I’ve been there. You’ve been there.

It is a desperate place, and it’s here that we fall instinctively to our knees.

There is no other place to go.

There is no other option–yet it’s the first option and most obvious one.

From the depths of my soul, I call out and,

HE.HEARS.

HE.KNOWS.

In my last post, I told of a time that I was in an airport parking garage with three littles, “Feeling Lost“.  For whatever reason, I failed to ask anyone to help me–but I did ask God for a clear mind, and my desperate prayer gave me the peace I needed to focus.

Because I knew that I was not truly alone.

HE.WAS.WITH.ME.

When the doctors wisked my father back into surgery in a life-threatening situation, I begged for mercy. I cried for help.

And He was there.

When the phone call came that my brother and sister-in-law were being care-flighted after a serious jeep accident, He met me there.  As I fell to my knees on the bedroom floor–He reminded me that He is a God who heals.

And again, when the doctor made a house call to tell us that our teenage son had a tumor on his skull.

He was there.  When I felt helpless, He filled me with hope.

In Hawaii, when my baby girl’s life was threatened by a serious physical condition that also threatened to take the life of our unborn grandson, you can be sure I cried out in desperation–right where I was:  Busch Stadium.  I didn’t care where I was, I just knew I needed to get in His presence.

And He surrounded me.  Right where I was.  He reminded me that even though I was far away from her, He was not.

When my daughter and son-in-law and one-year old grandbaby got on a plane bound for Madagascar–it would be three long years before they could ever return.

Desperate moments demand desperate prayers.

And it’s then that He reminds me that He is the God of the universe.  He would be in Madagascar waiting for their arrival.

This week, the desperate prayer for a miracle came full circle.  We prayed a “Hezekiah prayer”, asking for 15 more years for a godly man that had suffered a heart attack. (You can read about Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20)  Knowing full well that God could heal him, we prayed boldly.  Fervently.  Desperately.

And He answered.

Just not in the way we were hoping.  The miracle came when, because he had trusted Jesus to save him, He was ushered into a heavenly kingdom.  The miracle of eternity is that he didn’t just get 15 more years–he gets to spend an eternity in a place called heaven.  A place that we can only imagine from here.  No more pain.  No more suffering.  No more heartache.

And Jesus.

The One who died and rose again.  The One who provided a way.  The One who welcomes us home.

You see, desperate prayer isn’t just begging God to change a situation.  Not really.  It’s begging Him to change us.  We know He can and sometimes does intervene to bring a miracle.

The greatest miracle is the one He does in us.

When we call out to Him, He brings comfort and peace and perspective.

True wisdom is when we are able to see things as God sees them.  Our focus is often short-sighted and limited.  He wants us to see life from His perspective–in light of eternity.

“This life is only a short dash between two dates on a tombstone.  It’s not the first date that matters, or the last date, really.  What matters is what you do with that short dash in between the two.” ~~Doug Munton

Truth is, we desperately need prayer on the good days as well as the difficult ones.

Our prayer may not always be desperate,

but our need for prayer is…