Louie Giglio - Desperate For God
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This new collection that we’re in is called «Desperate.» And I think obviously that’s what we are. I was speaking at a camp in Durango, Colorado a few years back. I was taking a commuter flight from Denver over the Rockies to Durango, and I had already been told this particular flight is troublesome. It’s rocky. The way the air currents work on the flight path we have to take to go to Durango, there’s usually a lot of turbulence on this flight.
So, I was already mentally prepared for that. But somewhere above the Rockies, we lost pressure in this commuter plane. The pilot immediately went into a maneuver to get the plane to a lower altitude. The oxygen masks came down, and people put them on. They stretched the thing. The air did start flowing, and people began breathing because we were in a nose dive to get to a lower altitude. I heard more people pray out loud and boldly in that moment than I have sometimes heard pray in this church. When we say, «Oh no, let’s pray out loud. Let’s let them hear our prayer. Let’s let heaven hear our prayer,» in our house, no, these people were like, «Dear God,» it was desperate.
And I want us to be a desperate people, not as a reaction to anything that’s happening in our circumstances, but desperate as a spiritual act of worship. We want to be a people who are earnestly praying for and believing in a move of God that will sweep our land with supernatural power to open the eyes of multitudes to see and savor Jesus. This is not a new idea; this is church. On day one in Acts 2, after the Holy Spirit came, after the gospel was proclaimed, after 3,000 people got saved, the church was born.
Can you imagine how that must have felt? Wind, sound of wind, Holy Spirit, gospel proclamation — 3,000 people get saved on day one, and bam, the church is born. How was your day? It was all right. And when the church was born, we know what it was about because Luke recorded it for us in verse 42 of Acts 2. They devoted themselves. This is the 3,000 plus those who were in the upper room. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship.
Now, just parenthetically, this is church. Not that you devote yourself to my teaching because we’re all still devoting ourselves to the apostles' teaching. We have the apostles' teaching and the teaching of Jesus himself right here. We don’t need some new person to roll in and say, «And on top of that, you’re not going to believe what I have to say.» So, we’re still devoting ourselves to the apostles' teaching, but look what else we’re doing. We’re devoting ourselves to fellowship. In other words, we are leaning into the community of faith. We’re not attending something; we’re devoting ourselves to a brotherhood and a sisterhood, a family. And that family has community.
The third thing is the breaking of bread. In other words, we’re in each other’s lives. We’re not just in an auditorium or on a town stage. We’re in each other’s lives. We’re not just in Sunday gatherings; we’re in fellowship, and we know each other, and we walk with each other, and we break bread together. But then there’s a fourth thing that almost gets left out: prayer. On day one, prayer was not an appendage of the church; it was an artery of the church. A few pages later, after these guys get arrested and are hauled in before the authorities, they’re threatened with their lives to not proclaim Jesus. They get released and return back to the fellowship. And what do they do when they get back to the fellowship? They pray. And when they pray, the place where they’re meeting is shaken. And then they move out again. That’s because prayer is a part of church. And I might offer today, it is the heart of the church.
Leading up to Above and Beyond Sunday, we had 30 hours of prayer. Over five days, our church came together; people entered a space together to say, «God, we want you, and we need you.» And I want to say today on behalf of our team that wasn’t all of it. That was just a step toward us being a house devoted to prayer. You’ll hear more about that at the end of this today and in the weeks to come. But I want to say three things about prayer today, and I want us to wrap our hearts around these together.
The first one is this: prayer is a posture of the heart. When we say prayer, I know that most of our minds immediately go to saying things to God, words. And that is prayer. Jesus said, «And when you pray, pray like this: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.» So, prayer is words to God. But I want to offer today that more than words to God, prayer is a posture of the heart. It’s a posture of life.
If we’re not a praying person — if you’re not a praying person or we’re not praying people — let me just say it personally. If you’re not a praying person, then your posture toward God is, «I’m good. Until I’m not good.» And when I’m not good, I will pray some more. But up until when I’m not good, I’m good. We want the posture of our heart to be, «I’m not good. I just got a raise, and I’m still not good. Kids seemingly off the rails, and I’m still not good. Situation worked out, and I’m still not good. Moved into the new house, and I’m still not good. Seems like it’s a peaceful season, and I’m still not good.» Because I was created with a hunger for God. And I want you, and I need you, and I can’t live without you. That is a posture of the heart. It is a posture of hunger, a posture of humility, a posture of desperation, and a posture of desire for God.
