A Desperate Cry Brings Stronger Prayer
by Ellen Clodfelter
Has there ever been a time in your life where it feels like everything has been taken away from you? Where the road ahead of you is dark, and you feel like you are wandering around aimlessly? Have you ever had to stop, fall on your knees, and cry out to God? Have you ever had a time in your life where prayer is all you have left? I have several times.
There are a few women in the Bible that I can relate to: Rebekah, Hannah, and Rachel. We share something in common … we are childless, barren, and infertile. We have spent many hours on our knees crying and in prayer.
During prayer, Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife, Rebekah. Hannah wept bitterly while she prayed and asked for God to take away her misery. Rachel prayed for God to take away her shame. What I hear from the desperation in their prayers is pleading, weeping, and shame. I know this desperate cry.
While I don’t know your specific cry, I have often found myself in times of desperation and the only thing I have left is prayer. Whether your struggle is infertility, illness for yourself or someone close to you, loss of a loved one, failure, or something else, we have all cried desperate prayers at one time or another, “Lord, please take this away.”
I recently had the privilege to travel to Israel. I got to swim in the Dead Sea, hike to the top of Masada, walk the Via Dolorosa, and sit on the steps where Jesus preached outside the Temple in Jerusalem. My absolute favorite place was the time we spent in the Garden of Gethsemane. We got to sit down, ponder what Jesus had gone through, and pray.
The night before He died, Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew what lay ahead of Him, anguish, suffering, shame, and death. Even Jesus cried a desperate prayer as He fell to the ground, “My Father, if it is possible, do not give me this cup of suffering” (Matthew 26:38-39 ICB). Essentially, Jesus was crying out, “Lord, please take this away.”
Jesus was in so much anguish that night that He sweat blood. Jesus knew that he would suffer at the hands of the Romans. He knew that the shame of the world would be on His shoulders, and He would die for our sins.
But did Jesus’ prayer end with, “Lord, take this away.” No, Jesus finished with “not my will but yours.” So, from today on, when I pray, plead, weep, and maybe even sit in silence during my prayers… I will end it with “Not my will but yours.” For God’s plan for me is always so much bigger than mine. I’m so glad that God did not stop at leaving Jesus on the cross. No, his plan was so much bigger than that.
Desperate cries will lead to stronger prayers.
