Summary of the Prayers in Second Kings

Second Kings is the continuation of the history of Israel, focusing on the kings of the southern kingdom. For the most part, it is a story of unfaithfulness, despair, and tragedy. Like us, most of the characters neglect to praise, thank, or confess to God during such times; instead they focus on asking him for help. While it is understandable that our prayers are mostly petitions during those times, we should not neglect the other forms of prayer. But tragedy and pain have a way of turning us inward. Since one of the major themes of this book is the failures of the kings of Israel, it is not surprising to find them unable to rise above the self-centeredness. Aside from the specifics of what we learn from each prayer, the overall model is one we should avoid if possible.

When things aren’t going well for us, we tend to pray only petitions or intercessions. We can become so overwhelmed that we forget that praising God and even thanking Him are important. We see that situation mirrored in Second Kings: all but one are either petitions or intercessions.

Second Kings, like many of the surrounding books, tells the disheartening story of Israel’s declining faithfulness and fortunes, punctuated with a few bright spots. Most of the prayers ask God for something. Some of them are quite self-serving. Yet they still have a lot to teach us a lot about petitionary and intercessory prayer—not only how to offer them (or not), but also the attitude we should have as we approach God with our requests. And it stands as a reminder to not to neglect other kinds of prayers in the midst of suffering!