DESPERATE PRAYERS

We all have them...those moments when we don't know which end is up.

Parenting is a great set up for desperate prayers.

 

Sometimes people will ask me what I do when I feel overwhelmed or how I cope with the inevitable stressors of life as a mom of a large family. The truth is I absolutely LOVE this life! Even when it's hard and really hard, I still LOVE it. I choose to LOVE it.
I really, really LOVE being a mom and I believe that comes from God. But, there are moments in the midst of those days where I find myself at a loss. Nothing is getting through. I seem to be failing. They seem to be spiraling. What's a desperate mom to do?

 

Pray desperate prayers.

 

"Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.'"

Matthew 11:28

 

On such days, I pray the kind of prayers where tears spill and hands clasp firm and time lingers while words gape out endlessly, wafting up to heaven's heart. I gather my children around me because the reality is I want them close. I draw them near when the going gets rough and I work intentionally to NOT push them away. Then we pray. I pray. I cry out to God in the presence of my children and I pray for them individually, as a group, and for myself vulnerable and their father. I don't sugar coat. I don't calculate each word. I just dump my heart out to the only One who CAN change things I can't and I beg Him to help us all.

 

Desperate prayers.

 

They lead us to the cross. They give us time to mellow out and calm down. They give us an opportunity to rest and saturate in the power of the Holy Spirit who can infuse hearts and change attitudes and lives. Prayer changes things. God changes things.

 

Desperate prayers like the Psalmist prayed don't ruffle the feathers of our great Father God. He can take it, after all. He hides us in the shadow of His wing. He takes us in and understands. He forgives us and sent His son to die to that end. He LOVES us with inconceivable LOVE even when we have failed. I want to parent like that. I want to pray to be like that. I want to pray
desperate prayers and believe, by faith and grace, that God will listen and respond. He does. He's for us.

 

 "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31

 

Desperate prayers.

 

I'll never stop. I don't foresee a time in my future where there won't be something to cry out to God about. That's just not the life I'm signed up for. It's good to be desperate for God. How dreadful to find myself sufficient and without need of my Savior.

No, that's not for me. But, desperate prayers...they are. They lead me to the Rock that is higher than I and set my feet upon a firm Foundation, One that I can trust. They teach my children Who to turn to when they feel desperate too...and they will.

 

Desperate prayers.

How beautiful to serve and love a God who's listening and cares. We cast our burdens and anxieties
on Him and wait in expectation as He intervenes. He always does. He is beyond faithful!

 

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7
 

So, here's to prayer and desperate prayers as well. By God's grace, may we fall into the arms of the Savior and seek Him when we stumble, sin, and slip. He picks us up, dusts us off, reminds us of His unending LOVE and concern for us. He is able to transform hearts in submission to His will and I want my heart to be like that...dependently full of hopeful, desperate prayers.

 

Thank you, Lord, for being so good!

"Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!"
Psalm 106:1