Intention
God will bring deliverance as His Church (Ekklesia) and the government align with His agenda.
Scripture
“Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.”
—2 Chronicles 32:22See also 2 Chronicles 31-32 and 2 Kings 18.
Reflection
Hezekiah was a great and godly king who led the Kingdom of Judah. He saw a revival in Jerusalem as the hearts of Israel were once again turned back to the Lord their God. This is exactly what we are praying for in Australia. Opposition to Hezekiah and to God’s people came suddenly as the full might of the Assyrian army rose against Hezekiah. Let’s have a look at how we can deal with intense pressure by aligning with God’s purposes.
First, Hezekiah brought God’s holiness back to Israel. He started with repentance and cleaning up the spiritual state of his nation. Bluntly, Australia is a sinful nation. We murder babies, kill our sick and elderly, sell our children on the streets, defile family values, and have a corrupt morality. We must start here in humility and repentance for our nation, praying for leaders, and then that the people repent and turn to the Lord. This is our first step in aligning with the Lord’s agenda. (See 2 Chronicles 31:1).
Secondly, Hezekiah brought the people back to thanksgiving, praise, and worship of the Lord. This is how we continue in holiness. This holy life is a sustained journey, not a one-off event. As we continue in these things, we remain aligned with the Lord’s purposes. It means that we are in a place to be able to hear His heart so that we can pray and prophetically declare His word. (See 2 Chronicles 31:20)
Even though Hezekiah and Israel were right before God, an attack still came against them via Sennacherib, the evil king of Assyria (2 Chronicles 32). The people were dismayed at this situation, as many people are also dismayed today as world totalitarian agendas are being played out. Hezekiah declared encouragement and truth to the people (2 Chronicles 32:6-8), and the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah.
So was this the end of the attack on God’s people? Not quite. Sennacherib started rumours and began writing letters against Hezekiah and his prophetic word. It was an evil undermining spirit that brought fear, uncertainty, and doubt to God’s people. This is exactly what is being carried out today. Matthew 24 tells of wars, rumours of wars, pestilences, earthquakes, lawlessness, and deception. It is obvious that these things are happening, and that the time is short. We (the ekklesia) are the answer, because we have the truth of the Gospel of the Kingdom. It is time to declare that Gospel.
We also recognise that we are not dealing with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers. We have all authority, given by Jesus, to declare and overcome against these things for Australia. 2 Chronicles 32:22 shows that deliverance came as the secular (Hezekiah) and spiritual leadership (Isaiah) were aligned with the word of the Lord. To bring this about we must pray with humility and repentance, and speak, declaring the word of the Lord — His Gospel. As we do these things, we will see the Lord move in Australia. I am convinced that this is a ‘kairos’ time for Australia and that we are stepping into our calling as a nation to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom.
The key to overcoming is alignment with the word of God and with His Kingdom purposes. Through prayer and outreach initiatives like the GO 2020 campaign, the church (ekklesia) is arising with Jesus’ authority to proclaim deliverance, provision, healing—and above all, salvation. We can also speak to and lobby our Government and leaders on issues of righteousness, as an outworking of our prayer.
Prayer
Lord, I praise You for sending Jesus into the world to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We know it is Your will that we should not perish but come into repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Today we repent of all our sins and of not following Your ways. We declare the truth of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and we speak Your deliverance, provision, healing, and salvation over Australia.