It all comes Down to Desire

Do you remember the episode in the Bible where the Disciples miserably failed in an attempt to deliver a demon possessed boy? Jesus accepted the challenge completed the task and moved on. Later his defeated emissaries asked the question that has been posed for centuries. “Why were we unsuccessful?” His response was “this kind only goes out by fasting and prayer.” He goes further to address their lack of faith which I believe addresses a much greater problem and that is “the lack of desire.” Notice how the writer of Hebrews describes the prayer life of Jesus. “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him (5:7 NLT). That doesn’t sound like the way most prayers are offered up by believers these days.  Mere listening causes us to confess that our praying often lacks passion, power, and productivity. We hear no pleading, no loud cries, and see no tears. Yet, if we are going to be successful, it requires that we fast and pray with unfettered desire. As E. M. Bounds expresses in his book, Man of Prayer;

        

        Desire gives fervor to prayer.  The soul cannot be listless when

        some great desire fixes and flames it . . .  Strong desires make

        strong prayers . . . The neglect of prayer is the fearful token on

        dead spiritual desires . . . There can be no true praying without

        desire. 

       

John Eldredge in his book Desire states, “We don’t pray like Jesus because we don’t allow ourselves to be nearly so alive. We don’t allow ourselves to feel how desperate our situation truly is. We sense that our desire will undo us if we let it rise up in all its fullness.” So what was Jesus saying to his disciples? Fasting and praying that impacts humanity and gets results is the kind where desire is at the optimum level.  It’s more than ritual or a seasonal exercise. It becomes our heartbeat. It becomes something we want to do rather than a task we are asked to do.  Ministry calls upon us to fulfill a variety of assignments.  However, like the disciples there will be those occasions when we will meet challenges that bring inevitable defeat unless we are filled with unquenchable desire. This desire will allow us to face every assignment without ever having to ask “why were we unsuccessful?”