Desperate prayer is probably the most important element needed when making a tough decision. God’s Word says, “Ye shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart.”[1] Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.[2] In other words, we are to be desperate or whole-hearted. Jesus also said, “Seek and you shall find.”[3] God has promised in His Word to hear our cry and answer when we call upon Him with whole heart. Hold God to his Word. Claim His promises. He says “Call upon Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.”[4]
Sometimes fasting food and or television or anything else which might hinder your concentration may be helpful. Never doubt for a moment that God will answer. Be desperate for His answer and guidance and you won’t be disappointed. His Word says, “Before they call, I will answer and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”[5]
Another aspect of getting answers in prayer when making decisions is to get your own will out of the way and ask God to show you His will. Because in the end, that’s what you are really trying to find, God’s will for you. Paul admonishes us to ask God to transform our minds so we can find that good and perfect will of God.[6] Reading God’s Word can be a big help in moments like this. It can have a cleansing affect and help lift the fog we often have when we are trying to make a difficult decision. God can even speak to you through His Word showing what decision is the best one.
I have found in my own life that once I commit something to the Lord in prayer it helps me to trust that whatever happens is within His will and He is in control even if I cannot see it.
An example of desperation from my own life happened in my last year of High School. To my dismay, the Vietnam Draft Lottery gave me a low number and the certainty of being drafted after my studies were finished. My next four years of college were not fun and parties like many of my friends. The States was in the midst of a reaction against the war. When my college days were up, what would and what should I do? Should I go in and do my duty like the Catholic Priest and Protestant Minister with whom I had asked council suggested? Should I go to Mexico or Canada like many young men were doing? What was the right action I should take?
Not having the answers, I started searching for them in books, magazines, and journals. Even though I was an agnostic at the time, I wanted to do what I felt was morally right. I was against the war. Joining the army was out of the question even though some encouraged me to go in as a conscientious objector. But for me it was a compromise. I wanted not to be killed or to kill or to help the war in any way. I read many books and articles to strengthen my conviction against the war. Finally, the words of Jesus from the New Testament gave me the conviction that I needed. I would resist the draft and face the consequences whatever they would be.
When my mother called me in November 1971 explaining how the FBI had been to our home to arrest me and had talked with our neighbors, I got down on my knees and cried out to God with all my heart, soul and mind. “God, if you exist, please help me.” Two weeks later, I picked up two hitchhikers who led me in a simple prayer to accept Jesus as my Savior and thus began my new life as a Child of God. I didn’t join the military. I didn’t go to jail. I dedicated my life to God and have been serving Him in some form or the other for the past forty-five years. God heard my prayers and He will hear yours also, if you call upon Him with all your heart. Have desperate prayer and you won’t be disappointed.
1. Jeremiah 29:13
2. Matthew 22:37
3. Matthew 7:7
4. Jeremiah 33:3
5. Isaiah 65:24
6. Romans 12:2
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