A Prayer When You’re Desperate for Rescue
By: Jessica Van Roekel
Bible Reading: “In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” - Psalm 22:4-5
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I wondered if the month would ever end because it was day after day of difficulties. Then, I remembered the Apostle Paul. He dealt with challenges in his ministry and struggled with anxiousness in his heart. It encouraged me by reminding me I wasn’t alone in my distress. Even though it helped, what I really wanted was to be rescued. I wanted someone to swoop into my life to whisk me away to a lakeside cabin in the woods. Instead, I faced another despairing day.
We can look to the Psalms to find deep expressions of anguish and despair, but we also find exquisite joy and trust. Within Psalm 22 we hear the cry of agony and grief from a godly person who has not yet been freed of suffering, which many of us can relate to on a personal level. Suffering is the part of life we don’t like to address and too many Christian leaders spread the false message that we shouldn’t suffer. But if we are to be like Christ, then we must walk through suffering when it comes to us.
When we trust God, he delivers; when we cry out, he rescues. Maybe he doesn’t remove us from our suffering, but he delivers us from the despair it creates instead. When we cry out to him, he rescues us from hopelessness rather than eliminating the suffering that causes our agony. The challenges we face can create a desperate sense of isolation, but God stays present with us, reminding us we are not alone.
David, the writer of this Psalm, remembered how God answered and delivered people many times and used those memories to encourage his heart when he felt deep isolation. Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Later, he faced the reality of his age regarding the promise of a son but still chose to live by faith. His rescue from his desperate circumstances came from the gift of faith from God.
We might be desperate for rescue because we feel crushed by our circumstances. God whispers to trust him and cry out to him because he promises to deliver and to rescue. He hears our cry, and we can know from Psalms 106:44, “Yet he took note of their distress when he heard their cry. God strengthens our hearts when we desperately cry out for mercy."
The Hebrew term for delivered is to bring into security. Imagine God taking your insecure heart and bringing you to a place of security while in the middle of your hard. That’s the kind of deliverance we can count on. To be rescued is God providing us an escape. We can recognize the difficulties in our reality but escape from the pressure of them when we turn to God and receive his peace and joy.
Let’s Pray:
Holy God,
We need you, Lord. We’re not sure we can take another step under the weight of this burden. We feel crushed and perplexed by what we are experiencing. Deliver us, O God. Rescue us, O Lord. Thank you for meeting us in the middle of our hard times. Thank you for never leaving us nor forsaking us, but always being by our side. We cling to you. We trust you to carry us through.
It is by your hand we find the victory we long for—whether you take us out of the storm or strengthen us within the storm—help us to hold on tight to you. Let us remember how you delivered the Israelites on the banks of the Red Sea when “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again,’” (Exodus 14:13, NIV). You invited them to trust you just as you invite us to cry out to you.
Bring us into a place of security. We place our trust in you and lean on your goodness and kindness. We trust you to rescue us.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Antonio_Diaz
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Originally published Thursday, 30 January 2025.
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