Why God Wants You Desperate

Why God Wants You

Desperate

I often see a prayer request appear on my Facebook newsfeed and I typically respond with “praying!” to acknowledge that I see the request and let the person know that I will be mindful about their need and will pray about it. If a friend shares a specific concern with me, I will certainly make the efforts to pray.

When I say that I will pray, I’m sincere. 

However, there’s a difference between my daily prayers and a prayer of desperation.

Do you know what I am talking about about? Have you been there? In a desperate situation your heart cries,

“We desperately need a miracle!”

You want others to pray, in fact, you want others to cry out to God with you.

If my soul were in distress with a longing for the miraculous, my prayer would be a plea. It would accompany a deep heart-cry…

“Lord, hear my prayer!” 

I would call unto Him from a heart of desperation. Perhaps some might think I were over-reacting, or losing heart, or failing to think “positive” … but I wouldn’t be able to help myself if there existed a need for miraculous intervention.

A desperate heart will take desperate measures. It will inform and ask others to join in the plea. It will cry out and continue to press in to God’s heart until the relief or answer or miracle comes. A desperate heart searches for hope and longs for the intervention.

And that’s just it. We’ve lost our desperation, our longing, our serious approach toward the the things of God and prayer, and perhaps towards our desire to see God’s power. We often seem to sit on the sidelines. Are we desperate enough to want to get in the game?

How important is His intervention to us? Is it important enough to put down the phone, stop everything and take 10 minutes to meet with Him wholeheartedly without distraction, and perhaps with tears?

God has called us to humility and He works mightily when we are totally reliant on Him. We must be desperate for Him.

The church of Laodicea is lukewarm, and in many ways, that is our Christian culture today. We’ve lost our first love, we lost that love-sick longing for the One that holds the key to our lives – the One that can comfort and heal.

Are we willing to take desperate measures to meet Him? He is there offering wisdom, instruction, and healing – but we are often on the outside left standing there with our needs.

Sometimes, in our despair, we lack our desperation for Him.

“Perhaps our despair is meant to lead us to become desperate for Him. “

Do we cry out as the Psalms suggests we should? Do we allow Him to hear our deep desire for Him and His intervention? Do we want to do whatever it takes to be where He is?

He’s in the quiet. He’s in the scripture. He’s in the still. Do we make every effort to be there or take another there in prayer?

 

Desperate. 

Full of Despair.

God please intervene! Please do something!
In the heart of despair rests the acknowledgment that only God can answer and only He can intervene.

God delights in us recognizing our position of need and full reliance upon Him.

He can work with that. He can work with a heart that is postured in humility that recognizes the power that He holds.

I’m reminded of 3 Biblical stories that display desperation and God’s power: 

In 1 Kings 17:8-24 there’s the widow of Zarephath living in a land of famine. She is about to prepare the last meal that she and her son will enjoy before inevitable starvation and death.

She’s desperate. She doesn’t anticipate intervention. She accepts her fate.

Elijah then appears on her doorstep in a flight from Jezebel who is pursuing his life. Elijah requests a drink of water and a morsel of bread from the destitute widow. She does not reply with bitterness or scorn, and she certainly does not know the significance of the prophet’s visit.

Elijah tells her in verse 14,

“For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.”

The desperate widow complies to meet the needs of the prophet. She is granted hope and provision.

In the midst of the widow’s great despair, God does the miraculous.

“We must take heart that in our despair, God can intervene with the miraculous”

…as He did with the widow of Zarephath. 

Did you hear that? God CAN do the miraculous!

In Mark, chapter two, there’s a paralytic man that has friends that are willing to carry him on his mat to see Jesus. They offer practical help but are faced with a literal roadblock of people that are crowded around Jesus. They can not get through the crowds. The friends take desperate measures (some might even consider their efforts unpractical or radical), and they dig a hole in the roof of the building where Jesus is. Can you imagine carrying the paralytic to the roof? Can you imagine carrying tools to the roof and performing such a drastic attempt to get the attention of Jesus? Yet, this is what they do. They drop their paralytic friend on his mat straight through the roof to reach Jesus.

verse 5:  “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, ‘Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.’”
verse 11: “I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.”

