Prayers For Help When You Are Desperate

It’s midnight, and you can’t sleep. You’ve been tossing and turning for hours, trying to make sense of everything that has gone wrong in your life. It feels like there is no hope left. You’re desperate for a way out, but you don’t know where to turn. You need prayers for help, but you can’t find the right words.

If that sounds like you, then this post is for you. In it, we will discuss the power of prayer when you are feeling desperate for God’s help. Don’t give up on Him – He won’t give up on you!

For Those Times When You Are Experiencing Desperation

We will spend quite a bit of time encouraging you on how to pray to get through this very difficult time. However, to begin with, let us call on Jesus for His great mercy in this example prayer. You may be fearful about the future or have a broken heart about something. Pray these words if you would like.

Dear Lord, I need your presence so very much. I’m so anxious. I’m fighting fear and I need to experience your love and grace right now. The scripture says that your Spirit is a very present help in our times of need. I’m asking that you be my refuge and give me hope and a sense of peace during this time. Even though my emotions may be out of control right now I know that you are fully trustworthy to carry me through and protect me. Please be the dearest comforter of my soul. I trust You.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

In times of desperation, heartache, or unbearable stress- be honest with God. He already knows what you are going through, so there is no need to try to hide anything. Tell Him how you feel, even if you are angry at Him, and ask for His help.

Don’t be afraid to pour out your heart to God. He can handle it – and He wants to hear from you.

Maybe that example prayer above during this time of trouble and maybe it helped bring you some peace. I don’t know. But let’s move on a little bit deeper and talk about how we can pray to our Savior and experience His wonderful and gentle love.

A Prayer for Help – How To Pray When You Are Desperate

When you are desperate and need to express a prayer of help to your Heavenly Father you don’t need to have exactly the right words. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us even when we feel like we don’t have the power to properly communicate the words in our own strength.

It is in these times of extreme trouble that we want to hold nothing in our lives back from God. We want to boldly pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, pleading for God’s strength and focusing on the true God of the Bible. Certainly, if you have been unfaithful to God and need to repent, then this is a great time to do it. And, certainly, if you have never asked God to forgive your sins and put your faith in Him, there is nothing greater that you could do! God loves you so much and will hear you.

Prayer For Help When You Experience Great trouble

There are those times when you circumstances seem as if nothing good could ever penetrate the wall of fear, sadness, betrayal, heartbreak, or loneliness that you are experiencing.

I’m talking about the times when no words, even from well-meaning friends or family members do not even move the needle in terms of your misery. You know that you need a prayer for help but you’re not even sure how to do so.

As I’ve been through so many years of life and ministry, I know that God allows (not causes) some people more pain than others. He allows some people to go through more periods of pain, stress, and unbearable circumstances and I don’t really understand why.

However, I know that He does. One day that cloudy veil of the unknown will be lifted and we will understand why we had to endure a bit of hell on earth. But until then, we do our best to trust him through the fire in which we walk. We may only have the strength to whisper a discouraged prayer to God in those times. Or, maybe we can be like Paul and Silas were in the book of Acts when they were thrown into a dark and damp prison.

Before we take a look at some other prayers, let’s take a quick look at this scripture from the Message paraphrase of the Bible:

The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’s clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape.

He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them. Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears.

Acts 16:22-2

I so much wish that I had the faith that these men had. I wish that I had the courage and strength that they did. I’m a believer. I love God. I know He’s real, but I’m not sure I have ever found myself in such discouraging circumstances as these and still singing. But that doesn’t mean that I or you can’t!

This story serves to tell us that we can have hope in the midst of our trials. We have a good Father who will hear us. He can provide us the faith that we need to carry through.

But how, just how – can we cry out to God in such desperation? How do we cry out to Him in such a way that will move Him to action to intervene in our pain and circumstances? Let’s trust God to help ua as we find that pathway of prayer together.

I want us to walk through five types of prayers and examples in which we can cry out in our pain and trust God to carry us through our most intense struggles.

Prayers for Help – “Confession” – Admitting your Desperation For God

Most everyone is well aware of the statement that the first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have one. If the burden that you carry today is so extremely great, you may not need that reminder.

However, you may need the reminder that Christ Jesus is the answer. If there is something that you need to confess or some area of your life you’re holding back why not do that now.

Your prayer may be something like this:

“Dear Jesus, I want to confess that I am desperate for You. I need You in my life like never before. I have been holding back from fully surrendering this area __________________ of my life to you and I want to give you everything now.

I’m sorry for my sins and I trust what Jesus did on the cross in order to forgive me. You are a faithful God and I give my life totally to you today. Amen.”

Prayers For Help – “Supplication” – Sincerely pleading

Supplication is just a big word for pleading with God to work in your circumstances. When you feel weak, when you need the Divine physician for emotional or physical pain, His grace is available. His peace is available.

