Taking Our Burdens to God in Prayer - Episode 113

Psalm 91 Course - Psalm 91 - Pray It & Believe Course with Jan L. Burt 

 

Well hey there, hello to you today. So glad you’re listening to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. Today we are looking at some Bible verses that will encourage us in our praying.

 

Prayer is, I’ve heard it said, the language of heaven and for us right now, while we are living on this planet as we await eternity, prayer is how we talk to God. And in our prayer time, we hopefully make sure to be still before the Lord, quiet ourselves and listen. God will absolutely speak to us from His word, and His Holy Spirit is our counselor, so we want to be sure we are reading the word with a heart posture that listens to what the Word of God has to say, and to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that His sheep would know His voice and the voice of another they would not follow (I believe you can read that in John chapter 10). So that indicates He intends to speak to us. Which means we need to be good at listening, right?

 

As we dig into some verses today, I hope they bless you and encourage you in your prayer life. Our God is a prayer answering God, and that is something to get excited about.

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 113.

 

The first verse I want to share with you today is from the Old Testament book of Nahum. Nahum chapter one, verse seven. I’m going to read it from the NLT. It says - 

The Lord is good,

    a strong refuge when trouble comes.

    He is close to those who trust in him.

 

So the first thing I notice here is the statement, not the question, the stated fact that the Lord is good. Is. Present tense. He is good, today, right now. Whatever may be going on, God is good. Don’t forget that. He never ceases to be good, in the right now present moments of your life. And He won’t stop being good any time soon. 

 

And because we know He is good, we can believe this verse when it promises that He is a strong refuge when trouble comes. And that He is close to those who trust in Him.

 

Look, if you tell me point blank that God is closer to those who trust in Him, then I want to be as close to Him as possible. If my promise is that the Lord will be a strong refuge when trouble comes, then I need to a) know that and b) believe that and live in the light of that truth when trouble comes into my life.

 

I cannot set up a world without trouble. Trouble is part of life here on earth. But there is so much hope in this one verse, isn’t there? The Lord is good, and that’s so hopeful! He is a strong, not a weak or wimpy or mediocre, but a strong refuge, a place of safety and security and strength, when trouble comes. And He is close to those who trust in Him. So, let’s get as close as possible to our God and trust Him with everything we’ve got. 

 

Psalm 33:18 is another verse I want us to look at today. I’m going to stick with the NLT for this verse too and it reads like this:

 

But the Lord watches over those who fear him,

    those who rely on his unfailing love.

 

So the promise here is pretty clear, and honestly I love it when it’s this blunt. What has God promised? That He watches over those who fear Him, He watches over those who rely on His unfailing love.

 

What do you rely on during the course of a typical day?

That second cup of coffee? Encouragement from your spouse or significant other? Endorphins after your workout? Netflix to “not think about anything” after a long day? A glass of wine? (for my mom, it was black coffee and a smoke break and maybe a soap opera or two). Raw cookie dough is never gonna be able to offer us the hope that the Lord does. I know that you are already aware of that - but it can be helpful to say it out loud. You know how it gets kind of worrisome when they start saying the quiet part out loud? Ya know what I mean by that? When the “bad guys” (whoever the bad guys are in any given scenario) start to say loudly and with boldness and authority what they are going to do, saying out loud the part of their plan that is so bad it usually is only whispered about, when they start saying those things out loud, well, it’s another devil at another level, ya know? And sometimes when we say out loud the things that we know to be true but we don’t like to say out loud because it isn’t the cleaned up, prettied up, gussied up part of our lives as people who love the Lord - sometimes when we say the quiet part out loud, we get a little bit bolder. We get a bit more confident in what we believe, in what God has promised, in our praying, in our witness for Jesus, in our heart to love others well and to recruit for heaven. I mean, that’s kind of what we are to be doing, right? Have you seen the hoodies that say Heaven is my home - I’m just here recruiting? I love that! God’s Word tells me so much about who He is, and since I am going to spend forever with Him, I want to know the Bible as a way to know Him well before I step into eternity. And I want to remember that this world is not my permanent home, I am a pilgrim on a journey to my real home and I want to bring as many people with me as possible. When we say certain things out loud, we refocus and get bold about the things that matter most. People, my friends, people matter the most because they live on forever, in one place or the other. In heaven or in hell. 

