Devotion 798

“Prayer Changes Things"

Reference: Isaiah Chapter 38

The prayer of faith can turn death into life. When sin is removed, death is also removed. Hezekiah said, "Lord, you have cast all my sins behind your back."

Let's read:

Isaiah 38:1-3 "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. [2] Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, [3] And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore."

Hezekiah knew the Lord. He believed the Lord could change his circumstance. He wept sore, not just with his eyes but with his heart. He repented.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 38:4-5 "Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, [5] Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years."

Death is swallowed up in life. Because of his repentant heart, turning to the way of God, Hezekiah lived 15 more years, just as God promised. Indicating God is the author of death and life.  He is the author of death in the first Adam and life in the second Adam.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 38:6-8 "And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. [7] And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; [8] Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down."


Today, God has given the world the ultimate sign, and that sign is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the second Adam. That anyone who believes in him, in life, death, and resurrection, shall be removed from the blood of the first Adam into the blood of God. Shall be removed from the curse of the first Adam to the blessing of the second Adam, from damnation to eternal resurrected. life.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 38:9-17 "The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness: [10] I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. [11] I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. [12] Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. [13] I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. [14] Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. [15] What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. [16] O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. [17] Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back."

Hezekiah knew the answer to sin, which is the blood of Jesus Christ. The one who was chastised for our iniquities bore the sins of the world. Hezekiah knew this truth. He pled this truth, and God recognized his pleading. God will recognize anyone who pleads the blood of Jesus Christ.

We conclude our reading.

Isaiah 38:18-22 "For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. [19] The living, the living, He shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. [20] The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD. [21] For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover. [22] Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?"

The lamp of figs was placed on his boil, and he was healed. There were no healing properties in the lamp of figs by the Spirit of God. It was what healed him, and the lamp of figs was only a point of contact. And the poor Bethesda, the sick would jump in the water when the water was troubled, and they get healed. There was no healing in the water itself, but the Spirit of God that moved the water is what brought the healing. There was only a point of contact. Today we have one point of contact, and that is the finished work of Jesus Christ. Our faith in that finished work allows the Spirit of God to bring healing to our bodies. Including the ultimate healing, which is resurrection from death.

Turn your heart to the Lord in repentance. BELIEVE and confess Jesus Christ, the second Adam, as we've revealed him from the first Adam. God hears the prayer of a repented heart, in Christ!