Desperate Faith

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

September 9, 2025

Desperate Faith

Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,

and the other prisoners were listening.

Acts 16:25 

Many years ago, cruise ships with casinos began offering overnight cruises out of Biloxi, MS. A church there was concerned when they learned the cruise ships offered childcare in areas that included toy gambling equipment. The church prayed for a season (a month), and then the Lord led them to initiate their own overnight childcare, at no charge. Soon, and very soon, their facility was full of children whose parents were off on a casino cruise.

Desperate times call for desperate faith. It wasn’t medical research that caused Naaman to dip seven times in the river; it was desperation. (2 Kings 5) Peter was jailed in chains, and his desperate friends, behind closed and locked doors, prayed for him, and an angel of the Lord escorted Peter out of the prison. (Acts 12) Paul and Silas were chained between the guards in a prison cell. With no other options, they prayed and worshipped God by singing hymns.

My Takeaway: I am blessed to be very comfortable in my retirement years. However, as I look over my prayer list, I see many friends and family members in truly desperate circumstances. I pray that my acts of faith in praying for them will be as effectual as Naaman’s trust, as the prayers of Peter’s friends and those of Paul and Silas.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.