Manasseh's Prayer

            One of the wickedest kings of all of Israel, if not the most wicked, was Manasseh, son of Hezekiah (2nd Chronicles 33).  The stories about his life in 2nd Kings and 2nd Chronicles are filled with biblical lessons for us and our children, for today. What is just fascinating about his life and the reason behind why God chooses to record all of his dirty laundry makes this story, one of my all time favorites in the Scriptures. It would appear that God truly favored David as his sin of murder and adultery are neatly tucked away with David remaining a man after God's own heart.  But Manasseh gets the roughest of treatment of any king.  God's judgment results in him being fish hooked through his nostrils and led to Babylon as a slave. The text in 2nd Chronicles 33:11 says he was captured with "hooks."  I heard Dr. Smith lecture that this referred to a fish-like pronged hook that was yanked up through the nostrils, attached to a line.  Sounds pretty nasty; but he really got what he deserved.  This king was a real low life as you can see from the summary in 33.

            As the drama of 2nd Chronicles unfolds, you will find that this low life king becomes blessed by God and twice the Scriptures records that his prayer was what turned God's heart favorably toward him. I find that impressive...can a simple prayer have that much influence upon the heart of God?  Indeed!

            For the last three weeks I have been coping with what appears to be a migraine headache.  I rarely get headaches.  This morning around 5am, I laid in bed talking to the Lord but not really able to keep focused. I moaned and groaned a few prayers for my friends, staff, family, myself, and the future of Lamplighter, but it was very difficult to remain focused, especially when you have this kind of headache.  I then came downstairs to read and when I came across this text, I was reminded again of the three things that are really important in life. The first is was demonstrated for me by king Manasseh in 33:12:

            "And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.  He prayed to him and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God."

            What an amazing turn around…what an amazing God.  He will hear our prayers and he will act favorably toward us, IF we will humble ourselves GREATLY and just pray. Later in the text, Manasseh’s life is summarized and both his sin and his prayer (two times!) are recorded.  It must not be overlooked, that his sin is recorded as well as his prayer.

            It should be mentioned that one of the reasons for Manasseh’s wicked life was his absent “godly” father, Hezekiah.  Hezekiah was so focused on his career that he had little time to prepare his son for the responsibilities of kingship.  Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign.

            If you enjoyed the focus of this writing, then you will not want to miss tomorrow…Manasseh’s son Josiah, who was one of the most righteous kings!  But his life did not end well, as did his father’s.  more tomorrow.