The Prayer for an Unmet Need

from Patrick Morley

Volume 287
July 7, 2008

I was just telling a dear friend that I was feeling kind of puny because of so many unmet needs.

Many years ago I read in 1 Timothy 5:5, “The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.”

I remember thinking, Wow! That’s what I want in my life—“to put my hope in God alone and continually pray to Him for help.”

So I did it…I prayed the prayer for an unmet need—I asked God to always keep some unmet need in my life so that I would remain utterly dependent upon Him.

As the old saying goes, “Be careful what you pray for.” For the 20 or so years since I prayed the prayer, God has been faithful….He has always kept some major unmet need in my life.

Sometimes, to be honest, it really hurts. Sometimes I think, Man, I wish wouldn’t have prayed that prayer!

But the big picture is now clear: God has graciously kept me from getting what I wanted. In my honest moments, I realize that if I had gotten what I wanted, it would have destroyed me.

It’s not for everyone, but you or some of your men may be candidates to pray “the prayer for an unmet need.”

Yours for changed lives,

Patrick Morley, Ph.D.

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