This sermon emphasizes the importance of holy desperation in seeking God's intervention in desperate times. Drawing from the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, the speaker highlights the need for believers to offer their lives as living sacrifices to God, trusting Him to use them for His glory. The message calls for a return to the supernatural power of God within each believer to confront the challenges of the present age and bring about spiritual awakening.

Good morning, Times Square Church. How wonderful it is to be in the presence of the Lord so strongly, so powerfully, and I do hope you never take that for granted here in this house. I certainly never do, and I thank God for how kind the Lord has been to us. For we know our failings, and we know our struggles, and we thank God that in spite of all of that, Jesus Christ still covers us, calls us His own, loves us, makes that obvious. I have a word on my heart this morning from 1 Samuel 1, please. If you'll turn there, 1 Samuel 1. There's the Old Testament, Joshua judges Ruth, 1 Samuel. That's how I remember it. Joshua judges Ruth, but 1 Samuel. I want to explain something to you this morning that I feel the Lord's put on my heart. I want to tell you why you've prayed some prayers that haven't been answered. I want to tell you how it fits into this moment in history that we're living in right now, how Scripture in the Old Testament is a shadow play in the sense of the new, and we see in it the patterns of God and the patterns of humanity, and how the two quite often interact with one another, and we can learn about the character and the ways of God by studying the Old Testament. It is not just a history text. There's much more in the Old Testament, for it speaks of Christ all the way through. Jesus Himself on the road to Emmaus, He didn't unlock the New Testament. He was the New Testament. He unlocked the Old to those that were traveling and said, Look, I'm going to show you, starting with Moses and all the prophets, I am in every book. Everything I am and what I'm doing is written in these books, and I'm going to unlock it and show you what it is that I am and who it is I am and what I've been doing. I want to talk to you this morning about an hour of holy desperation. This is a moment I believe that you and I are living in right now. It has occurred many times throughout scriptural history, and history as we know it, and it's happening again in our time. And so the question arises in my heart and in yours, how do we fit into this moment in time? And what can God do through my life? What will He do? And if He's going to do something, why hasn't He answered my prayers? Why is there this strange sense? On one hand, I'm praying and I'm believing God for something which He hasn't answered. And on the other hand, I feel this strange inner calling to something of God's life and purpose for me. And while I'm stuck in this kind of place between those two, the rock and the hard place, spiritually speaking, society around us is degenerating very rapidly. Horrific crimes are happening on a daily basis to the point where we're becoming dulled to it. And the abnormal is becoming normal. Evil is becoming good. People are just burying their ears and their fingers and hoping everything is going to go away. Father, I thank you, Lord God, with all my heart for the fact that you choose to speak to us. I thank you for ears to hear what you are saying to your church at this time. I thank you, God, for the fact that you don't take us because we have any wisdom above anyone else. You take us because we know that we're weak and we know that we need you. So, Lord, all I can do for you this morning is offer my body as a living sacrifice to you and for your kingdom. And I ask you in grace one more time to unlock your word and speak through me and give me the ability to speak this clearly and give us the ears to hear what you are speaking. Oh, God, in Jesus' name, I thank you with all of my heart that you've not left us orphans in this moment in history. And we have felt your love this morning in the sanctuary as you have reached out and embraced us and called us your own. That is obvious. Help me now. I ask it, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. 1 Samuel chapter 1 beginning at verse 9. I want you to put yourself into this passage of Scripture as if you are Hannah. So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh. That's 1 Samuel chapter 1 verse 9. And after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by the post of the temple of the Lord. And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. It came to pass that she continued praying before the Lord that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said to her, How long will thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have neither drunk wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial. For out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. And Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. Now in 1 Samuel we see all the elements of a desperate hour which can come upon a people and a nation. It was a desperate season. Chapter 2 verses 24 and 25 talks about a priesthood that represented the future of that which was supposed to represent God. They were deeply compromised, and they could no longer hear their father's voice of correction. In other words, the priesthood had gotten beyond God being able to speak to them. They were backslidden. They were compromised. They were immoral. And this was the future, in a sense, of the temple, which is not a very bright future if you're looking at it in the natural. Chapter 3 and verse 1 of 1 Samuel tells us that there was no clear and real open word or vision of the character, the purpose, the will, the mind of God was hidden from the people. A lot of babbling about God, but very little, if anything, from God. Thoughts, no doubt, thoughts constantly about history and about Moses and about what God had done in the past. Things about perhaps the character of God, but nothing, no living word from God. Where are we? What's happening in our society? Where are we going? How does it fit? I can just, I can