Reaching Heaven

7.20.2011

2 Chronicles 30:27 27 The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place. NIV

I have often been critical of Hezekiah for being a phony. He wasn’t; I just adopted the thought that he was. The whole illness thing and the Babylonian envoys really disappointed me. And yet today, I repent of thinking that way for I see Hezekiah was truly a good man and a real servant of the Lord. He wasn’t without fault and he blew it towards the end but he was a good guy and he led the parade back to the courts of worship of God.

The verse above comes from the historical record of the first Passover celebrated under Hezekiah’s rule. What catches my attention is the little phrase that says, “…for their prayer reached heaven…”. That’s what prayer is all about: reaching heaven. If prayers don’t reach heaven, why pray?

Their prayer was for the blessing of the people and God heard their prayer. Sometimes we might think just because God hears our prayer that life will be easy and ripple-free. Not true. But when our prayer reaches heaven, then something divine occurs and when something divine occurs then life changes for people, places, and things. Do we think our prayer ought to reach heaven for our national, state, and local leaders? Do we want our prayer to reach heaven for our kids, our relatives, and our churches? Of course we do!

Their prayer reached heaven because they returned to God and obeyed Him. If my prayers are hitting the ceiling, then I might need to look into how I’m treating the Lord and if I’m doing the last thing He told me to do. Prayer that reaches heaven is prayer that is offered in humility, respect, and worship to the True King.

Do we know where our prayers go? Can we say with assurance that they make it all the way to heaven? Do God hear our selfish, self-centered little tirades about how miserable our lives are or does He hear the prayers that come from broken and obedient hearts? We can be the judge of that just by honestly and openly examining our hearts – are we really being true?

God answers prayer. God hears prayer. But it appears that God is especially pleased when prayer is lifted to Him out of humble and broken, obedient hearts. It would be quite a testimony to have on the tombstone written: His prayer reached heaven. I say let’s live our lives toward that end today.