Living From Sunday 2 Sunday
Living From Sunday 2 Sunday
EP 160: Finding Peace in Prayer
Prayer can transform our mental health in ways nothing else can. When life overwhelms us with challenges, disappointments, and struggles that seem too heavy to bear, there's profound comfort in knowing we have the ear of an all-powerful God who invites our unfiltered honesty.
Through Psalm 55:16-18 and Psalm 61, we discover the remarkable truth that God doesn't require perfectly polished prayers or sanitized emotions. He wants all of us—our complaints, our frustrations, our anger, and our fears. The Psalmist boldly declares, "Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice." This certainty that God listens changes everything about how we approach prayer and mental wellbeing.
Many believers struggle with vulnerability in prayer, believing they must present only their best selves to God. Yet the opposite proves true—our authentic connection with God deepens when we bring our most raw emotions to Him. Whether facing battles of our own making through poor decisions or circumstances beyond our control, God remains our refuge, "a strong tower against the enemy." The safest place in existence isn't found in perfect circumstances but in the will of God.
When anxiety threatens to overwhelm us, the key isn't to loosen our grip on God but to tighten it. Like children who cling more desperately to their parents during frightening moments, our spiritual response to increasing pressure should be increasing dependence. Our history with God—those moments when He's proven faithful in the past—becomes our evidence for trusting Him with our present and future.
Ready to transform your approach to prayer and mental health? Subscribe to our podcast wherever you listen, and join a community discovering the peace that comes from bringing both our highs and lows before God who eagerly awaits our every word.
Welcome to the Living From Sunday to Sunday podcast with your host, pastor B. This podcast is designed to help you walk faithfully with God through the various trials and challenges this life presents. The truth of who we are is revealed in our lives in between Sundays. You will be inspired, challenged and equipped to live a victorious life that will bring glory to God himself. Come on, let's get started. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Living from Sunday to Sunday podcast. I am your host, pastor B. I want to thank you guys so much for tuning in to tonight's episode. Please make sure that you like, share and subscribe to this podcast everywhere where it may be found and if you're watching on YouTube, please make sure that you like and subscribe so that you'll know anytime that a new episode drops.
Speaker 1:I believe that this is the best 15 minutes of your day, because a real change happens 15 minutes at a time. Well, I'm continuing our listener appreciation episodes, god and finding peace and serenity in prayer time and in him hearing our cries and requests, all right. So one of the questions that I ask is what scripture is helping you maintain your mental health? Maintain your mental health, and so one of the responses that I got and I want to thank Omega Luster for her response to this question. She says that Psalms 55, verses 16 through 18, really, really helps her. So we're going to talk about this scripture and a couple of others. All right, all right, here we go.
Speaker 1:It says again this is Psalm 55, verse 16 through 18. It says but I call to God and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice. He redeems my soul and safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. And what I love about this scripture is the surety of what this psalmist is writing. He says that I will call upon God. I am confident that God is the solution, he's the answer, he is the one that I should call on, because in times past when I've called on God, he has answered me. And I think it's really really important for us to understand that we have the ear of God, that there is nothing too difficult. God does not listen to, there's nothing we can do that will turn him away, and I think that's really really important Whenever we think about coming to God. Right, because many times prayer is shunned because we don't think that we can be honest with God, we don't think we can be vulnerable with him, but he is seeking that connection, that fellowship, right. And so whenever we call on God, whenever we petition him, this psalm is saying that the Lord is going to hear us, he's going to save us. Whenever we are in trouble, whenever we are in despair, whenever we are in a tight bind, when we call on God, he is going to hear us. Right. And I think it's so important for us to have confidence in that right and knowing that he won't leave us defenseless. But he, he's listening for our prayers and our cries and he's ready to help us in our time of need. And the consistency, as well as the variety of location in verse 17, I think is very, very important. It says evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint in Mo. So it doesn't matter what time, it doesn't matter what place. Any time is a good time to call on the name of God right. In him we have security, in him we find safety.
Speaker 1:This particular psalm, the psalmist, is talking about how he is facing trials. He's facing difficulty, he's facing so much opposition and he needs God to protect him. He needs God to save him from the traps of the enemy. And so, no matter where you find yourself, know that God has the ability, know that God has the desire to rescue you from the snares and the traps of the enemy. All we have to do is call on him, right? Know that God is able and willing to deliver you from the snares of the enemy because, again, it is his desire, god's desire for fellowship, he wants a relationship with you and there's no power on earth that is stronger than the power of our God right.