David wrote it this way in Psalm 63: «You, God, are my God; earnestly, I seek you. I thirst for you; my whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory because your love is better than life. My lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name, I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods. With singing lips, my mouth will praise you. On my bed, I remember you. I think of you through the watches of the night because you are my help; I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.» That’s a posture. That’s not just words. That’s a heart that says, «I am humble.» It’s a heart that says, «I am hungry.» It’s a heart that says, «I am desperate.» And it’s a heart that says, «Among all these other good things, my desire is for you.»
The second thing I want us to see about prayer is that it’s an essential component of our victory. You know, I know just backing up for a second that when times are tough, people are going to pray. We all are like that. God wants to answer our prayers. I don’t need to wrap all this in big context; of course, God wants us to ask, «Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. Ask, and it will be given to you.» Of course, God wants to meet our needs, and of course, He wants to hear our cry. But ultimately, what God wants is a relationship with you.
Our life with Him can become like a drive-thru at a quick-service restaurant where we’re so annoyed because when we pulled in there were two cars in front of us. Oh, but thank goodness there are two lanes! So, I’m going to cut the guy off over here to get in this lane so I don’t have to wait for the two cars in front of me. When I pulled up to the thing, it took so long that it took 20 seconds before anyone said anything. «May I help you?» I’m like, «Yeah, where you been?» I ordered, pulled up, and had to wait. It was somewhere in the neighborhood of two minutes and 16 seconds before they gave me my stuff. I’m just sitting there for two minutes: thank you, that straw out, you know, grab the sandwich!
Does anybody remember did anybody’s grandma cook? Does anybody remember those days when you sat in the kitchen? Did anybody do this? No. All the young people were like, «No, grandma was the one honking the horn in the drive-thru.» Does anyone remember your mom or your grandmom or somebody cooking, and you sat in the kitchen? Did anybody? Hello! She’s making a whatever, and you’re watching her, and she said, «Here, stir this.» You talked, she told you a story, and you told her a story, and she reminded you of Aunt So- and-So, and a couple of hours later, you sat down to eat the food, but that wasn’t the takeaway. The takeaway was the relationship.
We have way too many people going through drive-thrus, speaking their prayers into the little box, hoping some answers come out the window — very little intimacy and relationship developing. Prayer is a posture that says, «I do want to eat, and I would like to get the sandwich, but I really wouldn’t mind spending some time with the cook.»
The second thing, um, that’s how you go back and put the thing back with the other point when you forgot to do it before you went to the second thing. In case you’re trying to learn, the second thing is that prayer is an essential component of our victory. It’s how we fight. Paul said in Ephesians 6, «Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.» Amen. Can we all say this together? Every location, whether you’re at home or in a car or on a walk, let’s say it together: «For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.»
I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to help me just go to the next verse right here. Please, please, God, help us. We’re not fighting people. We’re not fighting people. Oh, we are fighting people, but we’re fighting with prayer, with faithful lives, with character. We’re not fighting people. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers… what rulers? He’s going to explain it. Against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This is what’s going on around you. There is a spiritual war going on around you right now. And if you’re uncomfortable with demons and darkness, you need to wake up because you are in a spiritual war. We are in a spiritual battle.
None of us has a blueprint to say, «Oh, here’s exactly what’s happening in Lawrenceville today or in Marietta today or at Peachtree City today.» But there are authorities in the darkness for every region, for every city, for every area. There are rulers and principalities and authorities somehow orchestrating evil in this world. There’s one Satan, but he’s got a whole team of people. That’s who our struggle is against: not flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
And I’m telling you, Jesus said it: the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Therefore, this should be maybe the most important word in your Bible today. Okay, so what do I do about it? Here’s what you do: put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you’ve done everything, stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And if that’s not enough, pray. This is how we fight — and pray.
How do you pray? Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me that whenever I speak — now remember, Paul is in jail when he’s writing this. He has been arrested when he’s writing this. He’s in chains when he writes this. Pray also for me that whenever I speak in jail, to the prisoners, to the guard, in this dark circumstance, whatever I speak, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.
Paul — that same Paul — wrote in 2 Corinthians 10, «For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.» Amen. So when the world fights a certain way, we don’t go, «Well, watch us then.» We go, «Yeah, we don’t fight that way. We are not of the world, and we don’t fight like the world.» The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
How do we do that? We do that through prayer. We do that through understanding that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. We do that by understanding that in the name of Jesus, by the blood of Christ, and the word of our testimony, by our acts of faith and our confession of faith, by speaking Jesus' name into the authorities, into the rulers, into the darkness, into this spiritual world around us and walking in faith in His mighty name so that we can tear down arguments that want to come against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Our weapons demolish strongholds, and that doesn’t happen unless we pray.
