Bible Lesson: Answered Prayer: King
Manasseh Prays For Deliverance.
Subject Of Prayer: Manasseh
Prayed To Be Delivered From The Assyrians.
Bible Text:
II Chronicles 33:1-20 NLT
1 Manasseh was
twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem
fifty-five years.
2 He did what
was evil in The Lord’s sight, following the detestable practices of
the pagan nations that The Lord had driven from the land ahead of the
Israelites.
3 He rebuilt
the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He
constructed altars for the images of Baal and set up Asherah poles.
He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped
them.
4 He built
pagan altars in the Temple of The Lord, the place where The Lord had
said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
5 He built
these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of
The Lord’s Temple.
6 Manasseh also
sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. He
practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with
mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in The Lord’s
sight, arousing His anger.
7 Manasseh even
took a carved idol he had made and set it up in God’s Temple, the
very place where God had told David and his son Solomon: “My name
will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I
have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel.
8 If the
Israelites will be careful to obey My commands—all the laws,
decrees, and regulations given through Moses—I will not send them
into exile from this land that I set aside for your ancestors.”
9 But Manasseh
led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the
pagan nations that The Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel
entered the land.
10 The Lord
spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings.
11 So The Lord
sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh
prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze
chains, and led him away to Babylon.
12 But while in
deep distress, Manasseh sought The Lord his God and sincerely humbled
himself before the God of his ancestors.
13 And when he
prayed, The Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So The
Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then
Manasseh finally realized that The Lord alone is God!
14 After this
Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, from west of
the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley to the Fish Gate, and
continuing around the hill of Ophel. He built the wall very high. And
he stationed his military officers in all of the fortified towns of
Judah.
15
Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol from The Lord’s
Temple. He tore down all
the altars he had built on the hill where the Temple stood and all
the altars that were in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the
city.
16 Then he
restored the altar of The Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and
thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah
to worship The Lord, The God Of Israel.
17 However, the
people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to The Lord
their God.
18 The rest of
the events of Manasseh’s reign, his prayer to God, and the words
the seers spoke to him in the name of The Lord, The God Of Israel,
are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel.
19 Manasseh’s
prayer, the account of the way God answered him, and an account of
all his sins and unfaithfulness are recorded in The Record of the
Seers. It includes a list of the locations where he built pagan
shrines and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself
and repented.
20 When
Manasseh died, he was buried in his palace. Then his son Amon became
the next king.
II Chronicles 33:12,13 NLT
12 But while in deep distress,
Manasseh sought The Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before
the God of his ancestors.
13 And when he prayed, The Lord
listened to him and was moved by his request. So Ghe Lord brought
Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally
realized that The Lord alone is God!
Manasseh was the
evil son of Godly King Hezekiah. Are you a parent that feels you have
failed? There can be no doubt King Hezekiah left his son a Godly
legacy, but that Manasseh's intentions were anything but Godly.
Can this happen to
Godly parents? Yes.
Actually it can
happen even if they were raised by Christ Himself, for during the
millennium, 1,000 years of Christ rule, after the end of the 1,000
years many yet will go after the devil, and will not serve God.
Revelation
20:7,8 NLT
7 When the thousand years come to an
end, Satan will be let out of his prison.
8 He will go out to deceive the
nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He
will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless
as sand along the seashore.
Because Manasseh
would not serve God, but did everything he could to serve the evil
one.
II Chronicles
33:11 NLT
So The Lord sent the commanders of
the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring
through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to
Babylon.
Only in a
Babylonian prison were Manasseh's eyes opened to his sin, and in deep
repentance, he turned to the one from which he had run for some 22
years, The Lord the God of his fathers.
Parents, should one
ever give up on praying for their children? Of course not!
Though long dead,
Hezekiah's prayers (No doubt) for his son were answered, as his son
Manasseh turned completely to The Lord.
II Chronicles
33:12 NLT
But while in deep distress,
Manasseh sought The Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before
the God of his ancestors.
God heard his
prayer, and delivered him.
Luke 15:20-24
KJV (Christ's Parable Of The Lost Son.)
20 And he arose, and came to his
father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and
had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no
more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his
servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a
ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf,
and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is
alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Once back in
Jerusalem...
II Chronicles
33:15,16 NLT
15 Manasseh also removed the
foreign gods and the idol from The Lord’s Temple. He tore down all
the altars he had built on the hill where the Temple stood and all
the altars that were in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the
city.
16 Then he restored the altar of The
Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it.
He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship The Lord, The God
Of Israel.
But though he tried
somewhat to undo what he taken years to do, yet the people loathed
his memory, and so would not bury him as a King among the sepulchres
of David, but rather...
II Kings 21:26
NLT
He was buried in his tomb in the
garden of Uzza (A garden attached
to Manasseh's palace.)..."
Galatians 6:7
KJV
Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Homily:
You may pound a
nail in the wall wishing to hang a picture and than say to yourself,
“no that's not where I want to hang that after all,” so you
remove the nail.
One may remove the
nail, but the hole in the wall remains.
Yes, how wonderful
God forgives sins, when we repent in prayer before Him, but He is
under no obligation to undo the crop that we have sinfully planted.
How true the
words....
