While Jesus lived on earth, he prayed to God and asked God for help. He prayed with loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death, and his prayer was heard because he trusted God (Hebrews 5:7 NCV).
Isn’t it amazing that Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears? Think on this: the Son of God literally screamed out His prayer to His Father (this is the meaning of the Greek word). This is an example of desperate prayer. Also note that the desperate prayer of Jesus goes hand in glove with obedience to and trusting in His Father. O, how desperate we sometimes are for God’s help! But are we desperate enough to be fully obedient? There can be no answers to prayer without obedience.
We can learn from Moses’ prayer for his nation: Now, please forgive them of this sin. If you will not, then erase my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people (Exodus 32:32).
Think carefully about these words. This is somebody who is willing to go to hell for his nation. Thousands of years later, the apostle Paul said much the same: I have great sorrow and always feel much sadness. I wish I could help my Jewish brothers and sisters, my people. I would even wish that I were cursed and cut off from Christ if that would help them (Romans 9:2-3 NCV).
What an example of the heart of an intercessor! What Moses and Paul could not do (to carry the curse of God on behalf of their nation), Jesus has done. Moses and Paul had the attitude of Christ in prayer. If we want to pray for the world and its need, we need the same attitude – the same desperate prayer, the same heart and the same tears as Jesus (Hebrews 5:7). We need the same travail and day-and-night prayer as Paul does (Galatians 4:19). The same attitude as that of Moses who fasted for 40 days and nights before the face of God, praying that God would have mercy on the people of Israel, is required.
There is another great lesson to be learnt in Luke 18:1-8: Then Jesus used this story to teach his followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. "In a certain town there was a judge who did not respect God or care about people. In that same town there was a widow who kept coming to this judge, saying, ‘Give me my rights against my enemy.’ For a while the judge refused to help her. But afterwards, he thought to himself, ‘Even though I don’t respect God or care about people, I will see that she gets her rights. Otherwise she will continue to bother me until I am worn out.’" The Lord said, "Listen to what the unfair judge said. God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them. I tell you, God will help his people quickly. But when the Son of Man comes again, will he find those on earth who believe in him?" (NCV).
Note the complete helplessness and powerlessness of this woman. Note her desperate situation. Especially note her response to her situation. Jesus uses this woman to illustrate desperate, tenacious prayer. He makes it clear that help will come in response to this kind of prayer. Day-and-night prayer, tenacious, believing prayer brings answers from God.
Desperate prayer is prayer without options. The only option is to grab a hold of God alone and not let go. It is not prayer where we have a nice chat with God or just talk to Him. It is prayer that cries out and screams to God. It is to beg God. Charles Spurgeon once wrote that the best form of prayer is prayer that is best described as a cry to God.
Desperate prayer has no human plan or work to ensure success. It is prayer from the heart without a rational choice. It is not a recipe, method or strategy. It is not reading somebody else’s prayer from a piece of paper.
Desperate prayer is without pretension. There is no intention to use beautiful words or to impress people. It is where we rend our hearts and not just our clothes. It is prayer that seeks to attract God’s attention and His alone. It is prayer that does not care what people say or think.
Desperate prayer is urgent and intense. There is time for nothing else. When a woman gives birth, she does not have time to even think of anything else but the baby that must be born. Nothing else matters, but the pain and the child that must be birthed. Travailing prayer is prayer that gives birth spiritually. It brings forth new life.
This kind of prayer is also focussed. It is like a magnifying glass that concentrates sunlight and causes a flame. It is not a 5-minute-a-day prayer because I do not have time for anything more. It is prayer where we lose our dignity, on the grounds of the desperation of my heart. There are tears, fasting and prayer, inexpressible groaning. Desperate prayer can not be learnt by heart. Rather, it is birthed out of severe need. It is a prayer that MUST get an answer. It is the kind of prayer that John Knox prayed in Scotland in the 16th century, when he said: "Lord, give me Scotland or else I die!"
Prayer birthed in desperation understands the heart of God and allows God to conceive in us His prayer burdens by His Spirit with His prayer burdens. Often, this kind of prayer burden has nothing to do with our own needs, but those of the world. It does not understand what selfishness means. God may break our hearts over issues: the lost child of a friend, drug addicts or rape victims, molested children, unreached groups, millions walking around like sheep without a shepherd, or the millions suffering from AIDS, or children orphaned by this disease.
There is no consciousness of people and we forget what they think. It is a battle between life and death where we hide nothing from God: No sin or secrets or weakness dare remain hidden.
No merit of our own holiness, goodness or sincerity can be used as arguments to twist God’s arm. Desperate prayer is an outcry to God. There are no manicured word formulations or structured full sentences. The person praying grabs a hold of God as a drowning man reaches for air for one final time. No price is too high to pay, knowing that the best we can bring to pay for His mercy will be despised. The price has already been paid, and the price was the blood of Jesus. Knowing our own limitation and knowing the resurrection power of Christ, we lay hold of Christ. It is prayer that understands that my own arguments and sincerity has no power before God and knows that the Name of Jesus is enough. It is to reach to God in hope on the grounds of HIS promises, HIS blood, HIS cross, HIS covenant, HIS invitation, and HIS throne of grace.
Desperate prayer demands my whole being. It is the kind of prayer Hannah prayed in 1 Samuel .1. She had but one desire, one dream and passion. Nothing else mattered: she had to have a child. And not just any child – it had to be a boy that would take away her shame. It was a specific prayer. She stopped eating and started weeping before God. She stopped worrying about what people thought. She ignored even the priest who thought her spiritual intensity was due to drunkenness. Her shame, her need and her hurt were greater than the opinion of people.
Desperate prayer demands availability. Are we available for God to give us His prayer burdens, or am I so caught up in my own needs and desires, my own comfort that I disqualify myself from God’s army?
May God give us desperate intercessors in our nations!
Yes Lord! for Malaysia
By Bennie Mostert of Jericho Walls International Prayer Network
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