In Week 3’s Online Bible Study on Psalms & our Identity, we studied this theme:
God cares about me and hears my prayers, therefore I can release my burden to Him.
There are many helpful Psalms that teach us prayer on exactly how to do that. I love this because when I have a painful burden or worry, someone telling me "The Bible says to not worry," is fine in the fact that it teaches me the truth,
but telling me to just "not worry" is not helpful in telling me HOW IN THE WORLD am I supposed to do that???
Thankfully, God gave us the Psalms to give us the "how".
A few years ago, I went through a very hard season where I was having a lot of anxiety issues. The Psalms were my lifeline. They taught me how to pray, and how to truly release my burdens to God.
I began to pray with honesty.
I began to pray with my heart, not with a checklist or plan.
I began to know God and trust Him in a brand new way.
I found this Psalm to be absolutely REAL and TRUE to me personally – "Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." Psalm 9:10.
Below are a 3 practical things God taught me that have helped me to release burdens to God that I’ll pass on to you:1 – Ask God to reveal any sin you are fighting. Have you ever had an ongoing sin that you know you need to stop? Have you noticed that ignoring it can cause a lot of unrest, discord, anger, lack of sleep, headaches, high levels of anxiety, etc? If this is the case with you (as it has been with me before!), confess the sin and then live in the truth that God has forgiven your guilt (Psalm 32:5). His unfailing love surrounds the person who trusts Him (Psalm 32:10).
2 – Maybe the burden has absolutely nothing to do with anything except just a sad/painful/hard situation of life. We all have and will off/on have these seasons. Here are a couple of things I’ve done to help release this type of burden.
Tell Him (or do this in a journal), "God, I trust you with ___________." and name whatever you’re struggling with. Write it out and restate that you are TRUSTING HIM with it as many times as you need to. Read through Psalm 32, or another that you like, over and over until you feel God’s peace come over you. And just to warn you, the burden does come back…maybe an hour later, maybe the next day… be ready to repeat this again and again!
Open the Psalms and just start reading/skimming, taking in verses about trusting God. I did this the other day when I woke up super worried about something. I had a burden on me that literally felt like a weight. I opened my Bible and just started reading certain verses from Psalms as I turned each page. I went through the entire book, skimming and picking out different verses and by the end, no joke, that weight was lifted. It was such a relief. I can only say that God’s Word is real and true when it says that it "revives the soul".
If you’d like a few verses from Psalms to underline in your Bible about releasing burdens, here are a few of my favorites:
– Psalm 3:5 – The Lord sustains me.
– Psalm 9:10 – Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
– Psalm 10: 17 – You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.
– Psalm 31: 14-15 – But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands.
– Psalm 62:8 – Trust in Him at all times, pour out your hearts to Him for God is our refuge.
– Psalm 121:1-2 – I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Registerfor "To Know Him, A Study of Psalms" online Bible Study.
Week 1The Way You THINK God Views You Shapes How You View Yourself
Week 2– Making Wise Decisions
(PDF) on Psalms that Help You Release Burdens.
Love & Blessings,
Allison