When Desire Becomes Desperate | Evangelist Michael Maupin

Let's give the Lord a great praise.

Come on, He's worthy. He's worthy of our praise.

He's worthy of our worship. Hallelujah, Hallelujah,

Hallelujah. I read an article the other day.

Now, the older I get, the other day could be 3 days, three

weeks, three months, or three years ago.

So just take that for what it is.

I read an article the other day that Cornell University did a

research, a study, and they found that the average person

makes 35,000 decisions in a day. Now, it's kind of hard to wrap

your head around that, but they're more smarter than I am.

And so I just decided that I would believe that statistic, if

that and if that statistic is true, you're going to make

35,000 decisions today. The best decision you made all

day was coming to the House of God because there's no place

like the House of God. There's no place like the

presence of God. There's no place like the people

of God. And I count this a tremendous

honor every time I get to come to this great church.

I give great honor tonight to Bishop and Sister McGee and to

my dear friends, Pastor and Sister McGee and their family

and the Masons. Man, what a what a team God's

put together. And all of you all thank you

singers and musicians for leading us and to the presence

of the Lord. We're so thankful for each and

every person that's gathered here today.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Mark,

Mark the 5th, the 5th chapter. And Pastor, you asked, so I'll

just say or you, maybe you didn't really want an answer.

But October 2007, I left a youth pastoring for brother Robert

Martin and I've been evangelizing ever since.

So 17 years this month. So it Marks and it doesn't look

like I'm going to change anytime soon.

So maybe it will be to us. And then we'll be talking about

Mark the 5th chapter, verse 25 very familiar story.

A certain woman which had an issue of blood for 12 years.

We all have issues tonight and had suffered many things that

many physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing

better but rather grew worse when she had heard of Jesus.

Aren't you thankful you heard of Jesus tonight?

She came in the press behind and she touched his garment, for she

said, if I may touch but his clothes I shall behold.

I want to preach to you tonight on this thought when desire

becomes desperate. Would you set your Bible down?

Would you lift your hands? Would you lift your hearts?

Would you help me pray in this house right now?

Lord, we love you and we thank you for who you are.

We thank you for your presence. We thank you for your spirit,

your anointing, your word. God, anoint me tonight to preach

it the way you want it preached. God, anoint the hearer of the

Word tonight. God, that we would our minds and

our souls would be fertile soil for the seed of your word to

fall on. God speak to us tonight.

God, let us leave here different than what we walked in, and we

give you praise for what you're going to do.

In the mighty, matchless name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

Why don't we clap our hands one more time?

And the Bible says not only the clap but the shout.

Can we add a shout to our handclap?

Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus, thank you for

standing. You may be seated this evening.

The word the word desire define is a wanting or a longing, a

strong wish. But the word desperate define

means hopeless, not caring what happens because hope is gone,

reckless because of despair, extreme or excessive.

A desperate person will do anything and everything to get

what they need. A person that is desperate for

money will rob a bank or even a store.

A person that is desperate for something to eat will eat out of

a trash can or a dumpster. So there is a difference between

having a desire and being desperate tonight.

But notice this certain woman of Mark the 5th chapter.

She had been sick and miserable for 12 very long years.

If her family and friends actually wanted anything to do

with her, they were forbidden by Levitical law.

The law said that she was unclean and that she must be

forced to live a life of isolation and seclusion.

And I'm certain tonight that people would see her walking

down the street and they would crossover to the other side to

pass by her. She had spent every penny that

she had, but instead of getting any better every day, the Bible

said she became worse. And no doubt this woman had a

desire to be healed of this infirmity, this issue of blood.

Imagine with me tonight, if you will, as she walks in the

doctor's office wondering if today would be the day that she

gets the good news that she is healed.

Awaiting the results of the latest this test, hoping to

finally receive a good report. Watching her as she walks to the

nearest pharmacy thinking that this new drug might be the

answer. Wondering if this wonder drug

would do the trick, Peek over her shoulder as she reviews her

latest bank statement, noticing that her money is vanishing, but

her sickness grows more intense with each and every day.

