II Kings 19:16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
My first car was a 1993 Ford Escort GT, and I have often joked that it was going to be a Corvette when it grew up. I sometimes find myself being a little sentimental about that first car. Maybe you feel that way about your first car. Maybe you kind of wish you still had your 57’ Chevy or your 67’ Mustang, but it is probably as likely that there have been cars that you were glad to be rid of. You were glad to transfer the ownership. It was liberating to be done with the car.
Well, prayer is a transfer of ownership. The Kingdom of Assyria was a world empire. The Assyrian king was a menace to everything and everyone in his wake, and he sent a menacing letter to Hezekiah, the king of God’s people. The Bible says, “And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed.” I love that.
Hezekiah got this letter. It was a letter of threat, intent, mockery, and blasphemy, and Hezekiah spread it before the Lord. What follows is his prayer. He says, “Thou art the God, even thou alone.” He mentions the gods of the countries whom Assyria had already conquered and he says, “For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands.” He continues, “That all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God even thou only.” He says, “You are the only God.”
What Hezekiah does is to transfer ownership. In order to transfer ownership, you have to recognize that God is in charge, the Master, and that you and I are servants. When God heard this prayer of Hezekiah, He said of the Assyrians, “Whom hast thou reproached?…thou hast reproached the Lord.” The bottom line is that God owned this and He took care of this.
Every day you are taking on things, questions, problems, concerns, or worries, and you have a choice. You can either take on everything every day and eventually explode, or you can give whatever you receive to God. That is a good way to keep a balance in life, to give everything you receive. That means both the good and the bad. If you receive a gift of God, a talent of God, you give it to God. If you receive a burden, problem, or worry, you give it to God. But in each case, a light heart and a buoyant life are the result of giving the ownership to God.
What is prayer? Prayer is a transfer of ownership. Today, the moment you got up, you started taking on new baggage and weight, a question from a child, an obligation from a boss, or something else. Give whatever you receive. Whatever is given to you, give it back to God. Prayer is a transfer of ownership. He is the Lord; you are His servant. When you live your life that way, you can live a life of peace knowing that God can take care of that which belongs to Him.