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Praying in Impossible Times
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Good morning. I want to start with two powerful verses from Jeremiah 32 that set the stage for everything we're going to discuss today.
"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?"
Let me ask you directly: Do you believe that God is the God of all people? That includes everyone here, everyone in this community, everyone in this world. And do you believe that nothing is too hard for the Lord?
During my twelve years as president at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I preached in over 400 different churches. And I came to a troubling observation: some of our spiritual leaders don't actually believe that God can do anything. Instead of praying specifically for difficult things—disease, finances, broken marriages—people pray in fuzzy, vague ways. But God's message to Jeremiah is clear: you will go through hard times, but is anything too hard for me?
When I finished my ministry at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena and was called to serve at Wheaton College in August 2020, I arrived just days before school started. We faced two immediate crises: disease and division. We were dealing with COVID and the political polarization tearing our country apart.
I told our student leaders: We need to learn to pray in ways you may have rarely prayed before. Not just telling people "I'll keep you in prayer," but actually stopping—laying on hands, using oil, praying for God's healing. When broken divisions appear, we must pray for the reconciling, renewing power of the Holy Spirit.
What happened? Prayer movements began. Students gathered for all-night prayer sessions. Reconciliation took place. Healing came.
One of my former students, Pastor Andrew Arndt, wrote about a seminary chapel experience. A young man raised his hand with a prayer request: a family friend had developed stage four brain cancer and had only days to live. A faculty member led this prayer:
"Dear God, thank you that you are sovereign over all things. Thank you that no plan of yours can be thwarted and that this tumor did not catch you by surprise. We pray that peace and comfort would fall upon this family. Surround them with your presence."
Andrew later wrote: "A pious prayer and ghastly." There was no prayer for what the woman actually asked for—healing. The prayer avoided asking God to do what He promised in Scripture—to heal the sick.
Why? Andrew's insight cut to the heart: Sometimes we act like there are degrees of difficulty for God. As if tumors are more challenging than positive feelings. But that makes us pagans rather than Christians—believers in gods rather than the God who reveals Himself in creation and in Jesus Christ, the healer.
Now let's go back to Jeremiah's beginning, in chapter 1. Jeremiah was probably only 15 to 21 years old when God called him:
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Alas, sovereign Lord, I said, I do not know how to speak and I am too young. But the Lord said to me, do not say, I am too young. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. And do not be afraid. For I am with you."
Jeremiah obeyed. Over many decades, God sent him to do difficult things. By the time we reach chapter 32, Jeremiah faced one of the most impossible situations of his entire life. He sat in prison, locked up by his own king, Zedekiah—a narcissistic leader who didn't want to hear bad news.
Jeremiah had simply delivered the message God gave him. And for that faithfulness, he was imprisoned.
While in prison, God broke into Jeremiah's life with a shocking command: buy a field.
Think about this. Jeremiah heard that the entire nation of Judah was about to be conquered by Babylon, the most powerful nation in the world. The whole nation would be taken captive. And God told him to buy property? How could he purchase anything from prison? Why would he buy land when everything was about to collapse?
But Jeremiah obeyed. And when he prayed, he anchored his prayers in something critical.
I want to settle on this: How should we pray when we face impossible situations? Some of you are walking through impossible circumstances right now. You don't have to share them, but I want to give you directives I've learned from nearly 70 years of walking with the Lord.
First: Pray in ways consistent with who God has revealed Himself to be.
Jeremiah's prayer was anchored in history—specifically in what God revealed about Himself to Moses in Exodus 33 and 34. Moses asked God, "Make your name known to me." And God declared:
"I am the Lord. I am the compassionate and gracious God. I am slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, and I forgive wickedness, rebellion, and sin."
But there's another side:
"Yet, I will not leave the guilty unpunished."
God is both merciful and just. He offers hope while holding people accountable. Throughout the Psalms, in the book of Joel, even in Jonah—the prophets returned again and again to this truth about God's character.
