The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Sample

Desperate Prayer

There have been times in my life when I have cried out to God in desperation.

I remember so well my desperate prayer for a baby called Craig. I had been asked to visit a woman in the Brompton Hospital. Vivienne was in her thirties, had three children and was pregnant with a fourth. Her third child, who was a child with Down’s syndrome, had a hole in his heart that had been operated on. The operation had not been a success and, not unnaturally, the medical staff wanted to turn the machines off. Three times they asked Vivienne if they could turn the machines off and let the baby die. She said no, as she wanted to try one last thing. She wanted someone to pray for him. So I went.

Craig had tubes all over him and his body was bruised and swollen. She said that the doctors had indicated that even if he recovered he would have brain damage because his heart had stopped for such a long time. She told me she didn’t believe in God but she said, ‘Will you pray?’

I prayed in the name of Jesus for God to heal him. Then I explained to her how she could give her life to Jesus Christ and she did that. I left, but returned two days later. Vivienne came running out the moment she saw me. She said, ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you; something amazing has happened. The night after you prayed he completely turned the corner. He has recovered.’ Within a few days Craig had gone home.

About six months later I was in the lift in another hospital and saw a mother and child whom I did not immediately recognise. The woman said, ‘Are you Nicky?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ She said, ‘This is the little boy you prayed for. It is amazing. Not only has he recovered from the operation, but his hearing, which was bad beforehand, is better.’

Since then I have taken two funerals for other members of that family. At each of them people have come up to me, none of them churchgoers, saying, ‘You were the person who prayed for Craig to be healed and God healed him.’ They all believe that God healed him, because they knew that he was dying. The change in Vivienne had also made a deep impression on them. She went around all her relatives and friends saying, ‘I didn’t believe, but now I do believe.’  

In each of the passages for today we see desperate prayers of people crying out (Psalm 57:2, Judges 4:3) or even begging (John 4:47) for God to intervene. 

Psalm 57:1-6

1. Desperate for mercy

Have you ever cried out to God for mercy? I certainly have, several times. David cried out ‘to God Most High’ (v.2). He prayed, ‘Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me’ (v.1a).

There is one type of prayer for mercy that God always answers. That is the prayer for forgiveness through Jesus. Through his death on the cross, Jesus has made it possible that ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (Romans 10:13).

The context for David’s prayer for mercy is probably when he had fled from Saul and into the cave (see 1 Samuel 22; 24). He cried out to God, and God heard and answered his prayer. David says, ‘I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfils his purpose for me’ (Psalm 57:2).

God has a purpose for your life. David knew that God had a purpose for his life and that he would fulfil that purpose. Our task is to, like David, respond to God’s call and obey him.

‘Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings … I cry out to [you]’ (vv.1–2a). Thank you that you promise to fulfil your purpose for me (v.2b). Thank you for your love and your faithfulness (v.3).

John 4:43-5:15

2. Desperate for healing

There are times in our lives when we are desperate for healing – either for others, or for ourselves. In this life our prayers for healing will not always be answered. Unanswered prayer can be a difficult and painful thing to wrestle with (my friend Pete Greig has written an excellent book on this subject called God on Mute). As we saw in today’s introduction though, sometimes God does intervene miraculously to bring healing. We see here two examples of this, both coming about as a result of desperate prayer:

• Healing for others
  The royal official begged Jesus to heal his son (v.47), who was on the brink of death.

‘Jesus put him off: “Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe” ’ (v.48, MSG). But the official would not be put off: ‘Come down! It’s life or death for my son’ (v.49, MSG).

Jesus responded to the man’s faith. The man believed that if Jesus came he could heal his son. Jesus asked him to go one step further and believe that his words from miles away could heal his son. The man did believe. And Jesus performed the miracle – he heard the man’s desperate prayer and healed his son. As a result, his whole household believed (v.53).

• Healing for ourselves
  Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years (5:5). He must have been desperate. He had been putting his hope in the healing powers of the waters of Bethesda, which would bubble up periodically, and it was thought that the first person in after the waters bubbled up would be healed. But this man had no one to help him get in first (v.7).

Joyce Meyer writes of this incident that, in effect, Jesus said to the man: ‘Don’t just lie there, do something!’ She continues: ‘Self-pity is a major problem. I know, because I have lived in self-pity for many years. It affected me, my family and the plan of God for my life. God finally told me that I could be pitiful or I could be powerful, but I could not be both. If I wanted to be powerful, I had to give up self-pity.

‘Being sexually abused for approximately fifteen years and growing up in a dysfunctional home left me lacking confidence and filled with shame. I wanted to have good things in my life, but I was stuck in emotional torment and despair.

‘Like the man in John 5, Jesus did not give me pity either. Jesus was actually very firm with me and He applied a lot of tough love, but His refusal to let me wallow in self-pity was a turning point in my life. I am not in the pit any longer. I now have a great life. If you will reject self-pity, actively look to God and do what He instructs you to do, you can have a great life too.’

Thank you, Lord, that you hear my prayers for healing. Thank you that you have miraculously healed me in the past. Lord, today I cry out to you for healing for …

John 4:43-5:15

3. Desperate for leadership

Everything rises and falls on leadership. If a business is well led it tends to do well. If a church is well led it usually flourishes. If a nation is well led it will most often prosper.

After Sisera had ‘cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help’ (4:3). It is not surprising that their prayer was desperate. Sisera’s mother looked out of the window waiting for Sisera to return. She cried out, ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a woman or two for each man’ (5:30). We get a hint here of how Sisera treated the people of God.

In answer to their desperate prayer God raised up an outstanding leader. Deborah was both a spiritual leader (a ‘prophetess’) and also a political leader. She was ‘leading Israel at that time’ (4:4). She was a charismatic leader whose presence was so valued that Barak says to her, ‘If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go’ (v.8).

Interestingly, it is another woman, Jael, who finally finishes off Israel’s oppressor (v.21).

Both men and women can make outstanding leaders. What matters is not gender but that leaders actively lead: ‘When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves – praise the Lord!’ (5:2,9).

Deborah and Barak gave God the glory (vv.1–5). Again, Joyce Meyer points out that God ‘chooses to use and promote those who know they are nothing without him and who give him the glory and the credit for all their accomplishments. Every time you have a success in your life, remember to give God the glory.’

The way in which God answered the desperate prayer of his people was to raise up wise and humble leadership. As a result, ‘the land had peace for forty years’ (v.31c).

Deborah prayed that those who loved the Lord would be ‘like the sun when it rises in its strength’ (v.31b).

Lord, I pray today that we would be ‘like the sun when it rises in its strength’ (v.31b). May we bring light in a dark world; may we show people the way. Help us to bring warmth and energy, and to be strong, bold and fearless as the sun.

Pippa Adds

Judges 4:1–5:31

Leader of the nation, judge, prophetess, prayer warrior, songwriter, worship leader, wife and mother. Deborah was an awesome role model! Who said the Bible is against women in leadership?

Notes:

Joyce Meyer, The Everyday Life Bible, (Faithwords, 2013)

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.