see in my heart the despondency that must have been in the hearts of those who came into the temple. God, would you tell me what's going on? Would you speak to me? Chapter 3 verse 3 tells us that the lamp of God was in danger of going out in the temple. And Revelation chapter 2 verses 4 and 5 tells us of another time, a season. The church that was given the privilege of standing for God in the earth, but this church had lost its first love. And Jesus said to this church, remember from where you've fallen or I'll come to you quickly and I'll remove your candlestick. In other words, I'll take your light away. You'll come into the temple, you'll sing songs and you'll rehearse the history, you'll talk about God, but there'll be no light. No power, no obvious vision, no direction, no, nothing of faith, nothing that causes the heart to burn. Like the men on the road to Emmaus, there was a, when Christ opened the word of God, there was a, it's like a light went on inside of them. And their hearts burned because of it. And their eyes were opened and they saw Jesus and went back to their brothers in Jerusalem and said, we've seen the Lord, he's risen from the dead. Chapter 4 and verse 10 tells us that the people of the land began to fall before their enemies. And they were cowering within their homes. And the Philistines fought, it says, and Israel was smitten and they fled every man to his tent. There was a very great slaughter and there fell of Israel 30,000 footmen. The testimony of God was being diminished. The power of the people to stand was faint. An enemy had come in and was dictating all the terms of life and society and culture. And it seemed like the people of God had no power to stand against it. And chapter 4 verse 17 tells us the ark of God. Now the ark represented, it had within it the elements, it represented the presence, the comfort, the power and the provision of God. And the ark was physically taken captive. People everywhere began to cry out in despair. Chapter 4 and verse 13 said when they were told of the captivating, of the fact that the ark was captured, it said all the city cried out in despair. The ark is gone. The presence of God, the power that we've known throughout our history, the comfort, the provision of God is gone. It's taken captive by the enemies of God. And the enemies of God have the upper hand now. They tell us when we can pray, what we can teach our children, what is right and what is wrong. Everything that we held to be dear now is in their hands. And the scripture says there was a cry that started to come out of the city. Chapter 4 verses 14 to 17 shows that the people were fleeing before their enemies. Many of God's people were falling. The priests were lifeless. And all hope seemed to be gone. Psalm 107 speaks of these recurring seasons throughout history. And here's how the psalmist describes it all through Psalm 107. If you have time you can read that later. But he talks about the seasons where people are wandering. They're lonely. They find no security. They're hungry. They're thirsty. They're fainting. They're captivated. They're falling down. Nobody is there to help them. A season of foolish handling of the truth of God which has led them to death and not to life. A season where economies are failing and even the prosperous are starting to lose hope. These are seasons of holy desperation. When the general populace starts to cry out to God. I'm not talking about the church now. I'm talking about people who don't know God are starting to cry out to God. And I do believe we're living at that time again in history. I thank God for it. But people are crying out. It's not necessarily hard to the natural ear. But God heard it. Remember when he came to Moses and he said to Moses, I've heard the cry of the people and I've come down to deliver them. I've heard their cry. I've heard the groans of hopelessness. I've heard the cry of people who don't see where strength is going to come from. I've heard the cry of those who came into cities like New York looking for a future only to realize that at least for them there doesn't seem to be any future here. I've heard the cry of mothers whose children have gone astray because of this godless value system that's been literally infused upon them from all directions. The mockery of the things of God. I've heard the cry of those who said, Lord, what happened to us as a people? How did we get here as a nation? What got a hold of us that we became so foolish and we handled the truth of God's word so casually, so lightly and so carelessly, and it led us to death. You warned us, Lord, it was there. It was plainly written, but we refused it and went our own way. The cry when those in the places of knowledge begin to realize that we've reached the end of our credit. We've come to the end of our spending spree and the bills are now due. And even the prosperous now begin to lose hope. And the question that God asked my heart and I asked the Lord is, what then is the Lord's response to such a cry? And when such a cry comes into the hearts of so many people, what is the Lord's response? How does he respond to this cry? The answer is found in 1 Samuel, in the story we read at the beginning. He allows a holy desperation to come into the hearts of those through whom he's going to call the people back to himself again. And this is where you and I are today. A holy desperation. It's a different kind. It's not a hopeless desperation. It's not the same kind of a cry as the people who don't know God. I'm talking about the people now who do know God. They are crying because there's a despair and a hopelessness. But we are not a people of hopelessness. But yet there's a cry. I don't know if you noticed it in your heart lately. Have you noticed that lately you're talking to God and saying, Lord, why haven't you answered this prayer yet? As far as I know, I've not prayed this to consume it on my own lusts. I have asked you for freedom. I read in the Gospels that freedom belongs to me. Doesn't it say, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free? Doesn't it say, didn't you tell us that we shall have life and we shall have it more abundantly? And so