The third thing I want us to see about prayer is that prayer is where we replace fear with faith. Have you noticed that fear has come knocking at your door? Praise God that we’re in a house of faith today and not in a house of fear. And praise God that we came to worship a God who is able today, not a God who is weak. This exchange happens not when we sort of buckle down and say, «I’m not going to be afraid. I’m not going to be afraid. I’m not going to be afraid. I’m not going to be afraid.» This exchange happens when we lift our eyes up and find a sovereign God in view. Again, Paul — this same Paul — wrote these words, «Do not be anxious about anything.»
Now, that sounds like a little bumper sticker faith until you apply it to a moment like the one we’re living in now. «How in the world could I be anxious for nothing?» Well, he tells us, «But in every situation by prayer and petition, and don’t forget God’s faithfulness, present your requests to God.» In other words, if we make it into that space with the God of the ages and we bring all of the things that are troubling us to a sovereign God, then in that moment, something happens. What happens? The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Now, the way this translation works, it really is speaking this way: the peace of God will stand guard at your heart and mind. God’s peace will stand as a sentry saying, «No, you’re not coming into his heart. No, you’re not coming into her mind. That thought’s not coming into her mind. That thought’s not coming into his mind. That fear is not coming into her heart. It’s not coming into his heart.» Why? Because they have brought what was troubling them to their sovereign God. In the confidence of knowing that He sees what’s troubling me, but I see that nothing’s troubling Him, peace comes into my life.
David wrote it in a way that all of us know, but I want to read the words and not just say, «Yeah, we all kind of know them,» because we’re living in it. He said, «The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters; He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because I’m so strong.» No. What does it say?» For you are with me.»
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. You’re with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a powerful phrase: I will fear no evil.
Listen, I’m telling you, I’ve been shaken up this week. I’m not Superman, but I’m coming through this week saying, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. I certainly don’t fear death. Not one shred of fear of death. But I want to come through these days and say, «And I don’t fear evil.» I’m staring right at it. I know that this spiritual war is real. But I don’t fear it because you are with me. Help me, God, not to be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving to present my request to you so that your peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and guard my mind in Christ Jesus.
Prayer is posture. Prayer is an essential component of our victory. Prayer is where we replace fear with faith. The antidote to fear is not courage; the antidote to fear is faith. I believe God is greater. So you’ll hear more about this, but I want to lead our house — our team wants to lead our house — to become a place devoted to prayer. And on September 30th, a few Tuesdays from now, from 7:00 in the morning to 7:00 p.m., we’re going to come together to pray. At this juncture, it will be at a location and not at every location. Geographically, that would be very challenging for somebody. I’m sure it will not be streamed online. It is a come and be in the room moment.
You can come for 10 minutes; you can come for 10 hours. There will be some of it that’s led. We’ll talk about this in the weeks to come. Some of it will be guided by our team, but there will be a lot of it where you’re just with God. There will be some prompts on the screen, maybe some worship music playing in the space, but it’s you and God. Bring a journal. Bring your Bible. Come with an open heart. You don’t need someone to say, «And the next thing we’re going to do is this.» You can just come and sit or stand or kneel. You can find a place where you want to be and just be, saying, «I just want to sit with God. I want to be with God. I want to hear from God.»
I want to invite our house to be a part. I would love to think that we are creating a scenario where there just wouldn’t be room for everybody to get into one place, and we’d be like, «Why do we do that?» I’d like to think someone with a little window of time around lunch would say, «I can only be there for eight minutes if I drive there and then have to drive back, but I’m going to be there for eight minutes.» Or if it starts at 7:00, I don’t have to be anywhere until 8:15, so I can be there. Or I get off work at 4:45, and it goes to 7:00. I’m going to tell my family, «Hey, there’s food in the pantry. Good luck. I want to be there. I want to be a part of a house devoted to prayer.»
And I say all that light-heartedly. Someone might not be able to make it on September 30th, but there will be more September 30ths coming, trust me. I want us to be a people that say, «What if Passion City Church meets? Well, we gather here, here, and here on Sundays, but on these days, we pray. Our house comes to say we want you, God, and we want a move of God. We are desperate for a move of God.»