Jesus recognizes the faith of the man’s friends; He then addresses sin and finally heals the paralytic instructing him to take up his bed and walk.

Desperate hearts do take desperate measures. Sometimes, we are called to be the friends in the lives of one suffering. Are we content to simply pray as our destitute friend lies on his bed? Are we a bit lazy and use the excuse that God can do the miraculous on His own without our intervention? It is true that God can do the miraculous in the lives of others without any human effort. However, God will often call His people to be part of the process of provision and healing in the lives of those we know and love.

Even in the story of the widow of Zarephath… Elijah is used to speak hope and truth into the life of the widow. The miraculous is surely to the credit of God alone. However, God ordained Elijah to play a key role.

“We must willingly ask God if we play a role in the life of another when it comes to their despair”

God delights in reciprocity. He delights in His children enjoying mutually satisfying relationships as they grow with their hearts bent toward loving and obeying Him and each other.

God does not force us to love Him. However, as He loves us and we love Him… the reciprocity in undeniably beautiful!

If your heart is truly in despair for someone and empathizes with her… you will take action or desperate measures. It may not be comfortable, but it does reveal the depth of your love.

Why does God allow your desperation? He wants others to intervene and show His love to you through their kindness. OR, why does God allow the desperation of your friend or loved one? He perhaps wants YOU to show His love through your actions and kindness.

Consider those that offer a organ in order to save the life of another… that is true love.

If you are the loved one or friend of one that is in despair or greatly suffering, are you wiling to carry their mat and help them to a safe haven?

Are you offering help or taking action to alleviate the despair?

Do you despair enough for that person where you cry out to God for intervention?

What part of the intervention will you play? 

Perhaps God wants you desperate on behalf of another in order to take desperate measures in prayer and practical ways to carry your loved one or friend.

In the story of the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8:43-48, the woman is desperate for healing after bleeding for twelve years. Her money and resources were spent on physicians that could not heal her. Neither money, knowledge, physicians, or any of her best efforts could heal her.

In her humility and faith, she walked through the crowds and touched the hem of the garment of Jesus. She could’ve been chided for her actions as society deemed her “unclean.” Yet, the power of Jesus touched her. Jesus said,

“Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” (Luke 8:46)

And Jesus said to her, in verse 48,

“Daughter, be of good cheer, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

She took steps toward him, and with each step, she came closer to her healing. In my own life, as I battle Crohns-Colitis I cry out to God in my desperation for healing. I also take steps toward lifestyle changes, healthy eating, and growing in knowledge about ways to strengthen my immune system and intestinal culture. With each step I take toward natural healing, I also reach out to Jesus in faith and I long for His power to go forth in my life and make me well.

Sometimes, we walk alone in the midst of the crowd, like the woman with the issue of blood. Sometimes, we feel alone and misunderstood in our suffering or despair. Yet, we can journey on and seek to touch the hem of Christ’s garment while allowing our faith in Him to release His power in our lives to heal us and increase our faith.

He alone can touch us and heal us. We must increase our faith and keep taking steps toward Him.

Where are you today? Are you familiar with despair and desperation? For yourself? For another? Are you willing to faithfully pray or take action in practical ways to help another in despair?

Are you comfortable clinging to Jesus and entrusting Him to empower you in your own despair?

Why does God want us desperate? He wants to work in our lives and hearts – and in the lives of others around us.

In times of despair when the miraculous doesn’t come the way we hoped…

 “…our desperation can push us towards Him OR it can harden us. “

If despair has touched your life (or when it does in the future)… what will your heart posture be?

If you are in despair now, cry out to Him with your whole heart.

He is able, friend, He is able.