She is sick and tired of being sick and tired.

She is broke financially and she is broken physically.

And on this particular day, she hears of a man that has come to

her city. But not just any man, but this

man, there is a reputation, a reputation that precedes him, a

reputation of being a great healer and a miracle worker.

And although her body is weak, her mind is still strong.

And it is there in this sharp mind that's surrounded by sick

flesh that she begins to think. And she wonders to herself, and

she questions the validity of the rumors of the reputation of

this man named Jesus. What did she have to lose

anyway? She was tired of living alone in

total and complete seclusion. She's tired of celebrating

holidays without family and friends.

She's beyond being over at being looked down upon in her

community. And I believe that on this

moment, her desire to be healed had escalated to a level of

desperation. She is desperate and she is

willing to do anything and try anything and everything to be

healed. She is desperate for a change in

her life and in her situation. But notice her situation.

She wasn't the only one there. The Bible says that there was a

press. That's not the.

We don't really use that word to describe a crowd that has

anybody ever been Black Friday, Christmas shopping?

That's that's a good illustration of a Press of

people. Everyone was pressing Jesus.

Everyone was surrounding Jesus. Everyone was touching Jesus.

Everyone wanted something from him.

Everyone had a need that they wanted to be met.

Some Jesus do this for me. Jesus do that.

We want a sign, we want a miracle.

But she was different. She was long past a desire.

She was a desperate person. And it was that faith and

desperation that she believed that all she needed to do was to

reach up and touch him. She didn't need a public display

of healing. She didn't need anybody to touch

her. She just needed to touch him.

She didn't need anybody to lay hands on her.

She didn't need anybody to blow on her or annoy her with oil.

She said if I can just just touch him, I shall be made

whole. So you got to understand the

difference between desire faith and desperate faith.

Desire faith says this might be my night.

This could be my night. Maybe I'll get the Holy Ghost

tonight. Maybe I'll get my healing

tonight. Maybe I'll get my breakthrough

tonight. That's desire faith.

But when you let desire become desperate in your life and you

move into a level of desperation, faith, you say this

isn't a maybe night. This isn't a could be night be

made whole. I shall get my healing.

I shall receive the Holy Ghost. I shall get my break.

Breakthrough. See, desire stops at the press,

but desperation says I shall be whole tonight.

And somebody might be here tonight and you might be like

the woman with the issue of blood, and you might be sick in

your body. Or maybe you might be sick

spiritually. Or maybe you're just tired of

never fitting in. You have tried everything that

this world has to offer, but nothing seems to be working.

Every day it grows worse and worse with no end inside.

But I've got good news for you on this Friday night, this

opening of such a great weekend. You've come to the right place

at the right time. Because that St.

Jesus that I just read to you about, He is up and down these

aisles. He is in this service and he's

looking for the same thing that he was looking for 2000 years

ago. He's looking for somebody that

came here desperate. He's looking for somebody

that'll reach up with desperation and touch him and

stop him in this place. There may have been somebody

that brought a desire on this Friday night, but when your

desire becomes desperate, that is what's going to get his

attention and cause him to take notice of your situation.

He is looking for the desperate tonight, the ones that don't

have anything left to put their hope or trust.

Look at the story in Genesis 32 verse 24, and Jacob was left

Genesis 32:24

alone there. He wrestled a man until the

breaking of the day when he saw that he prevailed not against

him. He touched the hollow of his

thigh and the hollow of Jacob style was out of joint as he

wrestled with him. And he said, let me go for the

Daybreak. I, I just kind of think to

myself that Jacob looks at this Angel maybe with a, a, a black

eye and a, a, a fat lip and a bloody nose and his clothes are

tattered and torn and he, he's been wallowing on the ground

and, and is that, is that a word y'all use in Illinois?

Wallowing on the ground? And, and his and the dirt has

mixed with his sweat and it's turned him up.

