How Not to Pray

King Hezekiah is often described as a great prayer warrior.

He succeeded in bringing God’s will down to his will and got an extension for his life—a whopping 15 years (2 Kings 20:1-6)!

Hardly anyone talks about what happened next! Hezekiah was one of the very few righteous kings of Judah. But during this extended period he slipped away from the righteous path. It was also during this time he gave birth to Manasseh, the iconic evil king of Israel. He was so evil that the prophets attribute the destruction of the nation entirely to the “sins of Manasseh.” (Jeremiah 15:4).

It makes us wonder—what would’ve happened if Hezekiah accepted God’s timeline and crossed over to His presence at the ‘right’ time? Manasseh wouldn’t be born; history of Israel could have been dramatically different!

In my opinion, the answer Hezekiah got for his prayer was death, not life. His story is given to us as an example of "how NOT to pray."