Bold Praying

As I was on my knees cleaning up around the blackberry bushes this afternoon, my mind slipped into the neutral position as it often does when such tasks are before me.  It was in those moments that I remembered a story from II Kings.  King Sennacherib of Assyria captured all the fortified cities of Judah and set his forces against Jerusalem.  It was a moment of great danger for the Hebrews.  King Hezekiah received the threatening message of the Assyrian King and went to the house of the Lord, spread the letter out before him, and prayed.   There was no battle for the city.  Verse 35 of II Kings says, "That very night the angel of the Lord set out and struck down one hundred eighty five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead.  Then King Sennacherib of Assyria went home..."  

There is much talk in these days about praying for the people of Ukraine as the horror of war is  raining down upon their land.  It is not a day for timid, warmed over prayers, but a time for bold prayers in behalf of a threatened people.  This story from II Kings might seem like something which can only be true in the remembered story of a people greatly threatened by an aggressor, but it can also be a guide for us as we pray about this terrible moment in the story of the nations.  While we may not want to be praying for the death of a several hundred thousand soldiers, the story is a reminder that the power of evil can surely be stopped in its tracks.    

So, as we pray for the people of Ukraine, a people vastly outnumbered and greatly under equipped with military might, may we dare to pray the bold prayers, the daring prayers, the prayers that ask God to intercede and hinder those with evil intent to the point that they return home without accomplishing the evil they intended.  The whole story covers several chapters.  It is a story to read and allow it to serve as a guide for the bold praying needed in these days.  May it so serve us and provide help for a threatened people under siege.