Numbers 32:23
KJV
"...be sure your sin will find
you out.
Dear friend, make
sure they find you out before you have spent a life time of sinful
mistakes, affecting countless others.
This story assures
of one thing, our Heavenly Father is always listening for the sinners
call, and He will answer!
Will God hear your
prayers?
He will if you are
a child of His, if you are not His child, call upon Him now, and have
your name written in Heavens Book Of Life.
The
God Who Hears And Answers Prayer:
Joshua 10:14 KJV
And there was
no day like that before it or after it, that The Lord hearkened unto
the voice of a man: for The Lord fought for Israel.
Nehemiah 9:27
KJV
in the time of
their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them
I Chronicles
16:11 KJV
Seek The Lord
and His strength, seek His face continually.
Nehemiah 9:27
KJV
in the time of
their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them
Job 22:27 KJV
Thou shalt make
thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee..."
Psalm 6:9 KJV
The Lord hath
heard my supplication; The Lord will receive my prayer.
Psalm 55:17 KJV
Evening, and
morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear
my voice.
Psalm 65:2 KJV
O thou that
hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
Psalm 66:19 KJV
But verily God
hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psalm 88:1,2 KJV
1 O lord God of
my Salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
2 Let my prayer
come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;
Psalm 91:15 KJV
He shall call
upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will
deliver him, and honor him.
Psalm 99:6,8 KJV
6 "...they
called upon the Lord, and he answered them.
8 Thou
answeredst them, O Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgavest
them..."
Psalm 102:17 KJV
He will regard
the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
Psalm 122:6 KJV
Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Proverbs 15:8,29
KJV
8 The sacrifice
of the wicked is an abomination to The Lord: but the prayer of the
upright is His delight.
29 The Lord is
far from the wicked: but He heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Isaiah 38:5 KJV
“...I have
heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears...”
Isaiah 56:7 KJV
"... for
Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
Isaiah 58:9 KJV
Then shalt thou
call, and The Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say,
Here I am...:"
Isaiah 65;24 KJV
And it shall
come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they
are yet speaking, I will hear.
Jeremiah 29:13
KJV
And ye shall
seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your
heart.
Jeremiah 33:3
KJV
Call unto Me,
and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which
thou knowest not.
Zechariah 13:9
KJV
And I will
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My
name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they
shall say, The Lord is my God.
Joel 2:32 KJV
And it shall
come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of The Lord shall
be delivered..."
Matthew 5:44 KJV
But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you;
Matthew 6:6 KJV
But thou, when
thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy
door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Matthew 7:7,8
KJV
7 Ask, and it
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you:
8 For every one
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened.
Matthew 18:19,20
KJV
19 Again I say
unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any
thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father
which is in heaven.
20 For where
two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them.
Matthew 21:22
KJV
And all things,
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Matthew 26:41
KJV
Watch and pray,
that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak.
Mark 11:24,25
KJV
24 Therefore I
say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe
that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
25 And when ye
stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your
Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Luke 11:9,10 KJV
9 And I say
unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every
one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luke 18:1,7,8
KJV
1 And He spake
a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and
not to faint;
7 "...don’t
you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry
out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off?
8 I tell you,
He will grant justice to them quickly! But when The Son Of Man
returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?”
Luke 21:36 KJV
Watch ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before The Son
Of Man.
John 14:13,14
KJV
13 And
whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that The Father
may be glorified in The Son.
14 If ye shall
ask any thing in My name, I will do it.
John 15:7,16 KJV
7 If ye abide
in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you.
16 Ye have not
chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go
and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that
whatsoever ye shall ask of The Father in My name, He may give it you.
John 16:23,24
KJV
23 And in that
day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall ask
The Father in
My name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto
have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that
your joy may be full.
Romans 10:12
KJV
For there is no
difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all
is rich unto all that call upon Him.
Ephesians 2:18
KJV
For through Him
we both have access by one Spirit unto The Father.
Ephesians 6:18
KJV
Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in The Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Philippians 4:6
NLT
Don’t worry
about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you
need, and thank Him for all He has done.
Colossians 4:2
NLT
Devote
yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
I Thessalonians
5:17 KJV
Pray without
ceasing.
I Timothy 2:8
KJV
I will
therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without
wrath and doubting.
Hebrews 4:16 KJV
Let us
therefore come boldly unto The Throne Of Grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 10:19
KJV
Having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by The Blood
Of Jesus,
James 1:6 KJV
But let him ask
in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of
the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
James 4:8 KJV
Draw nigh to
God, and he will draw nigh to you
James
5:13-16 KJV
13 Is any among
you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick
among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of The Lord:
15 And the
prayer of faith shall save the sick, and The Lord shall raise him up;
and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your
faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be
healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much.
I Peter 4:7 KJV
But the end of
all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
I John 3:22 KJV
And whatsoever
we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in His sight.
I John 5:14,15
KJV
14 And this is
the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing
according to His will, He heareth us:
15 And if we
know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of Him.
Revelation 8:3-5 NLT (Prayers heard and kept)
3 Then another
angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a
great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of
God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne.
4 The smoke of
the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended
up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.
5 Then the
angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar..."