God, I've been coming into your house and it says in the Scripture that Hannah came up year after year. This had been going on a long time. She knew who she's praying to. But for some reason God is holding back his hand and not answering. And as God is not answering Hannah, the nation is spiraling deeper, farther, darker away from God. The enemies are gathering on the borders. They're becoming more emboldened. They're becoming more numerous. They're now making their move as it is to swallow the testimony of God in the earth. And yet here is a lady like Hannah in the temple crying out to God in holy desperation for something in her heart that she has always believed that should be hers according to the Word of God. It is so important to have a family. It defined people of that era. It was embedded in the culture. It was right in the fabric, in the DNA and the thinking of the day. And here she's coming into the God who makes provision for all and everywhere and who can do anything. And she knows that. She knows the history. And she comes in year after year. And her adversary is there saying, Look at you, barren, fruitless. God must have a controversy with you. He's not answering your prayer. And how hopeless it can seem sometimes unless there's a purpose that we don't realize. Unless God has waited for something that we've not thought of. The scripture tells us she cried out. It had gotten to the point where she couldn't form words anymore. You ever gotten that way in your prayer time? I have. You just come into the prayer closet and it's just like, Oh, God. You know. There's nothing more to talk about. You've all experienced that. You know what I'm talking about. The scripture tells us that because we belong to God, because we're each called to glorify Him in our day, that He will move on us with inner promptings that are too deep for words. Let me read to you Romans 8, 26. Likewise, the Spirit also helps our infirmities, our struggles, our weaknesses, where we lack, where we're deficient as it is in perhaps even the way we serve God. For we know not what we ought, we should pray for as we ought to. We pray, but we don't fully get the reason why we're called to pray. May I have the liberty of saying it that way. We don't, let me read it again. We know not what we should pray for as we ought. We pray, but we don't really understand why we're praying. What is it that our prayer should be producing? And so because we don't fully understand the ways of God, none of us fully do. The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Have you ever had that come upon you? Where there's this inner groan for God, but you're not quite sure why. You're not quite sure where it's leading. You're not quite sure what it's all about. But you do know one thing, there's a divine purpose in it. There's a holy desperation has come into your heart, and it's God breathed. It's not circumstance created, it's God breathed. Yes, there's a desperation in society, it's circumstance created. But that's not the same desperation that you and I can feel in these moments in history. The desperation we have is breathed into us by the Spirit of God. It's something of God, it's a yearning of God. It's something God wants to do in us and through us. And we're not aware of it yet. We haven't fully understood it. We haven't embraced it. And so, Hannah comes in year after year after year after year, crying out in desperation for what she felt was her right as a child of God. I read this in your Word, I see this in your Word. I see where my purpose in the earth is to give life. And I'm empty. It isn't right. And I can see her coming in year after year, and she's presenting logical, reasoned arguments to God as to why you should do this. And then finally, it gets to the point where she can't even speak, it's so deep now. But she says something. Her prayer reaches a certain place, and it's at this place that God answers her. It says in verse 11, That is what God was waiting for. If you'll give me life, if you'll give me giftings, if you'll birth something of yourself within me, I will not take it home to use for my own glory, but I will bring it to your house, and it will be used for your glory. As long as it lives, it will be separated. That's what she said. As long as it lives through me, it will be separated to you. She had no idea that this was God's answer to the peril that her country was in. She had no idea that this was the desperation that God would produce that answered the desperation in the country. That He would put a holy desperation on His own people. And for those who have the sense to say, God, I'm coming to you one more time, and if you answer me, and if you give me freedom, and if you give me life, and if you birth something inside of me, I'm not going to take it home to consume it on my own personal desires. I'm going to bring it back to you, and it's going to cost me. She knew there would be a cost. How difficult it must have been. Scripture says she weaned that child. She knew Eli is backslidden to the core of his being. His sons were immoral. The priesthood was failing. The nation was in declension. And it seemed in the natural almost ridiculous to bring this three or four year old boy, and that was the desire of her heart. Can you imagine? Bringing that child in and giving that child to Eli. Something she prayed for all her life. But had the sense to know that the answer comes when you and I realize that the life that Christ promises us is not for ourselves, it's for others. I thank God. And it was at this point, the scripture says she went down, verse 18, to her house, and the sorrow left her. She started eating again. And her countenance was no more sad. It's the lady who'd lived with this holy desperation for years. We know it's for years because it says year after year. They came to the house of the Lord, and year after year, her prayer wasn't answered. Suddenly, it was as if she had an awakening in her heart and began to realize, God, whatever you give me, as long as it lives, it will be given for you. That's why in my thinking now, retirement is never going to be a word. It can't be. It's not possible that I could come to