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Devotional-God Sized Prayers · The Father's Business Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: The Father's Business was founded by Sylvia Gunter to encourage people to a deeper relationship with God.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this devotional.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: When we face difficult situations, our prayers don't have to be limited to what we can think of to ask God, for God is far greater and more creative than our human mind can comprehend.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah understood this In Isaiah 36 and 37,.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah and his people are under a vicious attack.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: It would have been easy for Hezekiah to pray from his perspective and it would sound something like this God, the enemy, is beating up on us, he is taunting us.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: He is telling us how defenseless and weak we are.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: We might as well give up.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: We can't be saved.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: This is an impossible situation.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: It's hopeless.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: And how many times do we come to God and pour out our heart like that, feeling like there's nothing that can be done to make the situation better?
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah knew the enemies were great, but he also knew that God was greater.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah prayed God-sized prayers.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: He aligned himself with God's perspective and Hezekiah prayed, acknowledging God is mighty and enthroned in heaven.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Beginning in Isaiah 37, 15, it says this and Hezekiah prayed to the Lord.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: You have made heaven and earth.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: And in verses 17 to 19, he acknowledges what is true.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: The situation is dire.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Give ear, lord, and hear.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Open your eyes, lord, and see.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Listen to all the words they have sent to ridicule the living God.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: It is true, lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these people and their lands.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone and fashioned by human hands.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: That's a dire situation.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: But listen to the next verse.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: He says Now, lord, our God, deliver us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, lord, are the only God.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Basically, what Hezekiah was saying is this situation is awful.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Now, god, you can act for your glory.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: I counted 85 words in the prayer in Isaiah 37 in my translation.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: The result of that prayer, of those 85 words, was that an angel killed 185,000 Assyrians, a far bigger victory than Hezekiah could have imagined to pray for.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: God assured Hezekiah in Isaiah 37-32 that the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I want to pray those kind of prayers.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: I want to pray God-sized prayers, so let's use Hezekiah's prayer as our model.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: As you face the things that are coming against you, first, proclaim the greatness of who God is in the midst of what you're going through.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: It always starts with worship.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Be honest with God about your situation, sharing your heart with him.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: He knows what you're thinking and feeling, so confess how you are feeling and how you're processing what you're going through with him.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: He knows what you're thinking and feeling, so confess how you are feeling and how you're processing what you're going through with him.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: But then ask your kingdom, come, your will be done on earth as in heaven, for the glory of his kingdom.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: You may be amazed at the size of god's answer.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: You may be surprised that he comes up with a totally different solution than anything that you could have imagined, and you may also be called to wait until his timing.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: So stay encouraged, continually proclaiming the greatness of who God is in the midst of what you're going through, until you see the victory.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: This devotional is taken from Strength to Equal your Days.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: It is a 365-day devotional.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: You can purchase a copy at wwwTheFathersBusinesscom.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to this devotional.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: You can find an archive of devotional and other podcasts on our website, wwwTheFathersBusinesscom.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Also, this podcast is made possible through donations from people like you.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: To donate, click on the Donate tab on our website.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Again, our website is wwwthefathersbusinesscom.