Praying in Desperation
Psalm 143:5-7 “I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.”
Do you feel like you pray and pray but nothing changes? Are you desperate for an answer? Is your heart growing weary? It’s times like these that our fragile hearts need a good reminding of God’s faithfulness.
David understood that helpless desperation well, but rather than wallow in self-pity or allow his dark thoughts to overwhelm him, he used that as a call to remember all that God had done for him and as proof that God would not abandon him.
Remember the days of long ago- what are those things that God has done for us throughout our life? What are the ways He’s shown himself faithful? Are there stones of remembrance we can stack up as a reminder of God’s goodness and faithfulness? We need to write them down. Meditate on them. Remind ourselves of God’s goodness. Consider what His hands have done. Those reminders are the precious anchors for our weary souls that keep us grounded in the Truth that God never fails and never forsakes us.
“I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.” Sometimes, in our desperation, we become so consumed with our own needs... our pleading prayers, that we lose sight of Who we should desire most of all. Stop. Let’s check our hearts. Do we want that answer to prayer more than we want Jesus? Has the thing we are praying for become more precious to us than our Savior? What if His answer is ‘no’? What then? When we’re fully satisfied with our Savior and long for Him more than anything else, we can manage whatever the answer will be because we know it comes from His good heart...even if it’s not the answer we prayed for. Thirst for Him, friends, and trust Him. Want Him more than anything else.
“Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails.” Sometimes we have desperate prayers and we’re so emptied of anything else. We have nothing more to pour out, and in those times we just need to cry out to the Lord. Period. We don’t need a long explanation. We don’t need fancy words. When our children were little and needed help quickly, they didn’t go into a long explanation, they just cried out our name and we came running. Why would we think our Heavenly Father would do anything differently? When our spirit fails, we can cry out to Him and be heard. He will not hide his face, He will not let us go down to the pit. He will hear and answer. We can trust Him.
Today, remind yourself of these things. And pray. Trust Him that He will hear and answer. He intends good for you. “I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.”
Pray without ceasing.