God’s seed:

Psalm 40:1-2 I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. 

Blooming Bountifully

Blooming from Death Valley

Blooming Bountifully

 

They burst forth in glory, painting a majestic scene. The wildflowers in Death Valley are described as a rare “super bloom” this year, which only occurs perhaps once a decade.

Death Valley is not the ideal environment for a glorious bloom. In the most intense dry and warm climate, located at North America’s lowest point, the gorgeous flowers spring forth.

They bloom courageously.

They bloom individually, yet corporately.

They bloom bountifully.

Nature displays God’s glory and sends us encouragement with a divine message to give us hope and joy for our journey.

The “valley of death” in our own lives represents the places where the difficult and overwhelming often succeed. It’s the place where we come to the end of ourselves in our efforts, plans, aspirations, hopes and dreams. We realize that in the hard, dry, intense places of life, we can no longer plan our own victories or solutions.

We must surrender.

It’s a place of death – of dying to self and succumbing to the inevitable.

We can’t do it. It’s too hard. It’s too much.

We must humbly admit our inability to accomplish and succeed.

 “As we die to self, God works miraculously in our hearts.”

He teaches us truth, He gives new wisdom and understanding, and He encourages us to trust Him.

Joseph faced challenging seasons. He knew God, he walked in favor, and he held to a dream. In his journey, he offended his brothers. Betrayed by those that should be closest to him, sold into slavery, restored to favor again while walking uprightly (and fleeing from Potiphar’s seductive wife), Joseph is then graced with a season in prison. Can you imagine the journey of trust in God, humility, and death to self (and vision) required of him?

He could not succeed in his own ability. Joseph could only be responsible for his heart and attitude toward God. He could not plan or accomplish anything in a dark and dry place, except his own character and spiritual growth. God required much of Joseph in character and trust before He elevated him to a position of grand purpose and authority.

God determined the Spring seasons of Joseph’s life, and it came after a long Winter in “death valley.” In God’s timing, Joseph did bloom.

Romans 5:3-4 (NIV) 

“…we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

As Joseph blossomed in character, we must bloom in our intimacy with God as we walk through the toughest life seasons.

“We must allow God’s difficult training to produce the authentic and divine within us.”

God determines the timing and intensity of our bloom. We may one day wake up to realize Spring arrived and that “death valley” is a majestic display of God’s ability to accomplish the beautiful and glorious in our lives.

John 12:24 (NIV) 

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

We may wake up to look around and realize that we are not alone. We may realize that others endured the dry, hard, and lonely to arrive at the same conclusion – God is in control.

We all know the elements required to cultivate a seed and garden. The dry and hard ground is not ideal – but oh so reminds us of God’s ability to accomplish that which we cannot.

He can. He wants to bloom in your heart. Give Him the hard and dry and let Him cultivate beauty and the miraculous.

We may wake up to realize we are placed in a gorgeous garden of divine wildflowers, springing forth from “death valley”… growing and proclaiming the same praise while we are blooming bountifully:

God’s Seed: Psalm 96:6 (NIV) 

“Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in His sanctuary.”

 

3 Comforting Scriptures for the Unsettled Heart

3 Comforting Scriptures for the Unsettled Heart

It’s one of those days. I woke with a cloud hanging over my head… and there’s no apparent reason.

Sure… I have some concerns in life right now, but life is good. There’s much to be thankful for.

Why this cloud?

My spirit feels… unsettled.

We experienced a tornado watch (quite uncommon in our area) recently. I gathered my littles to our downstairs living room. They loved our “slumber party” and playing with flashlights… but my daughter was quite aware of the storm raging outside.

Her little sprit felt… unsettled.

I’m reminded of the time Jesus calmed the wind and waves when He and disciples endured a storm on the sea. The men were concerned; frightened. Jesus slumbered while waters filled the boat.

Jesus, where are you? 

Mark 4:39… Jesus woke…

“and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

In life – relationships, health, finances, career, decisions, experiencing loss, the state of our chaotic world – can all feel unsettling.