 

So when I say something that maybe seems like it should be whispered or kept nice and quiet and tucked away, when I speak it a little louder for the folks in the back, maybe that’s a good thing. Raw cookie dough, the smoke break, red red wine, Netflix binges, longer and longer vacations, the new boat, the new car, the new cellphone, the new wardrobe, losing ten pounds, winning that long-standing argument, the big bonus check or the new house can never be for you what the Lord alone has set Himself apart to be. He wants you and me to rely on His unfailing love. And He anchors that to this promise, and it’s a whopper of a promise, this promise to watch over us. God watching over you. His eyes are on you, He never removes His gaze from you, He does not sleep or slumber. He’s got you. Don’t jump past how amazing this promise really is. Rely on Him. The other stuff, some of it isn’t even bad stuff - but it’s not God sized stuff. It’s gravy, and that’s nice and all, but it’s not the meat and potatoes of life. Don’t sit around with a mug full of runny gravy when God has prime rib waiting for you. And if you’ve ever had really good prime rib, you know what I mean. Relying on Him and walking in this blessing of being watched over, at all times and in every situation, that’s the good stuff of life. 

 

And when you pray, rely on the Lord. Take your burdens to Him in prayer and leave them there as if you really believe He is going to do something about all that heavy stuff. Relying means something, right? Rely on Him as you pray, and leave your prayer time unburdened because you’re not relying on yourself or on anyone other than the Lord God Almighty. 

 

I’m going to share one more verse now, and it is from the book of Romans, which is in the New Testament. Romans 4:21, now this is actually the second portion of a sentence that began in verse 20, so if it sounds like I am reading part of it, well, I guess I am.  

 

This time I am going to read from the Amplified. 

 

 being fully convinced that God had the power to do what He had promised

 

When you pray, be fully convinced that God has the power to do what He has promised. Now I’m not saying this is easy, at least maybe not at first, but the more you pray with this as your core belief, that He isn’t lying to you about these promises because it is impossible for God to lie, that He isn’t withholding good things from you because His word says that you will yet see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, when you pray as a man or a woman or a child who is fully convinced that God has the power to do all He has promised, and He has that power, oh yes indeed, you will be praying differently. 

 

Ever hear someone who prays out loud and you just think, “Whoa!” They have so much faith. They seem authoritative when they pray!” They may be praying in belief, in reliance, in trust, with the authority that comes from Jesus. We don’t have authority to tell the devil nothing on our own, but when we pray in His authority, for His Kingdom to come and for His will to be done right here on earth just like it is in heaven, we are using the authority He gave us and we are using it rightly. You can pray for people to be healed of physical illnesses, and not just for the head cold. For cancer, for blindness, for heart issues, lung issues, not just for hangnails and the things that seem “safe” to ask for healing about. Pray for people to come to know Him personally so they can be freed from the ravages of a life of sin and have eternal hope that changes everything. Pray for God to open doors for you to speak into the lives of those who need to know about God. Pray for blessings at work so you have a platform to talk about the goodness of your God when people ask you (and some places, they gotta ask you first about your God or your faith and then you can answer them…well, pray for that.) 

 

And when you pray, stay fully, not partially, but fully convinced that God has the power to do what He has promised. It’s His promise, it’s His word, so just ask Him to do what He said He wants to do. And be thankful when you pray. A thankful heart, an attitude of gratitude, is so valuable in the sight of God and man. Don’t you prefer to be around thankful people a bit more than super grumpy cranky complaining people? Silly question, isn’t it?

 

Okay, that is just about it for this episode, but I do want to leave a couple of things with you here as I wrap this up.

 

Prayer is big, it’s not just by rote at bedtime or before dinner. It’s so big, it’s this incredible gift God has blessed us with. Prayer is asking, for sure, and also expecting an answer. So it is asking and receiving. Nobody went to Jesus in the Gospels and asked and then just didn’t expect an answer. Nobody asks their boss an important question and then walks out of the room expecting nothing in reply. So prayer is asking, but don’t forget that you ought to expect an answer. This is the Living God you are talking to, and I doubt He wants you to leave your prayer time expecting little to nothing from Him.

 

I have a whole lot more about prayer that I could mention, but I will get back to that in the next episode and share some more verses with you. And if you would like to enroll in the audio course on Psalm 91, Pray It and Believe It, you can do that at app.hiro.fm/channel/psalm-91-pray-it-believe-course-with-jan-l-burt

 

I’ll put the link at the top of the show notes for easy access. 

 

Pray big today, and remember our God is in the prayer answering business and His love for you knows no bounds. Ask Him for what you need. Pray for others who need what only He can give. Pray for your church family, for your pastor, for your children and your spouse and your coworkers and your neighbors. Pray. Rely on Him. See Him do great things in your midst because you took the time to pray.

 

See you next time!

 

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