II Chronicles 33:13 ” And when he prayed to Him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.”

King Manasseh’s reign was 55 years long, and for much of it he did evil in the eyes of God. It tells us that the spiritual depravity in Judah had digressed to such a low point that the people gave no heed to God’s warnings of enemy invasion. And so the Assyrian army struck & exiled Manasseh as a prisoner briefly. It was during that time that Manasseh humbly repented & begged for mercy… finally realizing his disobedience to God. And God listened and graciously responded…allowing Manasseh to return to Jerusalem and his kingdom, where he mended his ways. Manasseh had come to the stark realization that it was only through God’s gracious retribution that he was saved & restored at all. And so we need to remember this…we can never be so far from God that His hand can’t reach us…for He is always waiting to respond to our heart-felt prayer of repentance.