Isaiah 38:2-5
Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.  Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

Back in Isaiah’s day, communication was slow.  A message would have to be sent by hand and physically brought to the recipient.  Then a reply would be sent back the same way.  And sometimes a lot of time would pass while someone waited for a message.  But prayer is instant communication with God.  Before Isaiah could even leave Hezekiah’s house, he had to return with an answer from the Lord to Hezekiah’s prayer.

It is the kind of instant communication we are used to today, but God has always been available to us anytime we want to talk to Him.  God is listening when we cry out to Him.  God can hear us no matter how far away He seems in our most desperate moments.  He is not a servant who does our bidding and answers every prayer how we want Him to.  He doesn’t give us everything we ask for.  But He does invite us to share our hearts with Him, and then He will do what He knows is best for us.

Prayer is also a very personal thing.  Isaiah came back with God’s reply, but Hezekiah’s prayer was just between Him and God.  We don’t need someone to go to God on our behalf, although it is a wonderful thing to pray for one another.  We don’t need a prophet like Isaiah to bring our requests before the Lord.  But we can, as God’s children, go boldly before His throne to make our requests.  We can pour out our hearts to Him about any situation and entrust everything to Him.

Hezekiah received an amazing response from God.  But that wouldn’t have happened had he not gone before the Lord in prayer.  Prayer is our connection to our Father.  We don’t have to send out a message and hope it gets to Him in time.  In fact, He already knows what we need before we even ask.  Let’s take time to cultivate a relationship with our Lord through a consistent and open prayer life.  We can talk to Him about anything and everything.  And we will come to know Him better in that secret place of fellowship with Him.