When Jeremiah prayed from prison, he echoed this foundation:
"Lord, you show love to thousands, but you do bring punishments. You perform signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day. You reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve."
Jeremiah's prayer asked God to act in ways consistent with who He is—dealing with sin but not abandoning His people.
After that prayer, God stepped in and told Jeremiah: Go buy the field. That field became a visible, physical symbol that God wasn't done with His people. The time would come when God would restore them, forgive their sins, bring them back to the land, and make all things new.
Brothers and sisters, I must address this directly. The God we believe in is not just an idea. The God we worship today is a real person. His Spirit dwells among us and within us. God is not just transcendent and powerful—He is imminent. He is here. He is here with us.
I told our students at Wheaton: We are a high-level academic institution, yes. We want solid theology. But we don't just want to know about God—we want to know God. And God tells us He is:
When I became president at Trinity, we faced a horrifying crisis. We were located on the North Shore of Chicago, and a neo-Nazi movement was active in our area. We learned that Trinity had been targeted. Some of our students of color received hate letters:
"We were in chapel today and we were armed. We would have shot except we saw there were too many people like us. But we know who you are. And we will be back. So beware."
I jumped in my car and drove to campus, still in my tennis clothes, and prayed in what felt like an impossible situation. I kept thinking: Father, I don't know what to do. My education didn't prepare me for this. I desperately need your help.
I sat at my desk and looked at a plaque with Micah 6:8:
"He has already told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to act for justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly in the presence of God."
I took those verses into our cabinet. We began praying step by step. And God rescued us. We discovered it was one of our own students trying to frighten her mother. God provided the blessing through many difficult trials. But God doesn't change. He revealed Himself in His word, and He is always consistent with His character.
So how do we pray in impossible times? The text gives us two practical pieces of guidance.
The One Step
When you don't know what to do, stop and ask God: "Lord, I'm not sure what to do, but give me one step I can take that will glorify Your name and be consistent with who You are."
That's what Jeremiah did. When God told him to buy the field, he said:
"I knew this was the word of the Lord, so I bought the field."
He took one step. Then he asked, "Father, what's the next step?" And God led him to the next step. Sometimes they're simple: contact someone, make a call, ask a brother or sister for counsel. You take the next step. Then the fourth. And I promise you—when you look back, you'll ask God, "How did You do this?"
The Wait, Wait
Learn to wait when you've given something to the Lord. Count on the presence and promises of God to be fulfilled. Wait upon the Lord.
Jeremiah had to wait a long time. But here's what I love: God told him to put the deed in a clay jar so it would last. It's God giving him a visible, physical symbol that He wasn't done with His people. The time would come when God would make all things new.
It's like a foreshadowing of what happens when Jesus comes. He gives His life on the cross. What good can that do? His disciples asked. But it accomplished this: All of us are here, cleansed and forgiven by the blood of Christ, empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
And the promise is even better than a deed in a jar. God promises:
"Someday I will gather a people from every tribe, every language, every nation, and each one of you will be complete in Christ. All things will be made new. No more tears. No more earthquakes. No more fires. No more floods. Everything will be restored."
Even though we have to wait—and wait and wait—it is worth waiting for.
In the midst of that waiting, God has given us the privilege of prayer—entering into His presence and talking with Him as our Father who loves us and loves all people.
We can pray for specific needs. We can ask Him to do miracles. And sometimes—in ways that bring glory to Him—He does them.
So I bring you this message today:
"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"
What is your answer? It should be a firm, ever-firmer no. Nothing is too hard for God.
So pray this with me:
Lord, I will trust in You and Your presence. I will be willing to step into those difficult, seemingly impossible spaces. I know I will sometimes see the impossible become possible. I believe in Your presence. Even though I still know You by faith, not yet by sight, I will walk by faith. And in Your time, I will experience the invisible reality that You are.
This call that went to Jeremiah still goes out to all of us. God is still looking for Jeremiahs. I've made a commitment that no matter how old I become, I want to be one. And I'm asking you to be one too. And I promise you—it will be to your joy and to the glory of God.
