A nation in trouble. Afghanistan. America.
Threatened by evil. Held hostage. Promised peace if …
King Hezekiah was threatened by evil. After he learned that giving King Sennacherib gold and silver didn’t work, Hezekiah took the threat to God.
America’s and Afghanistan’s Christians need to take this Taliban threat to God, spreading out the blunders we’ve made, and the evil threats to Christians, Americans, Afghanistan citizens, women, and children, and ask God to save.
King Sennacherib, king of Assyria, had conquered the fortified towns in Judah and warned King Hezekiah that the Assyrian army would besiege Jerusalem so that the people would become desperately hungry and thirsty. But if the people of Jerusalem would open their gates and surrender to Assyria they would be carried to different lands where there would be plenty of food and water for them. (2 Kings 18)
King Hezekiah sent word to Isaiah, and Isaiah reassured him that God would protect Jerusalem by sending King Sennacherib word that he was needed at home where God would have him killed by the sword (2 Kings 19:7).
Meanwhile, Sennacherib’s chief of staff left Jerusalem to consult with the king. The king sent Hezekiah a disturbing letter reinforcing that Jerusalem should surrender. When Hezekiah received the letter, he took it to the temple and spread it out before the Lord, and prayed. (2 Kings 19:14)
What if Christians throughout the world laid the threat before the Lord and prayed adapted 2 Chronicles 7:14 and King Hezekiah’s prayer to today’s threats? Our prayer might be:
O LORD, God of Your people, You are enthroned between the mighty cherubim!
You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth.
You alone created the heavens and the earth.
LORD of Heaven’s Armies, Your people who are called by Your name, Christians throughout the world, bow before Your majesty.
You are the Creator of the earth and Savior of our souls.
We humbly pray and seek Your face, Your wisdom, Your power.
We have sinned, LORD. We turn from our wicked ways. Forgive us.
Bend down, O LORD, and listen!
Open your eyes, O LORD, and see!
Listen to the Taliban’s words of defiance against the living God.
Give the world’s leaders Your perfect wisdom.
Now, O LORD our God, rescue Your people from their power;
Then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that You alone, O LORD, are God.
In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.
(Adapted from 2 Chronicles 7:14 and 2 Kings 19:15-19)
Please add your prayer for Afghanistan and America’s leadership in the comments below.
Related Link
“The Situation in Afghanistan and Ways to Pray and Help” by Randy Alcorn
Photo by Sohaib Ghyasi on Unsplash
