What do you do with your worries and problems? Do you turn them inward or turn them upward?

2 Kings 19:14-16: Hezekiah received a letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: "Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God."

2 Kings 19:20: Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria."

2 Kings 19:22-35: Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return; And he shall not come to this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant." That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning there were all the dead bodies!

When the Assyrian King Sennacherib was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, he sent a message to King Hezekiah saying that Judah would be no different from the other entire nation he had conquered. Scripture tells us that Hezekiah prayer was answered that very night. God intervened miraculously, conquering the enemy outside the gates of the city. The Assyrian army didn’t even shoot an arrow.

Philippians 4:6 tells us to be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

Philippians 4:6 from the Amplified Bible says, "Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything (every circumstance and situation) by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your (specific) requests known to God. Once you receive the promise, you must believe it, speak it, meditate on it, and accept it. You must be obedient to God’s Word doing what is pleasing in his sight."

Three words in God’s message to Hezekiah, "Because you prayed," in Isaiah 37:21, shows us the best place to go with our worries and problems. Hezekiah turned to God.

We all can learn something from Hezekiah, who was King of Judah. We need to turn our worries and problems upward and not inward. Our worries and problems are better in God’s hands than our own.

Harper is pastor of Emmanuel New Convenant Church and a member of the United Ministerial Alliance.