Turn Your Face to the Wall

In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord; ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord…-Isaiah 38:1-2

Hezekiah was the king of Judah, and he was sick unto death. In other words, he suffered from a terminal illness. A lot of people are shaken when doctors tell them they’re not going to live. Imagine what it was like for Hezekiah when God gave him that message!

The prophet Isaiah came to the king and said, “Thus says the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” It’s important to understand that God wasn’t judging the man. God was simply telling him that his disease was terminal. God gave Hezekiah a natural diagnosis: He was going to die and not live. Therefore, Hezekiah was supposed to set his house in order.

But the king decided he would rather live. The next verse says, “Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord.” Hezekiah not only prayed, but he turned his face to the wall. What does that mean? Well, the prophet Isaiah had just laid out King Hezekiah’s situation before him. The king could see his symptoms, his pain and his dismal future. But in response, he just turned his face to the wall—away from all natural circumstances—and started talking to God.

Hezekiah decided not to watch the symptoms or the pain. He chose not to dwell on the bad report. Instead, he turned away from all of that and fixed his eyes, his attention, his words and his prayers on Almighty God.

CONFESSION:

When symptoms attack my body, I turn my face to the wall and say, “Father, I thank You that Your Word is true.” I don’t deny the symptoms, but I don’t dwell on them either. I look to Jesus and receive the healing He has provided for me.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999