Episode #409: Worship in the Midst of the Hard Thing – Praying Scripture – Praying Scripture
From Today's Episode:
From Today’s Episode
In today’s episode, we talk about casting your cares upon Him.
If you tend to carry everything on your own and forget to hand it back to God, this one's for you. In today's episode, we pray through Matthew 11 and 1 Peter 5 as a way to release what's heavy and actually receive the rest and care God is offering—plus a simple way to invite your kids into that practice with you. It's a moment of faith-based reflection for anyone who's overwhelmed and just wants to feel close to God again.
Our Good God talks with us and we're created for life with Him, so let's experience more of it!
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Verse
Matthew 11: 28-30
1 Peter 5:6-7
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Question
God, what does it look like for me to release my burdens to you and receive the care you offer me? And how can I worship you through this?
Here's the episode transcript
Hey, friends. Today we're praying Scripture to God. We're using it to help give us words and things to be thinking about as we're talking with Him. And we're gonna be looking at some verses that help us bring our heavy burdens and lay them at His feet.
But first, a story. I have a hard thing that's going on in my life right now, and I was feeling broken-hearted about it earlier today. I still am, but it was heavier earlier. And I'm also homeschooling my oldest kid right now, and he is very aware of people's emotions, and so I knew that he was gonna feel that I was in my feelings. And I also recognized that I wanted to use this as an opportunity to teach him, to model for him as he can come alongside me as I go to God in prayer, for the things that are hurtful.
And so, I had him sit down with me, and I'm explaining to him “Mom's feeling sad right now, and I wanted you to know, so you don't worry, 'cause it's not about you. But I'm gonna be spending some time worshiping God and talking to Him about the things that are heavy and sad in my heart, because I wanna give them to Him. I don't have to carry them on my own. And then I worship because I want to lift my eyes up. I want to lift up my perspective beyond just my circumstances. To help remember, instruct, inform my spirit to think on who God is, and how He cares for me, and how He is trustworthy, and to worship Him even in the midst of the hard thing.” And so I invited him to participate with me in the ways that he wanted to.
But I share that today because that's a practice that's really helpful for me, and I think it's helpful for a lot of us to normalize coming to the Lord when things are hard. And also coming to the Lord to worship in the moments that are difficult, to release to Him the burdens that we carry. And I can tend to want to carry them on my own. to feel like I gotta figure things out.
My receiver has been broken in the past for many years. If you've been around, you've heard me say this before. And I am growing in my ability to receive, which often means releasing to God the things that are heavy, 'cause I don't have to carry them on my own. And so that's what we're praying through today. First, from Matthew 11, 28 through 30. Jesus says,
"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
God, I thank you that we can come to you when we are heavy laden, and that you offer rest to us. Where I can try and work myself harder until I feel like I've deserved or earned rest, you offer it freely.
You say, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
God, I thank you that you're gentle, that you are gentle with us. In the times that we feel fragile, that we can come to you. That you are lowly in heart. You descend, God, you come low to be at our level, to be with us. And your burdens are light. You remove from me the heavy things. And so I give that to you now. The thing that I am carrying that has been heavy, I ask you to help me carry it. I give it to you and I receive the rest you offer me.
And we also see this in 1 Peter 5:6-7. "Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
God, I thank you that you care for us, that we can come and give you the things that are too heavy for us, casting all of our cares upon you because you care for us. We can trust you to carry them. We can trust you to carry them because you care for us, and we can humble ourselves under your mighty hand to lift up our perspective and see that you are mighty and great and good, and your purposes are not thwarted.
So Lord, I ask you to show me how to live from this place, ‘cause I can pick up those burdens again. I can give them to you in prayer and then pick them up with me when I leave. I can forget to lift up my perspective to see you above and in my circumstances. So God, I ask that you help me to do that.
And that leads me to the question that I wanna leave you with today as you continue this conversation with God:
God, what does it look like for me to release my burdens to you and receive the care you offer me? And how can I worship you through this?
Have a good talk.
And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!
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