a place in my life where I say, I've given you enough, Jesus. I'm going to go home and smell the roses for a little while. It simply can't be. She said, as long as he lives, all the days of his life, there will no razor come. In other words, he will be separated to you as long as he lives. God's answer to this hour is within you. That is the answer. You are the answer to the cries of this generation. This generation that is wandering lonely, lost in security. There's no safe place left. You're not even safe in church anymore from acts of violence in this season we're living in. Hungry, thirsty for something that's lasting, fainting, captivated. All of the people trying, it's obvious, people trying to run to lead the country, but they themselves are so captivated. They don't want to be what they are, folks, but they have no escape. They don't know how to get out. There's a captivation of immorality that's increasing so phenomenally powerfully that I dread to think what this nation would look like 10 to 15 years from today if we don't have a spiritual awakening among God's people. There has to be an awakening. We have to awaken to the fact that we're not called to a picnic. We're called to a war for the souls of men. We're not powerless. We have the Christ who by the word of His mouth created the universe. By the word of His mouth allows our enemies to breathe. We have this Christ living inside of us. We are called to represent Him in the earth. His resources and power are there in full, not in partial measure for every son and daughter of God. We are called into this world to be a sign that astounds those who live according to their own reasoning and their own strength. But we have lived way beneath our position in Christ in this generation, and you and I need an awakening in our time. The church of Jesus Christ needs an awakening. We've got to get out of our slumber. We've got to get out of our prayer meetings where it's all about me. It's all about my need. It's all about my house. It's all about my career. It's all about my happiness. No, no, no, no! These things will come to us. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. All these things will be added unto you. Seek first the kingdom of God. First the kingdom of God. And all these things. Remember the scripture tells us that later on Hannah gave birth to three sons and two daughters. She sought first the kingdom of God, and then God added to her that which would bring her life into that place of completeness she'd always longed for. We live in a season where God's word has been foolishly handled by so many, and people have been turned inward, and there's no power there. It seems like the ark of God is captivated again, and now the economies are failing worldwide. Now we're in deep trouble. Even the prosperous are now losing hope, and there's a secret inner cry in this society and in this generation. It's happening. It's everywhere. I can feel it. I was walking out yesterday just around the corner, and I can feel the cry. No matter what people are doing, no matter what they're occupying, if you look into their eyes, and you can see it. There's a groaning inside. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be doing this. This is not satisfying. The desires of my heart. You are the light. You are the light on New York's hills. You are the salt in New York's streets. There is no other plan. There's no other solution to the peril of this moment that we're living in. There are gifts and power within you to turn many back to God. Within you. Within you. If you have the Christ in you, you have the power of God that created the universe, and if you don't, you don't. But if you do, if you do walk with Christ, if you do know Christ, there are giftings of God. There's power, and that power within you can turn many back to God in this generation. The interesting thing in chapter 3, verses 3 and 4, I love this. It says, And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, the Lord called Samuel, and he said, Here I am. God's plan was in a child. God called, and before the light goes out in New York City, before hope is lost, before the testimony of God gets ground down to a powder by those elements that hate the name of Jesus Christ, God calls to the life within you. And that's, that's the groaning that you feel. That's the unrest. That's why after having come to Christ, it seems like you can't find satisfaction in anything apart from Him. That's why you find yourself turning and saying, God, what are you speaking to me? Why do I feel this? What is it? And Samuel, you know, you follow the Scriptures. He didn't know the origin of that voice, and he kept running to Eli, and Eli kept saying, I didn't call you. Go back to sleep. And we run to passages of Scripture, and we run to friends, and we try to explain to them, and they just say, Well, I don't have a clue what's happening in your life. Go back to bed. Get some rest. You're staying up too late. That's basically all that many people can offer. And you go back, and yet that voice would come again. Samuel! It's that voice of God. He's calling to His own life within you. That which He miraculously has planted within you, God is calling to it now. He's calling to you. That life in you. The gifts in you. Things you're not even aware of that are inside of you, He's calling to them. He calls you by names. Half the time we don't respond, because we really don't recognize the names by which He's calling us. Thou art Simon, you will be called Peter. In other words, you're siftable, you're unsteady, but I'm gonna make you a rock. And so, He starts calling to that which He is within us, and we don't recognize it because we're so used to being called by other names. The groaning has a divine purpose. The deep need of society is calling out to the deep resource that God has planted within each of us. Deep calls unto deep. Hannah couldn't have known that the answer to the cries of the people of her time was about to come through her life. She couldn't have known. How could she have known? You and I need to turn back to the supernatural again. The supernatural life and power of God to confront the needs of the