“Practically any life experience or challenge can leave us feeling an internal storm.”

“God knows storms rage. God knows we feel unsettled.”

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In Mark 4:39, Jesus rebukes the wind and says,

“Peace, be still…”

which is perhaps one of the more popular verses of the Bible.

Jesus speaks. His words calm and everything settles down.

The scriptures are life-giving to the soul, full of nourishment to strengthen, settle and soothe.

For the diligent Bible reader …it’s what keeps you coming back for more! You know God’s heart, love, power, and strength through the words and promises you soak in.

For those with Bible reading intentions…would you value God’s words more if you experienced comfort, peace, and joy each day … and the quieting of the storm within?

Here are 3 comforting scriptures to soothe the unsettled soul:

Do you want to be fearless?

We can walk fearless and confident in His ability to help us.

1. Isaiah 41:13

“For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”

Have you ever felt overwhelmed?

I appreciate friends and loved ones that encourage, pray, lend a listening ear, empathize, and simply offer their love and understanding. My soul most delights in hearing the words, “How can I help?”

Ahh… sometimes we just need help! Upon hearing these words, we have the freedom to present needs.

Jesus calmed the stormed – He helped the situation. In reality, we can’t expect one particular person (human) to meet all of our needs, but help comforts and assists in settling the heart.

God encourages us not to fear AND promises to help. We may feel that our ship is already sinking (as did the men on the boat) before the spirit settles. BUT…

It’s a promise. He will calm the storm. He will help. He will settle the soul. Even if the storms rage around us, He will settle and soothe the hearts of those that love and trust Him.

Do you want to be an overcomer?

We can trust Him to strengthen us to overcome.

2. Isaiah 40:31

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

I’ve struggled with a chronic illness for a decade. The Crohns-Colitis left me quite anemic and feeling like I could crawl instead of walk.

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In the worse case scenarios, where one is physically battling for life, God can strengthen the spirit to overcome the failing flesh to victoriously and peacefully enter the next life.

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I felt so battered down in my health challenges. At times, I was both physically and mentally defeated. I clung to this scripture not knowing if I would physically battle the disease my entire life. If so, I could NOT walk through life feeling defeated.

 “While we have life and breath, God has a plan for our lives.”

 “God’s plan for our life is not dependent on how we feel.”

BUT

 “How we feel can determine how much we embrace God’s plan for our lives.”

We must determine to overcome feelings.

Sometimes we feel weak physically, but there are times we feel weak emotionally, or spiritually.

We CAN overcome.

I determined to overcome by renewing my mind with God’s word. My thoughts and attitude changed. I embraced life with internal vigor.

I finally found an alternative health plan (diet & supplements) that works for me. I don’t know why I had to wait 10 years for healing to begin… BUT the scripture does say that

those who WAIT … shall renew their strength.

Isaiah 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.”

We must NOT give up. We must patiently wait. We must know that in the waiting… there is overcoming.

Do you want strength? Do you want justice?

We shall have renewed strength. He shall save us. He shall reward us. He is just.

3. Isaiah 35:4

“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.”

Isaiah continues to encourage us to be strong when the heart struggles with fear.

Do you long for justice?

Do you desire reward?

God promises to properly execute justice and grant reward.

In eternal life, all will be made right. It creates a longing in us for the eternal. It creates a calming mind-set for all that is difficult to understand in this life.

There is no deed (good of evil) that goes un-noticed by God. He will rightfully both judge and recompense.

Salvation for those that know and love God, through the saving grace of Jesus, promises us there’s nothing to fear in eternity.

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We long for peace and security. God assures us of His presence with His words.

He seeks to actively move in our lives and settle our hearts – daily. We have nothing to fear. He helps, He strengthens us to ovecome, He promises goodness in eternity. He promises the comfort of His Holy Spirit daily.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles… so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Let His words comfort and settle your heart today.