He's a bloody, muddy mess. But I think he looks at the

Angel and he says letting go has been my MO.

That's why I'm in the shape that I'm in.

I've always let go when the going got tough, I got going.

I've always quit. I've always ran.

But Jacob said my desire is getting ready to turn to

desperation. And this time I cannot let go.

This time something has to be different.

And Jacob says, I will not let go until you bless me.

And the Angel says, what is your name?

And he said, Jacob. Now you got to understand, he

didn't puff his chest out in pride.

He probably looked down at the ground, ashamed of his name

because Jacob might be a good name today, but it wasn't a good

name. It meant deceiver.

It meant supplanter. It meant cheater when you, when

Jacob hugged your neck, you made sure your wallet was still in

your back pocket. You.

He wasn't. He wasn't trustworthy.

And he had, up to this point, he had done a really good job

living up to his name. But the Angel and I think that

maybe this maybe that Jacob was getting ready to do what we all

do. He was getting ready to explain

his situation. Well, my name's Jacob, but it's

not my fault. My name's Jacob.

My Mama named me Jacob. It's not it's not my fault that

Esau gave me the birthright. I should have been born first.

It's not my fault that I tricked Laban out of some livestock.

He tricked me and the Mary and the ugly sister first.

It's not my fault that I'm Jacob.

But it's almost like the Angel interrupts him and doesn't even

give him a moment to to even make an excuse.

And he says your name shall never be called Jacob ever

again. But from this moment forward,

you're going to be known as Israel, because as a Prince,

thou has power with God. Somebody might have came here

tonight. And just like Jacob, you have a

rotten past. You've messed up your life, and

there seems to be little or no hope.

Maybe you're here tonight with a desire to change things for the

better. But if you become desperate, God

is waiting for you at this altar.

It will not be easy. It will be a struggle.

But let me warn you, if you have a desire to change, you'll leave

this service tonight the same way.

But if you let your desire turn to desperation and you say I

want to change, you're going to leave this place different then

you walk in. You'll never walk the same

Jacob. You'll never talk the same

Jacob. You'll never do the same thing.

Jacob, you came here with a messed up life and a less than

desirable past, but you can leave here a brand new creature

in Christ. You can leave here with a brand

new name. See Desire, let's go.

But desperation says I won't let go until you bless me.

Desire keeps you the same, but desperation get your name

changed tonight Matthew the 15th chapter verse 21 And behold, a

woman of Cana came out of the same coast and cried into him

saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David, my

daughter is grievously vexed with the devil.

But notice verse 23. But he answered her not a word.

And we get our feelings hurt when pastor don't talk about us

from the pulpit. But he answered and he said, I

am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

So first he ignores her, and then he says, I'm not here for

you. But then she came and she

worshipped him. And she said, Lord help me.

You want to get God's attention tonight.

You want to worship him. But he answered and he said it

is not me to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.

Now I know in 2024, you know, it might be OK to call somebody a

dog. What's up, dog?

But in those times, it was a it was an insult to call somebody a

dog. So he ignores her.

Then he says, I'm not here for you.

And now he's calling her a dog man.

I think for just a minute that she turned around, rejected with

her mouth open and awe, her lip dragging the ground, having a

pity party. Well, he's not who everybody

said he was. He, he, I just thought he was

going to touch me. I, I thought he was going to

touch my daughter. He's not he, he, he ignored me.

He said he wasn't here for me. He, he called me a dog.

And then it was like a light bulb moment.

She turns and she says, truth, Lord.

But even the dogs, they eat the crumbs that fall from the

Master's table. And Jesus said unto her, O

woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee, even as thou will.

And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

See something you've got to learn about God tonight is

sometimes He will test us to see if we have a desire or if we're

truly desperate for Him. It wasn't him being mean when he

ignored her. It wasn't him being mean when he

said I'm not there. It wasn't him being mean saying

y'all don't cast the bread to the dogs.