time in which we're living in. And here's the prayer that moves the hand of God. Oh Lord, if you will look on my affliction, and you remember me and not forget me, but if you will give life to me, I will bring it back to you. And as long as it lives, it will be set apart for you. And for your glory and your purpose in the earth. And the scripture says she went home. And she was no longer sad. She hadn't conceived yet, but she was no longer sad. Because in her heart she knew, I have found the reason. I found it. Why there's been such a cry in my heart. And you and I know the history that through Samuel the word of God came again. To a generation that had lost their moorings, they'd lost their direction. And through Samuel, through this woman that just came into the temple and just wouldn't let go. Until she understood the reason why she was praying and what God was going to do through the answer. And through Samuel, one of the greatest prophets, really, of the Old Testament in the time of judges. Samuel had a word that people trembled under. Samuel anointed King David. Samuel wept over King Saul. It all came from this lady's cry of holy desperation. I cried that this morning. I'm crying it now in my heart. God, take me farther. Open doors. I'll go through every door you open, Lord. I don't care if I'm qualified or unqualified. I will go through and I'll trust you for the words to speak. You'll give me the right heart and give me the strength to face the fury of opposition that comes to those who do walk with God. Imagine the neighbors of Hannah as she leaves that last time with her little boy. He's three or four because that's the weaning time in that generation. Can you imagine the neighbors? What are you doing, Hannah? You'll have to fight that. The advice of those who would never walk that journey. What are you doing going to the mission field? What are you doing reaching out to these people? What are you doing putting yourself in such a position? What are you doing denying yourself? Is this not the desire of your heart? Isn't this God that gave you this? Why are you giving it back to God? You have to fight through all these false reasonings because this is a desperate hour. And here's my altar call. Here's the conclusion of everything that God's given me. I prayed it this morning. I've already been at the altar before standing in this pulpit. Lord, whatever you give me, I'll give it to you. And all I ask is Jesus, please use it for your glory. Give me the strength to give it to you for your glory. Give me the power to say yes to you. And I believe that somehow through my life that the kingdom of God will advance the works of the devil will be destroyed and even those who oppose their own salvation will be set free. This is the desperate cry of a desperate hour. I've said it before. I'll say it again, folks. We do not have 10 to 15 years to get this right. We have arrived at the very place that Hannah was in. The Philistines have come. The ark, in great measure, is physically captivated. And it's going to become evil to be a Christian, potentially in our time. We'll be considered narrow, racist bigots, out of touch, discriminators, divisive, destroyers of a wonderful society that man is creating out of his own imagination. And now we have to stand. And we have the power of Christ within us. But do we really fully understand that? But I prayed this morning. I said, God, whatever you do, and wherever door you open, I will go. Lead me and let it be used for your glory. If that's the cry of your heart here in the sanctuary, in the annex, in Roxbury, and people that are listening at home today, if that's the cry of your heart, as we stand, would you just move forward in the annex between the screens and here in the main sanctuary at the altar? Say, Lord, you grant my cry today, and I will bring it back to your house for your glory. Let's stand, please, in the balcony. Go to either exit. Let's take, we'll worship for a moment, then we'll pray together. I want you to listen to the prayer that Hannah prayed when she came back to the temple and she brought Samuel. Not fully understanding it, but somehow knowing that the fact that she brought this little life, it was just a little life, it was a huge problem in a huge nation, but she brought this little life back into the temple. And she didn't know how, she couldn't have known what God was going to do, but she knew that God was going to do something. And when she left Samuel in the temple, says Hannah prayed and said, my heart rejoices in the Lord. My heart is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. There's none holy as the Lord. There's none besides thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Do not talk so exceedingly proudly. Let not arrogance come out of your mouth. She's talking to her enemies now. For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. The bows of mighty men are broken, and they that stumble are given strength. They that were full have hired themselves out for bread, and they that were hungry have ceased. So that the barren has born seven, and she that has many children is waxed feeble. The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. And the pillars of the Lord are the Lord's, and He has set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail. In the last verse she said, The adversaries of the Lord. This is a revelation that she had now that she had given this little life to God. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces out of heaven shall He thunder upon them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, and He will give strength to His king, and He will exalt the horn of His anointed. In other words, the people of God will come back to life. There will be strength. There will be provision. There will be victory. We don't know how, but we know that we bring what we have to God. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. My God. My God. My God. What the Lord is going to do. My God what He's going to do. Glory. Glory. Glory. Glory to God. We will bring Him that life that we have and He will multiply it and He will use it for His glory. Glory to His name. Glory to His name.