsibility as a Christian and not to pray is to neglect the greatest power ever divested to any being on earth or in Heaven above.  Not to pray is to be negligent in the most critical area of our Christian lives and only eternity will reveal to us, what could have been, had we only....PRAYED!  If there's one thing you ever do right as a Christian, let it be that you prayed.