Recently, something a local preacher here in Boone said has resonated with me. This past Sunday Jason English was teaching on the book of Mark. He was preaching on the story of Blind Bartimaeus. Jason pointed out that whatever limits you right now is not your identity. That when God brings you past that limitation, it will not be how people think of you. He spoke of having our faith heal us and bring us to Christ. The entire sermon was great, as usual. However, the end is what spoke to me the most. Jason asked that maybe if we come to Jesus in desperation as, Bartimaeus did, we could end up being healed of whatever is holding us hostage. Jason asked that instead of starting our prayers with: "Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day," that we start our prayers with: "Son of David, have mercy on me." That if we stop being so proper and come in desperation we can be healed. We should respond as desperate, blind beggars, instead of religious elite who are too busy to notice His presence. That we come to Him in faith, as He is our Messiah and our beloved teacher.

As a college student, I feel like I'm drowning. I've been struggling the past two weeks and finding it hard to go to God in this trying time. So I wanted to change that by creating an open prayer. College is hard and I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. So I come in desperation:

Son of David, have mercy on me. This life is so hard. Some days it breaks me down and I feel like I can't get back up. Lord, I know this life is broken and full of unfair things, so I come in desperate need of comfort. God, I pray that I turn my eyes and focus on You and Your goodness instead of my hardships and circumstances. I pray that I come to You and lean on You in time of need.

Father, I pray for all of us college students. I pray that we don't put our worth into our grades, relationships, or what's on our resume. I pray that we remember that we are all of Your beloved creations and fully loved. I pray that we can learn to come to You in good times and bad, because You care. I pray that we realize You are rooting us on.

Finally, savior, I pray to remember that You are better. You are better than the brokenness in this world. That Your promise and plan is better that anything we can imagine. That You think better of us than we do ourselves.

Thank You for Your blessings and loving us so.

Amen.

Here's the link to the podcast of this sermon: http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-p4uns-633726

I encourage you to take a listen.

"Better" by Jess Ray is a great song that a lot of us can relate to.