Desperation is a catalyst for a praying life.
- Daniel Henderson
Desperation can come through crisis or cultivation.
- Ugandan Church Leader

The new job is great. To lead within the areas of prayer and teaching ministries is a dream come true. Hope Church is a faith family that I am so privileged and proud to be a part of.

BUT…

I have never been this desperate.

Desperate for God’s power. Desperate for God’s strength. Desperate for God’s intervention. Desperate for God’s wisdom. Desperate for God’s Spirit. Desperate for God’s hand on my life and my ministry.

What has this new level of desperation led to?

An intentionality and intensity to seek God and the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer, like never before.

Where has this new level of desperation come from?

Ultimately, it’s a grace of God. God has been gracious to allow me to see more clearly than I’ve ever seen before, 5 truths that have pushed me towards a greater desperation for Him. 5 truths that, if I affirm their truth often, I believe can help to cultivate, in me, a deeper desperation for God. Prayerfully, they can do the same for you.

1. MY GIFTING IS LIMITED.

Never before have I been more aware of the limits to my gifts, talents, and abilities. My ability to preach/teach, my ability to lead, my ability to write, my ability to shepherd—all of these gifts from God are impotent apart from the power of God! Never before have I been so aware that I can very easily fool myself into thinking that my gifts, alone, are sufficient for the task at hand. They. Are. Not. God’s gifts without God’s power are useless in achieving the eternal purposes for which He gave them to us in the first place. I am so desperate for God to anoint and empower the gifts that He’s given me every time I’m given the opportunity to use them.

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 1 Corinthians 3:18-20

Is there evidence for your awareness of the limits of your gifts in how passionately, consistently, and desperately you seek the Lord in prayer?

2. MY FLESH IS WEAK.

Never before have I been more aware that, apart from the ongoing power of the Holy Spirit of God at work in my life, my propensity and my leaning is to choose sin. If left to myself, I will choose laziness. I will choose selfishness. I will choose lust. I will choose exaggeration. I will choose pride. I will choose unforgiveness. I will choose neglect. I will choose going to food for comfort rather than going to God. I will choose the road that leads to destruction. Without God’s power, I am prone to choose the enemy’s poison. I am so desperate for the power of the Holy Spirit to help to live the life of holiness and purity that I am unable to live apart from Him. I am so desperate to be a clean vessel that God can use whenever and however He sees fit.

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 20:41

Is there evidence for your awareness of the weakness of your flesh in how passionately, consistently, and desperately you seek the Lord in prayer?

3. MY ASSIGNMENT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

Never before have I been more aware of the enormity and impossibility of what God has called me to. Loving the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Loving others as I love myself. Loving my wife like Christ loves the Church. Turning a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. Causing spiritual truths to come alive and be received by physical eyes and ears. Making disciples of all nations baptizing and teaching them to obey all that God commanded. THESE TASKS ARE IMPOSSIBLE…in my own strength. That which God has called and commissioned me to do CANNOT and WILL NOT be accomplished apart from the power and presence of God at work in my life—to think otherwise would be delusional.

“Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:25-26

Is there evidence for your awareness of the impossibility of your assignment in how passionately, consistently, and desperately you seek the Lord in prayer?

4. MY ADVERSARY IS RELENTLESS.

Never before have I been more aware that the enemy is out to kill and destroy every purpose that God has for my life, and he will not back down. He wants to kill my intimacy with Jesus. He wants to kill my unity with my wife. He wants to kill my destiny on this earth. Every purpose that God had in mind for me when He knit me in my mother’s womb, the devil wants to destroy.

The devil desires to destroy my life and yours with distractions, temptations, unbelief in God, fear of man, and anything else that would cause us to lose sight of our King and the “good works” that God prepared in advance for us to do. We must be alert. The devil is not playing. The enemy will never stop trying to rob us of everything that is ours in Christ Jesus.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9

Is there evidence for your awareness of the relentlessness of the devil in how passionately, consistently, and desperately you seek the Lord in prayer?

5. MY GOD IS ABLE!

My gifts are limited. My flesh is weak. My assignment is impossible. My adversary is relentless. Yes, these things are all very true. But, the greater truth in my mind is—GOD IS ABLE. God is able to empower my gifts! God is able, by His Spirit, to help me overcome the desires of my flesh! God is able to complete the work that He began in and through me! God already has, through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, defeated the enemy! GOD IS ABLE.

The question for you and I is, “Are we seeking and beseeching the all-powerful, all-knowing, King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is more than able to do all that which we are incapable of doing?”

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Is there evidence for your awareness of the ability of God in how passionately, consistently, and desperately you seek the Lord in prayer?

Here’s the big idea. Until we seek the Lord more desperately in prayer, these 5 affirmations are, merely, words we believe in our heads rather than eternal truths that have landed on our hearts. LET. US. PRAY!