Prayer is a key element of the Christian life.

I don’t think any of us would argue that.

But it is also not the easiest aspect of the Christian life.

Praying Colossians 1 free download

Welcome to this BONUS episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show!

In this episode you'll hear an excerpt from The Prayer Podcast as we take a look at Romans 12 verse 1 and learn some things about prayer.

I pray this bonus episode will be encouraging for you.

Remember, when you know God's promises and you pray boldly based on those promises, you'll see mountains move in your life and in your heart.

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Prayer can feel risky, can’t it? It can feel safer to go to church each week, to follow through with the read the Bible in a year checklist, to go to small group now and then…and to let others do the praying, especially the out-loud praying.

I get it. I’m pretty introverted. Like, I’m guessing about half of the people in the world. It’s probably about a 50/50 split of introverts and extroverts. Not all of us enjoy the spotlight, being the focus of all the attention in the room. And some people, the other half of the world’s population, do seem to like the limelight. Both of these can be problematic when it comes to prayer.

Does God want showy prayers? Or genuine ones? Look at me kind of praying, or head bowed, seeking the heart of the Lord kind of praying?

Psalm 51, verse 6 says that God desires truth, or honesty, in the inmost being. Honesty from the heart. I have found it very helpful for me to pray that way - honestly, from my heart. And that also makes it so much easier for me to pray in public, even as an introvert. So if you struggle with praying aloud in a group setting, this verse may be encouraging or helpful for you. And it takes the pressure off - what we want when we pray out loud in front of others, and what we think they want when we pray. Focusing on what God wants takes a lot of the zing out of it.

Today we are going to look at a verse from the book of Proverbs, and it is often referred to as a book of wisdom. That’s accurate.

And I think this verse I’m going to share with you is going to bless you in regard to your prayer time. And of course, I get the privilege of praying for you today based on this verse.

Proverbs 15:29 - NLT - The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the righteous.

Far from.

We want our prayers to be heard, or why would we spend time praying?

And if we spend time praying and want our prayers to be heard, we also want them to be answered.

It’s weird to pray and not expect an answer, and that can happen to all of us; sometimes we just pray through our prayer list and don’t give a lot of thought to the expectation of God’s answer. So, we don’t want that to be our default. But if we prayed and never really ever at all expected any sort of answer to any of our prayers, that would be strange.

We expect to be heard and to get an answer. Obtaining an answer is really a huge part of why we pray. There is a need -  we need help, an illness, finances, work troubles, all the things we pray about. We are looking for answers and when we take those things to the Lord in prayer, we are going to the One who has answers, who can help us when we need it.

This verse shows us that a key part of achieving that end goal of answered prayer is not to be far from God. It says He is far from the wicked, but hears the prayers of the righteous. As followers of Jesus, we know that our righteousness is through Him and not of our own good works (“good works” is in air quotes, because none of us is righteous and that’s why we need a Savior).

How can we ensure we are not far from God?

Well, let’s maintain our spiritual integrity.

Integrity isn’t what we do out in public, in front of everyone, on the social media platforms, not even on Sunday morning at church. I mean, we want to be people of integrity in public, since that’s where we go to work, where we interact with others, and so yeah, we need to have integrity in public but if our private life is the opposite of our public life, then it’s not true integrity. Am I the same in both places? Or do I wear some kind of mask? How’s my integrity? How am I doing at this whole person of integrity thing?

So spiritual integrity could be our private life with the Lord, not solely the more public aspect of our Christian life. We want to have integrity all the time, not just some of the time. And if somebody runs into us in a non-church setting, well they shouldn’t be totally shocked by who we are and who we aren’t.

It goes beyond Sunday morning.

Does my love for Jesus plumb the depths of my heart and soul and life?

Spoiler alert: it should.

I think moral courage comes into play, too.

Think about what it looks like to have moral courage in 2023, which is when I am recording this episode. Moral courage can be viewed wrongly by society as a whole. And that is one reason it can be hard to live out. I mean, we don’t want to be unloving, because we know Jesus wants us to love well. But we don’t want to be cowards, afraid to let anybody know we follow Jesus.

Moral courage and spiritual integrity. Living for the Lord all the time, that sums it up well.

And why are we focused on those things, again? Because Proverbs 15:29 promises that the righteous will have their prayers heard by God.

This is critical. Too critical to just leave to chance.

I want to pray well. And I want those prayers to obtain answers. I want God’s very best, and I will not truly know what that is if I don’t know what the Bible says. And so, I read my Bible and I pray to the best of my ability in accordance with the Word of God.

Proverbs 15:29 - The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to pray for you now.

Lord, thank You for this verse from the wisdom of the Bible. Thank You for showing us clearly that we can be assured You will hear us when we pray. Thank You for the righteousness we have through Your Son, Jesus. You have been so very gracious to us, and we are so very thankful for that grace.

Lord, would you bless each listener with braveness to pray to You about the things that are weighing heavy on their hearts today? Would You give them the exact wisdom that they need in that exact situation. Heal them if they are in need of any sort of healing. Provide for them if they are facing financial lack, or any other kind of lack in their life. You have promised to meet all of our needs, and so I am asking You to do that today. Open doors to bless them, lead them to people who can help them move forward in life. Bless their families and their workplaces and their friendships and the churches they attend.

Take care of them daily, Lord. Emotionally and physically and spiritually, take good and careful care of each one listening today.

May they experience Your love in powerful ways, and may they find all that they have longed for in a close relationship with You. Show up for them. Show off for them. Let them know that they are the apple of Your eye, and You never take Your eyes off of them or stop thinking about them. Thank You for the hope that You offer us for the future, and for eternity.

Bless them in mighty ways today, and may they pray in boldness and receive what they need from You. Answer quickly, Lord. Do not delay - we have needs that are urgent, so I am beseeching You to move quickly.

In Jesus Name - Amen

Thank you for the blessing of praying for and with you, and thank you for listening today.

If this episode has been encouraging, feel free to share it with someone. And I’d also like to ask for reviews or comments, as those will help more people to find the podcast, especially in the new days of a new podcast. It makes a tremendous difference, to say the least.

I also have a free resource for you, it is a prayer guide that follows Colossians chapter 1, and you can get that for free at the link here in the show notes. And you can email me at any time with prayer requests at JanLBurt@outlook.com and I will be praying for every request I receive.