Read: 2 Kings19:9-20

Prayer is the child’shelpless cry to the Father’s attentive ear.

祷告就如孩子无助的呼求，天父必侧耳垂听。

Give ear, Lord, andhear; open your eyes, Lord, and see.--2 Kings 19:16

耶和华啊，求祢侧耳而听！耶和华啊，求祢睁眼而看！-列王纪下19章16节

 Inthe days before telephones, email, and mobile phones, the telegram was usuallythe fastest means of communication. But only important news was sent bytelegram, and such news was usually bad. Hence the saying, “The telegram boyalways brings bad news.”

在还没有电话、电邮和手机的年代里，电报是最快传递讯息的管道。但只有重要消息才用电报来传送，而且通常都是坏消息，所以西方有句话说：「电报男孩总是送来坏消息。」

Itwas wartime in ancient Israel when Hezekiah was king of Judah. Sennacherib,king of Assyria, had invaded and captured the cities of Judah. He then sent aletter to Hezekiah, a bad-news “telegram” urging his surrender. Hezekiahdescribed the moment as “a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace” (2 Kings19:3).

当希西家作犹大国王时，战争临到古以色列。那时，亚述王西拿基立侵略犹大国，占领了各城。接着，他送了一封信给希西家，犹如一封传递坏消息的「电报」，要希西家马上投降。希西家形容当时「是急难、责罚、凌辱的日子」（列王纪下19章3节）。

Withtaunts and scoffs, Sennacherib boasted of his past military campaigns,belittling the God of Israel and threatening mayhem (vv. 11-13). In thatdreadful moment, King Hezekiah did an unusual thing with the bad-news letter:“He went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord” (v.14). Then he prayed earnestly, acknowledging the power of God over their gloomysituation (vv. 15-19). God intervened in a powerful way (vv. 35-36).

西拿基立对他冷嘲热讽，夸耀自己战功彪炳，蔑视以色列的上帝，还威胁要灭绝他们（11-13节）。在那忧惧之时，希西家王却以不寻常的方式回应这个坏消息，他「上耶和华的殿，将书信在耶和华面前展开」（14节）。然后，他恳切地祷告，确信上帝的大能足以胜过他们所面对的黑暗景况（15-19节）。那天晚上，上帝的使者亲自击溃亚述大军（35-36节）。

Badnews can reach us at any time. In those moments, Hezekiah’s action is a goodexample to follow. Spread out the news before the Lord in prayer and hear Hisreassurance: “I have heard your prayer” (v. 20).

我们随时都可能接到坏消息，但不要慌张，我们可以向希西家学习，以祷告向上帝陈明坏消息，祂必会对我们说：「我已听见了。」（20节）

Prayer 祷告：

Heavenly Father, when peopleattack us, we tend to react defensively. Teach us to turn to You instead oftaking matters into our own hands. We trust You and love You. Defend us today.

天父啊，我们遭受攻击时，自然会为防卫而反击。求祢教导我们学习倚靠祢，而不靠自己。我们信靠祢也爱祢。求祢保护我们。