What he was doing, He was testing her to see if she just

had a desire, if she was just there for the motions, if she

was just there for the crowd. But whenever she let her desire

turn to desperation and she said, God, I'm not asking for

bread, I'm just begging for crumbs.

God, I'm not asking you to bless me like somebody else.

I just want you to touch me. I'm desperate for a touch from

heaven tonight. See, desire gets frustrated with

the silence of God. Desire gets offended, but

desperation eats the crumbs which fall from the masters.

Luke 17 and 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there

met him 10 men that were lepers, which stood afar off.

And they lifted up their voice, and said, Jesus, Master, have

mercy on me. And when he saw them, he said

unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priest.

And it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back,

and with a loud voice glorified God.

And he fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.

And the Bible almost has an afterthought.

Just a little throw in he was a Samaritan.

So on his way with the other 9 on his way to the temple as

Jesus told him to do, this Samaritan realizes something.

I'm a Samaritan. I can't go to the temple.

I will forever be known as a leper because I can't go to the

high priest and be pronounced clean by the by him.

So in an act of desperation, this Samaritan leprous man that

was healed returns and he begins to worship the one who just

healed him. And that's what happens tonight.

Desperation turns your praise into worship and he couldn't go

to an earthly high priest, but he could worship a heavenly high

priest and Jesus said where they're not ten cleanse and

where are the 9 and they are not found that return to give glory

to God save this stranger. In other words, Jesus said the

other nine had a desire to be healed, but this man has a

desperation. The other nine were healed, but

guess what desperation did for the one He said arise, go your

way, your faith. Faith had made you whole.

He wasn't just healed, He was made whole.

In other words, you're not ever going to be able to be

pronounced clean, but that's OK because there's not going to be

1 scar. There's not going to be 1

leftover of what leprosy did to you.

And see, his desire made him healed, but his desperation made

him whole. You know who else is desperate

tonight? Isaiah tells us to.

Hell hath enlarged herself. She's opened her mouth without

measure. The writer of Proverbs tells us

that hell and destruction are never full.

So hell is desperate tonight. You know what they're desperate

for? They're desperate for souls and

and and and and held and they don't.

You know what? They're unified also.

Did you know that they don't care who gets the the main, the

main solo? They don't care who who gets the

microphone. They don't care whose names in

the bright lights. Their main goal is to take as

many souls to hell with them as they can.

So hell is desperate for souls. You know what that tells me

tonight? That the church has to be

desperate for souls. What would happen in this

church? What would happen in this city?

What would happen in this community?

What would happen in this state? What would happen in our

country? What would happen around the

globe tonight? If the church would become just

as desperate as soul about souls that hell is desperate for souls

about? The old saying is desperate

times call for desperate measure.

And if you can't tell by the news, we are living in desperate

times and we better become a desperate church tonight.

Throughout the Bible, Jesus showed a compassion for people

that were desperate. There were many that desired

something from him, but they were never touched because he

has a weakness for those whose desire becomes desperate.

That's why Jesus said blessed are they who are hunger and

thirst have the righteousness. You know what he's saying.

He's basically saying blessed are those that are desperate.

You know why? For they shall be filled.

See, if you come here on this Friday night of this opening of

this great weekend, and you came here with a desire, you'll

probably go home the same way you walked in.

But if you'll let your desire turn to desperation, blessed are

they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Blessed are they that are desperate tonight, for you shall

be filled. You will not leave the same way

you walked in tonight. See, we, we say we're desperate,

but really all we have are desires.

We, we, you know, we, we're desperate for food.

Well, there I can look in the mirror and tell that ain't the

truth. And there's restaurants

everywhere. We're desperate for money, but

there's credit cards and loaning and loans and institutions.

We're, we're desperate for healing.

But we, there's doctors and, and, and pharmacies and we

probably bought Tylenol this past week and didn't even have a

headache when we bought it. We say that we want lost souls.

