Isaiah 37:21-29

Outline:God answers the prayers of His people. God will not let His glory be mocked. God is sovereign over all, yet people are responsible for their response to God. Jesus prayed for His Father's will to be done, surrendered His life and God answered with salvation according to His plan. Home Group Questions 1.      God tells Hezekiah that Sennacherib would end up being mocked by the people he mocked, threatened and would turn away in shame. How should knowledge of the final outcome of God’s enemies (including the enemies of His children) give believers comfort in times of persecution or temptation? How should this affect the way we treat and react to enemies of God and His people, or those who oppose us personally?     2.      Verses 24–25 speak of Sennacherib’s boasts of conquest and god-like self-sufficiency. How do you see this same attitude in the world today? What are some ways we might personally do the same?     3.      How do verses 26–29 show us that God is entirely sovereign and yet people are responsible for their response to God? Why is it okay for believers to hold these seemingly contradictory truths together even if we can’t fully explain how they fit together? “Does our ability to fully comprehend this affect our Christian salvation or maturity? What effect should these two truths have on our evangelism?      4.      How does it change your perspective on prayer to view it not as a way to “influence” God’s plan, but as the means by which God has chosen to carry out His sovereign purposes? Why shouldn’t an inability to fully resolve the tension between God’s sovereignty and His responding to prayer keep us from praying? How is Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane a good model for our prayers? How does the Lord’s Prayer teach us how to pray according to God’s will?