{"id":733,"date":"2019-11-08T18:18:11","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T18:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/?p=733"},"modified":"2019-11-08T18:18:18","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T18:18:18","slug":"praying-when-life-is-desperate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/praying-when-life-is-desperate\/","title":{"rendered":"Praying when Life is Desperate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today I want to ask a tough question. What happens when life\nthrows us a curved ball and we find we can\u2019t cope anymore? How do we find God,\nhow do we connect with him, when life is desperate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9SX9O0KQYDU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Firstly, if you are in this place my heart goes out to you. I truly believe that our heavenly Father responds directly to the distress of his children, so in an instant God is with you. He will understand by his Holy Spirit that your distress has frozen your responses, he does not need you to pray, but if you find the strength to cry out to him, he longs to listen. It breaks his heart to see you in such trauma, so much so that he has already covered and restored that very hurt, through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus. Always try to remember that God is outside our time frame, he sees the beginning and the end, he sees your future and inheritance in Christ and your place in eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I can think of a few times in my life when I believe God has literally carried me through moments of extreme brokenness and suffering. He has, I believe, at these times held me together and taken all my weight upon himself to carry me. You may ask \u201chow do I know Jesus carried me\u201d? &nbsp;because I am here writing this today. The Holy Spirit is at work in us, around us and ahead of us so no matter how dark life feels. The Lord of love, truth and hope is with us. I\u2019m going to share with you three times in my life when I know this to have been true. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The first was a time of trauma suffered as a child. I did not pray, no one else knew to pray, so I just reacted and responded in a disjointed frozen way which became embedded in my soul. \u00a0Yet I can testify that the Holy Spirit led me through many dark times and placed so many people ahead of me that I eventually engaged in counselling and found freedom in my thirties. God uses us all to lead others through such darkness into light. I am so thankful for the faithfulness of those who helped me through this journey. <\/li><li>The second time was at the birth of my first child. Things were not going well for me or the baby during the labour and my husband and I were too distressed to pray. The Holy Spirit woke an old friend of mine at that precise time who did not know I was in labour and told her to pray. She prayed that I would have the strength to deliver the baby. I did, and he was OK, much to the surprise of the doctors and nurses. <\/li><li>Lastly, I had suffered a complication after childbirth that meant many years of pain, three procedures and one operation. I was anticipating a second operation hoping for healing, when I was prayed for by a gentle elderly lady at a church meeting and was healed instantly. I have had no pain for many years. I give this testimony tentatively as for six years I was prayed for but wasn\u2019t healed. I know many of you will find yourselves in a similar place, but I can see the ways in which God saw me through that dark time. He will carry you, and we are told we should never stop asking for healing, and I trust you will know this hope.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the grace of God, I pray that all those in a desperate place can feel loved and cared for by God, by friends and family and by their brothers and sisters in Christ. If you do feel alone in your suffering do seek out someone to speak with. Don\u2019t suffer alone, the church is the very hands and feet of Jesus.  Seek out the help you need. I thought I would share the following film \u201cTomorrow came\u201d. It is my song of testimony that I wrote with my husband. There are times when we feel that tomorrow won\u2019t come for us, but as you watch and draw near to God, as you seek out his people, there is new life and everlasting hope for you. I promise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Q-DjZelhH7o?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks for connecting with us today at Prayerscapes. Do you\nhave any encouraging stories of finding God in dark times? If so, please do\nwrite them down below. We\u2019d love to hear them. And until next time, may God\nhold you in the palm of His hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today I want to ask a tough question. What happens when life throws us a curved ball and we find we can\u2019t cope anymore? How do we find God, how do we connect with him, when life is desperate? Firstly, if you are in this place my heart goes out to you. I truly believe <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/praying-when-life-is-desperate\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[7,13,1],"tags":[11,3],"class_list":["post-733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","category-reflections","category-uncategorized","tag-film","tag-prayer"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lost_by_Julie_Palmer_600.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bKxI-bP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":122,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/finding-faith-in-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":0},"title":"Finding Faith in Prayer","date":"November 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes I feel it is pointless praying. At times, when faced with the terrible suffering of others or in desperate circumstances I struggle to string any words together to God. Yet it is in these times that prayer is the only place we can go, it is often all that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prayer&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Pile of Mustard Seeds","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/MG_mustard_seeds_600.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":66,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/prayer-connects\/","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":1},"title":"Prayer Connects","date":"April 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The poem in this film just poured out of me one night like a continuous stream of ideas, so I am a little uncertain even about attributing it to myself. Recently I have been involved in praying for a number of very serious situations, and coming alongside those who are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Prayer_Connects_Shuttle_600.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":681,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/4-tips-on-how-to-start-a-prayer-journal\/","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":2},"title":"4 Tips on How to Start a Prayer Journal","date":"October 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m going to be looking at prayer journals. I\u2019ve found them to be an amazing gift in my journey with God, and I wanted to share with you four ideas for them that I have found useful. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pjmQxroiXYQ&feature=youtu.be I have always prayed in this way, so my home is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prayer&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"journal with ink pen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/un_journal_600.jpg?fit=600%2C337&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":748,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/how-to-lead-an-opening-prayer-in-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":3},"title":"How to lead an opening prayer in church","date":"November 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m going to give you three pointers to help you when leading others in prayer. In many ways when leading a meeting it is more about who you are than what you say! This is not just true for meetings but for every time we congregate with others for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Reflections&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Praying Hands and Bible","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Praying_Hands_600.jpg?fit=600%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":767,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/how-to-hear-from-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":4},"title":"How To Hear From God","date":"January 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We all need vision. We all need to be able to look forwards and feel hope arise in our hearts. So if you are in a place where your vision has faded a little, where you are not sure of the next steps, or if you are finding it hard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prayer&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Dramatic sSunset in mountains","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/un_mountains_600.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":704,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/how-to-pray-at-night-bedtime-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":5},"title":"How to pray at night &#8211; bedtime prayers","date":"October 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m going to be sharing with you three things that I find really helpful to remember when I pray at bedtime. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VwIsbchElLI&feature=youtu.be Personally, I always try and pray to my Abba Father at night. I guess it evokes that security and protection you can feel as a child drifting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Woman peacefully asleep on bed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Sheltered_Julie_Palmer_600.jpg?fit=600%2C443&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":746,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions\/746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}