Speaker 1:So we utter our complaints and we moan. Look many times in life, man, we don't always love the situations that life presents, right? Sometimes we find ourselves in snares and traps of our own making. Sometimes we've made bad choices and bad decisions, and so we're in a position that really is self-imposed. But even whenever we complain, even when we moan, even when we petition God saying Lord, I trusted this person and they let me down, god, I really, really thought that this situation was the best situation, and now I'm upside down on this house, I'm upside down on this car. I've made some poor decisions and some bad investments. God still wants to hear us. We don't have to petition God in a sanitized way. We can voice our frustrations, we can voice our concerns.
Speaker 1:You hear me say this scripture a lot, because it's something that I really, really love about God that we can cast our cares, our worries, our fears, our threats upon God, our worries, our fears, our threats upon God, and know that he cares for us. Right, he wants that, that relationship Right. And so know that in your, in your complaints, in your anger, in your disappointment, your frustration with life situations, god has an open ear to that. God has an open ear to that. Ok, and then verse 18, it says he redeems my soul in safety, right From the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. Right, many people are trying to discourage me, many circumstances are trying to overwhelm my soul, but in God we can find safety, in him we can find security.
Speaker 1:All right, I want to look at one other psalm that is closely related to this one, and it is found in Psalm 61. Psalm 61, it says hear my cry, o God, listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth, I call to you when my heart is faint, lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever. Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings. I have a question for you. Do you have history with God? Is there a reference point, something that you can point back to that is a proven moment that God has rescued you, that he's kept you, that he's delivered you right? If you have that moment, never forget that right. You can even remind God of what he's done right. If he's done it before, he is willing to do it again. He's able to do it again.
Speaker 1:And many times, whenever we are faced with with trials, with obstacles, whenever our bills are due, whenever there is a threat of of us losing things that are valuable to us, this can cause our heart to become overwhelmed, for anxiety to overwhelm our hearts, our minds. We can start having panic attacks. Right, because in the moment, hope seems lost. But with this, scripture says is that when my heart is faint, when I am about to lose my mind, when I'm about to give up on everything, lead me back to God. Lead me back to that place in time when I first believed you. Remind me of your goodness, remind me of the time when I felt this way in the past and how you rescued me. Direct me, lord, back to your place of safety, because the safest place in the entire world is in the will of God.
Speaker 1:Right, we must not forget the goodness, the kindness, the greatness of God, our father, because sometimes what happens whenever, even whenever we don't try, the goodness of God isn't always directly in front of us. We don't think about it, but we have to be reminded. Right, we have to recall the faithfulness of God, and this is the beautiful thing about knowing that God can be trusted, knowing that he hears us when we cry, knowing that God is seeking for us to be restored in such a way that our faith is renewed and we reconnect to who God is. Right. It is very, very true that peace with God comes when you are comfortable with both your ups and your downs, knowing that in him he is the best friend, the best confidant, your place of shelter and refuge that you can run to, that you can stay connected to.
Speaker 1:Many times, whenever there are dangers in lives, your children typically run, especially when they're young. They'll run to their parents and they'll hold on tight to their legs, right, and it doesn't matter what dangers come their way. They'll never let go of their parents' hand or they'll never loosen their grip on their father's legs. And that's how God wants us to be. God wants us to stay connected because in this life we shall have tribulation, we have, we shall have trials, but we should be a good cheer. Why? Because God will overcome and has overcome the world. So when storms come, when situations come that are more than what we can bear, let's return back to God. Come that are more than what we can bear, let's return back to God. Let's not loosen our grip, but let's tighten our grip to God, our Father. Let's re-engage in his word, let's spend more time in his presence, knowing that in him there is safety, he is our refuge and we are forever safe in his arms.
Speaker 1:Well, guys, this is all the time I have for today, but again, make sure that you like, share and subscribe to this podcast everywhere where it may be found, of course. Good Pods, spotify, Apple Podcasts those are some of the major ones, but you can find this podcast everywhere. Can find this podcast everywhere. And if you're watching on YouTube, make sure that you subscribe to the channel, like this video and hit the notification bell so that you can be alerted every time a new episode drops. So listen until the next time. Y'all have a great weekend. We'll see you when we see you. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe to our channel, as well as this podcast everywhere, everywhere when they Can Be Found. Have a great one.
