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Twenty Six Acts Hezekiah had great favor with God and man. At 25 years old in the face of much opposition, He turned the heart of the people to God. II Kings 18: 5: He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. Ø The unGodly conditions of the nation were reversed and a new Godly community environment established. Ø Assyria, the rulers of the day, were turned back from Judah though they had conquered Israel and many other nations. Hezekiah and the people of Judah were the only ones of the day that resisted effectively. Ø The people with one heart obeyed under great duress to do otherwise. Ø Sennacharib had 185000 of his leaders slain by an angel in one evening. Ø The clock was turned back. Ø Philistines were subdued. Ø Healed personally and had years added to his life. Ø The people were healed. We at PrayerMetro in Oklahoma City want a life of testimony in the same way. When it comes to fathering and families in our metro, we want the same. When it comes to the outreach of ministry to people in their homes, marketplaces, and community spaces, we want the same. When it comes to the education and empowerment of the school of prayer through www.PrayerMetro.com and the Daily Dose, we want like impact and prosperity. When it comes to our partnerships with Oklahoma Family Policy Council and CBMC/OKC and IIMAI and CCSR and many congregations and business and community leaders in our metro, we want the same. When it comes to my home and the personal lives of my wife and children and family, we want the same. We want the same for ourselves and those we love, don’t you? We want prosperity, answer to prayer, willing and cooperative partnerships, conquest of enemies, resistance against personal and community evil, reversals of prior mistakes, and an environment of security, peace, and healing, don’t you? We want to see as much as possible in our Oklahoma City metro the expression of the City of God spoken of by St. Augustine. We want to see that so much in our metro that God’s action in our lives would affect others as an example. We want them to dig deep into the wells of salvation and pour out over their neighborhoods and metros. That is what you want in your metro, isn’t it? Our time will be spent looking into the impact of Hezekiah and these people of Judah with whom he walked. There are mountains of volumes written on the lives of great men. Our pulpits resound with lessons on leadership and change based on the lives and teachings of Genghis Khan, Rollo May, Marcus Aurelius, William James, Winston Churchill, Confucius, Sun Tzu, humanism, capitalism, IBM, Jack Welch, Lee Iacocca, McDonalds, and the Marriots. Here is a man, who in his youth, established a testimony of trust in God greater than King David and all the other kings of Judah. Here is a man, who with little resource, pulled off the greatest upset against the giants of his day with trust of God. Here is a man like us. Young, ambitious, and filled with a life of bad examples, he chose to set a different path. In his latter years, when he waned in trust in God and began to lean on himself and his strengths, he revived himself to former levels and beyond and again saw great action of God on his behalf. In his hard twenty-nine years of leading, he worked with God to change his world. Here is a man that God chose to write about both in II Kings and in II Chronicles and Isaiah. These eleven chapters together are longer than many entire books in our scriptures. Here is a world shaker and history maker. The principles of his life will challenge you personally and in your ministry. You will be changed in the way you approach leadership and change. Your home life will change. Your ministry will change. Our communities will change in response to the life you live. A brief outline is attached for those that just can’t wait and want to get started. As you approach your new year, do it with fervor. Approach it with vitality and vision. God set you here to make a difference for those you call neighbor in the area you call metro. |
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The Quest For Greatness—Hezekiah |
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Quotes on Greatness "It is not truth that makes man great; but man that makes truth great." ~ Confucius A man does not show his greatness by being at one extremity, but rather by touching both at once." ~ Blaise Pascal Greatness breaks laws. ~ Louise Nevelson It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him. ~ John Steinbeck They're only truly great who are truly good. ~ George Chapman To be great is to be misunderstood. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes up his mind to do. We are all capable of greater things than we realize. ~ Norman Vincent Peale Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. ~ Mark Twain It is not enough to be very good if you have the ability to be great. ~ Alberta Lee Cox Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher that you think. ~ Benjamin Disraeli And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness; Round our restlessness, His rest. ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning Great men hallow a whole people, and lift up all who live in their time. ~ Johns Hopkins Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown. ~ Charles De Gaulle I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. ~ Benjamin Franklin Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Great people are those who can make others feel that they, too, can become great. ~ Mark Twain Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. ~ Albert Einstein
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