Isaiah 37:14

"And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah. And Hezekiah prayed unto Jehovah, saying, O Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, that sittest above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth, Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; Open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to defy the living God. Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land, and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone, therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art Jehovah, even thou only."

Hezekiah's spreading out Sennacherib's letter in the temple was "a symbolical action" representing his prayer to Jehovah.[6] It should not be thought of as the kind of worship seen in the prayer-wheels of the Buddhists, and the petitions written on pieces of paper and attached to sacred trees.

Hezekiah's prayer here is a model in some ways. It acknowledged that Jehovah is over all nations and all men, the creator of heaven and earth, and that in him only is salvation. The basis of his petition, moreover is directed toward the benefit of all the nations of the earth, that they might know the one true God, and it is not marked by the narrow object of what would benefit Israel only. As Archer said, "He grounded his petition upon the need for the vindication of God's glory, not upon his own personal need, or that of his people; because he realized they little deserved divine favor."[7]