Isaiah 37 and 38 is a prelude to exile coming to an end. Hezekiah prays. Isaiah gives him a thorough explanation of the history of what he is asking. (Even tells him he will die) In spite of the sin of the people...the prayer makes a great difference in beginning to reverse the fate of the remnant. Here is the prayer in chapter 37.
"Hezekiah received the letter from 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 : "O LORD Almighty, 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, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."
Later God extends Hezekiah's life by fifteen years. Here is the account...
"Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city."
What an amazing change of circumstances for Hezekiah and Israel!
You can read how the deliverance prayer was answered in reading the entire account.
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