An Introduction to All of the Prayers in Second Kings

Isn’t it usually true that when in instances of hassle or struggling, we virtually at all times ask for issues in prayer, and neglect to supply reward, thanks, or blessings?

Content material

The guide of First Kings closed with an account of a horrible king within the northern kingdom, and an equally horrible one (and his son) within the southern kingdom. Second Kings opens the place First Kings left off, with some remaining tales about Elijah after which the prophet Elisha and King Jehoroam of Israel, the northern kingdom (chapters 1-17). The subsequent ten chapters describe the reigns of the kings of each the north and the south, till the northern kingdom is conquered by Sennacherib and destroyed, the folks scattered (18.16-17.41). Chapters 18-24 are in regards to the southern kingdom, Judah. A few of these later kings are trustworthy, however most usually are not. The final chapter (24) is in regards to the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile of the folks to Babylon.

Themes

Second Kings is the final quantity of a four-volume work containing First Samuel, Second Samuel, and First Kings. The themes of all 4 books are the identical: they tackle the failure of Israel’s leaders to be trustworthy to God and His method. Regardless of this widespread thread, there are some who stay trustworthy. Twin themes of proper and incorrect are the main target of many tales, however underlying most are God’s faithfulness and his guarantees to David and his descendants.

Prayers

There are solely seven prayer passages in Second Kings. All however one are petitions or intercessions (although one petition begins with a blessing). Not surprisingly, the 2 prayers on behalf of another person (intercessions) are by the nice prophet Elisha. These are the one two strictly intercessory prayers in Second Kings. The one different sort of prayer is a vow by King Ben-hadad of Aram to kill the prophet Elisha (6.31).

Second Kings provides us the chance to work on prayer through which we ask God for one thing. We now have famous a number of instances all through our examine of prayer within the Bible that we generally tend to make use of extra prayers of petition or intercession than different sorts of prayer (reward, thanksgiving, reward, blessings, vow, and curses). But petition and intercession are legitimate types of prayer and must be included in our prayer life. The subsequent seven research give us the chance to study one thing new about these kind of prayers.