Desperate Prayers

This past Sunday’s service at my church, Word Of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, was really powerful. Our bishop, Pastor Dale C. Bronner, didn’t deliver a message, but said he felt led by God that we should all pray.

Throngs of people approached the alter and knelt in reverence to God. We prayed, worshipped, cried, shouted, sang… well, you get the picture. Right before we started to pray, Bishop Bronner said, “God only answers desperate prayers.”

Huh?

His statement caused me to pause and think, but instead of pondering what he said at that moment I went on a prayed with his statement at the back of my mind.

Maybe you’re wondering, ‘Why did you pause?’ Or, like me, the statement gave you something to think about. When I think about “desperate” I think about someone who is crying, screaming, jumping, shouting and flailing about in desperation, but what I’ve realized is that if I limited my thinking to that then I would limit my experience with God.

I feel (when I say that, I mean that I believe God is telling me) that God wants us to have desperation in our hearts. Now, that doesn’t null the person who has an outward appearance of desperation. God, I’m sure, recognizes that as well and he recognizes an individual who has desperation in their heart when they seek him.

If you think about it – as a very good friend of mine pointed out – there isn’t any reference in the bible of Jesus screaming, shouting and jumping. He did cry out to the Lord, but that doesn’t necessarily mean how I initially pictured desperation in my head.

What I think we should remember as we seek God is to just seek God. Know what I mean? Don’t let the how, why and ‘what for’ keep you from seeking Almighty God. Worship him. Praise him. Thank him. And pray to him. He’s waiting for each and every one of us to seek him… in desperation. :-)


“Pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon man.” Francis Cardinal Spellman