What comes to mind when you hear the word desperation?  

A desperate or dire situation, one without hope?

For instance the desperation we see in the nation of Haiti. 

Perhaps we think of a person in serious need, someone who is struggling just to get by, or an individual who is fighting for their life battling a serious illness. 

Generally the word desperation implies a situation that is beyond our control, beyond our ability to fix, mend, repair, or make right. As human beings there are few things in our lives that we fear more than those in which we cannot control. 

In our minds desperation often suggests weakness, which Webster defines as “an inadequate or defective quality” 

Oh how we strive to be inadequate and defective in our lives. 

However when it comes to our relationship with God, being desperate and vulnerable before Him is exactly where we need to be. 

The word Desperate/Desperation is defined as 

1. Having an urgent need or desire

We probably don’t have to look too far behind us to remember a time in which we had an urgent need or desire. It is all too natural for us to try and find the answers ourselves, but the beauty of being truly desperate is knowing that He is the only solution.  

A great example of this is found 2 Samuel, when we find David in the midst of a greater need than we have likely ever experienced. On the run and in danger of losing his life David wrote 

Psalm 3:3-4  “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the lifter of my head, I cried aloud to the Lord, And He answered me from his holy hill.” 

2. Reckless or Dangerous because of despair or urgency

The state of the church and Christians in general is ineffective as a whole. We have grown comfortable in our walk with God, in our call as believers, and our position in the Kingdom.

We have failed to identify the urgency in the time we live in and the despair of the world around us. 

It is time for us as believers to become reckless and dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. Not by our own strength but though His.   

“When King Jehoshaphat prepared for battle, he took the position of getting on his face to worship God. That is the true position of warfare”

–Pastor Bobbi Veach  

3. Ultimate effort, giving all

When we truly become desperate we position ourselves to be used most effectively for God.  True desperation brings true worship, it is in that place we are able to give our all. 

Psalm 84:2  "My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." 

-Sam Edwards