We say that we want revival. We say we want to have a great

harvest. We say that we want to see

miracles, signs and wonders done in the name of Jesus.

But sadly, the truth is that American church only has a

desire for those things. We are not truly desperate for

them. See, this message was birthed

many years ago out of a simple prayer.

I believe I was on my way to Indiana to preach and I was

driving down the road and as I often do, I was just when I'm

driving, I just started talking to the Lord and said, God, I

want to hear your voice today. I want to, I want to talk.

I want to, I want to, I want to talk to you.

And, and I felt like God would turn the radio off because I had

the radio on. And so I reached up and turned

the radio to remove the distraction because that's why

we don't hear the voice of God off the time.

We've got too many distractions. So I turned the radio off and I

said, God, I just started praying like I've prayed so many

times and for God, I want more of you.

I want to see more of you, God. I want to see revival in America

like we see and hear about it in Africa and South America and all

these other countries and continents got.

I want to see blodded eyes opened.

Anybody else want to see that? I want to see people come in in

wheelchairs and walk out. I want to see people throw their

crutches down. I want to see dead people raised

back a lot because I don't know if you know that or not.

That's happening and around the globe.

It's just not happening in America.

And if I've ever heard the voice of God, I heard his voice that

day driving down the road. And he said America will never

see those things until America becomes desperate.

See, in Africa, South America, other continents and countries,

they walk miles and miles the church, and we complain when our

air conditioner breaks. They don't have medicines and

doctors. They bring their sick people to

him. They carry their dead, lifeless

babies in their arms because they don't have 911.

They don't have an ambulance. And they bring them to the House

of God and let a man of God pray over their babies.

And God brings them back to life.

But you know why? Because they're desperate for

it. But you know what I want today,

what I want tonight. I don't want God to have to make

me desperate. I I don't want God through

calamity or tragedy or some natural disaster.

I don't want him to make me desperate.

I want to choose desperation in the middle of being healthy, in

the middle of being blessed, in the middle of still living in

the greatest country in the world.

I want to say, God, you don't have to date, make something

happen in my life to make me want you.

I want to be desperate for you when everything is right in my

life, when everything is going good in my I choose desperation

tonight so you can desire something from God tonight.

Like I said, if you don't get it, you'll say I'll see you

tomorrow when we eat chill and you'll wait until Sunday morning

and say, well, I hope. I hope Sunday morning to be

mine. And if not we got Sunday night.

And if not, I'll wait till Wednesday night when pastors

preaching, teaching again, I'll wait till National Youth

Convention. But if you're desperate, you're

going to stay and you're going to be like Jacob and you're

going to say I will not let you go until you bless me, no matter

the cost, no matter the pain. Because I'm desperate for you,

God. I'm desperate for a change and

I'm desperate for a healing. I'm desperate for a move of God.

I'm desperate for my lost loved ones to be saved.

I'm desperate for prodigals and backsliders to come home.

I'm desperate for miracles, signs, and wonders to happen.

I'm desperate for this whole community to be on fire with the

Holy Ghost. I'm desperate for this entire

church to be filled to capacity. But I want to be God.

I want I'm not leaving, Pastor, you can.

You can turn the lights out and lock the door, friends and

family, you can go to the restaurant.

But I'm not leaving until something changes in me.

I will not let go until you bless me.

Well, I have a desire to see our church grow, but I hear a voice

from heaven tonight saying, are you desperate?

I have a desire to see my lost family say, but I hear a voice

from heaven asking us, are you desperate?

I have a desire to see the Holy Ghost poured out in this

community, but God is asking us tonight, are you desperate?

I have a desire to see miracles, signs and wonders done in this

church in this place, but Jesus is asking tonight, are you

desperate for it? And you know something else I've

learned about desperate people? Desperate people don't need an

altar call. Desperate people make altar

calls. So I'm not calling for the

musicians. I'm not calling for anybody

else. I'm just going to set this

microphone down and I'm going to walk away and we'll see what

desperation can happen in this house.