2 Kings 19:15-19 NKJV
Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”
This passage teaches us an important lesson about prayer. This is a pattern we can see in the Old and New Testament. Hezekiah was faced with a threat from his enemy who sent a message to him saying, “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered?” Hezekiah took the case to God and before asking for help, he praised God for being the only true God. He magnified the Lord and contrasted him with the idol gods who could not help the people that worshiped them. He declared that the people who were defeated by his enemy were destroyed because they put their trust in false gods. Then he asked for help. Today we can see that many Christians have not learned this principle. When we pray, we generally magnify the problem instead of magnifying the Lord. We fill ourselves with faith in the ability of our problem to overcome us and then ask God for help. We need to change, and practice what we see here in 2 Kings 19. Before we ask God for help, we need to brag on Him, praise Him for His greatness, contrast Him with the idol gods around us and express our confidence in Him. It will help to shrink our doubts and build our faith if we practice praying like that.