Apply this prayer to your own circumstance, but it may be something like this:

“Dear Lord, I know that while we are living in this present world there will be struggles. I know that one day in Heaven you will ultimately answer all prayers when we are in your physical presence. I know that I have eternal life with You in my future.

But God, I hurt right now, I grieve today. Lord, I need peace that I know the world can’t give me right now. I know that it’s through what Jesus Christ did on the cross that my soul can experience His grace right now. And, Lord – I boldly, but very humbly ask for it. Please help me trust that you are in control and I ask that you settle my emotions and give me clarity of thought during this difficult time.

Please let Your Holy Spirit empower me, help me through this time, and bring me through it. I will give you the praise and glory for this. I pray in Jesus name, amen.”

Prayers for Help – “Prayer of Faith” – Demonstrating Your Trust

Hopefully, we have already prayed our prayers in faith. However, we want come to God specifically recognizing the truth of God’s help that he gives to our life. We want to acknowledge that He is a God how lives and exists in all power and glory!

Christians can rely on the truth of God’s word in our prayers and have confidence that the life, death, burial, and glorious resurrection of Jesus was real. We want to acknowledge that whatever God promises, He will deliver Let’s have faith in our heavenly Father that he will answer our prayers.

Sure, we want to pray all of our prayers in faith, but this one is to emphasize the faith and to encourage our heart as we pray:

“My Dear God, I know that you are God Most High, the Almighty and powerful One who spoke this world into being. Father, even though I am desperately troubled right now, I want to come to you in faith. I believe that you have begun answering even as I’m praying.

Father, I know that you are not just some story book character but are the real God of the Bible who comes to forgive and save those who call upon you. Lord, I want you to know that no matter how bad I feel right now, I believe that you are God and will work to bring peace and joy back into my life.”

Prayer of Intercession – Lifting Up Others Involved

This prayer may be the hardest to pray at times and at other times it might be the easiest to pray. Do we trust God enough to pray for those who may have had a part in causing us pain? We may not feel like it, but God does want us to be willing to even pray for those who hurt us.

“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”

Matthew 5:44

Or, it may be that you are in pain because a loved one or yours is hurting or you are possibly dealing with your own grief because of the passing of a loved one, or grieving because of a broken relationship. Either way, pray for others who also may be hurting as a part of the situation that is causing you pain.

As Christians, we know that we should lift up others who are in pain even when we are in deep pain ourselves.

It may go something like this:

“God, I ask you to work in the lives of anyone else involved in this situation. Lord, if there are those who are in grief, lift them up by Your Holy Spirit. Bring peace into the hearts of those who are suffering.

And Lord, if there are those that have caused me pain, I ask that you work in their lives also. If they have caused my pain or hurt, may you give me the grace to forgive them.

Lord, I know that there are many people – those that I know and those I do not know that are hurting and suffering as I am. As I humbly and strongly ask you to give me relief in my desperation, I ask that you would give them relief as well.“

Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Prayers for Help “Thanksgiving” – Thanking Him Even In The Midst Of Our Pain

This is a prayer that can be challenging. It’s simply because that it can be very hard to be thankful when we are in distress, we are hurting in some way, and especially when we are in desperate times.

There are three short Bible verses found in 1 Thessalonians that speak to this issue:

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Notice that the first verse said to always be joyful. It didn’t say happy. Happiness can be caused by outward circumstances, but the deepest sense of joy can be present in our heart of hearts even when we are desperately suffering. And we may not be feeling that joy at the time. But it’s in our spirit. That is only possible if we have the Lord as our Savior and know that Heaven will be our home.

“Never stop praying’ simply means to keep the communication lines open with God all the time. However, what we want to focus on in this final prayer is to “be thankful in all circumstances.”

So many times people want to know what God’s will for their life is. Well, here God plainly states it. I don’t think I have to remind you that you don’t have to be thankful for the trouble, for the pain, for the desperation and what caused it. However, you can – only by grace and faith – be thankful in and through the circumstances. You can be thankful that He is Lord and will never fail you even when your emotions say that He has.

Final Thoughts About Prayers for Help

The prayers above are just example prayers. You don’t have to pray all or any of those. You may have one prayer that includes many of those points.

Plus, those 5 prayers are not some kind of prayer formula. God is a God of truth and He understands the real heart of what you are praying even if the words don’t come out in some kind of precise order.

When you need help, cry out to Him. When you are crushed in spirit, cry out to Him. He is there.

One Final Word

When a child of God is emotionally wounded and cries out to God, does He hear them? Yes. However, even when circumstances may start to get better, emotions can be the last thing that calm. We don’t like it that way, but unfortunately it happens that way a lot.

Just remember, emotions do not equal to the truth. Always trust God over how you feel. Choose to believe how much He loves you and cares for you no matter how you feel,

And always know that you can cry out to Him for help in every situation.