Praying Scripture: For When You're Brokenhearted and Exhausted

            Psalm 34:17-18:  “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

            Matthew 11:28-30:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

            1 Peter 5:6-7:  “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

            Romans 8:28:  “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

            Lord, I am crying out to You right now.  I am brokenhearted and I need You.  You promise to save those who are crushed in spirit.  You promise to lighten my burden and to help my soul find rest.  I need that right now.  Please, help me find rest for my soul. 

            I am falling down before You right now, weary and exhausted.  I cannot keep carrying the burdens I have been carrying, and so I am putting them down at Your feet right now.  Help me learn what Your yoke is - the jobs and responsibilities that You want for me, not the more burdensome ones that I place on myself.  Help me to let go of my heavier and harder yoke so that I can take up Your lighter and easier one instead.  In fact, I realize now that depression and anxiety and fear are burdens that I have been carrying around, and they have become too crushing for me to carry anymore.  And so I am putting them down now.  I cannot bear those burdens any longer and I am giving them to You.      

            Lord, I admit that I have been trying to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, but it’s too much for me.  And it never was my responsibility to begin with.  And so I am putting the responsibilities that are not mine back into Your hands and asking You to take care of the things that I can’t take care of.  I am humbling myself before You, admitting that You are God and I am not.  I cannot keep trying to do Your job.  I cannot carry the world’s problems or anyone else’s problems.   I cannot even carry my own problems by myself.  I am not big enough or strong enough.  But You are.  And so I am trusting in Your wisdom and Your capable hands to carry all these problems and to help me through mine.  I am getting off of Your throne and humbling myself at Your feet and asking You to lift me up again when it is time. 

            I trust that You really do care for me and that You can handle my concerns, and so I give You all of my anxieties right now and ask You to fix them in Your time and in Your way.  (Maybe list each anxiety right now, on paper or out loud.)  Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness and for being able to handle the things that I can’t, for promising to work good things out of all the messes in life.  Please, just put Your arms around me right now and give me Your comfort.  Tell me that You are with me and that it will be okay.

           In Jesus's name, Amen

For more encouragement, also see https://lovehealme.blogspot.com/2017/08/war-rooms-praying-scripture-and.html

                   

And an updated version:

Prayer for the Brokenhearted and Exhausted

Psalm 34:17-18: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Deuteronomy 31:8: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Philippians 4:13: “I can do everything through him [Christ] who gives me strength.”

Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”

Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

 

          Lord, I am crying out to You right now.  I am brokenhearted, and I need You.  You promise to save those who are crushed in spirit if we cry out to You.  You promise to lighten my burden and to help my soul find rest.  I need that right now.  I am falling down before You, weary and exhausted.  I admit that I have been trying to carry the weight of the world, of my world, on my shoulders, but it’s too much for me.  I cannot carry the world’s problems, anyone else’s problems, or even my own anymore.  I am not big enough or strong enough.  But thankfully You are. 

          I know that You are a big God.  And so I will trust in Your wisdom and Your capable hands to carry all the problems, to help me through my trials, and to make something good out of my life.  I am getting off of Your throne and humbling myself at Your feet, asking You to lift me up again when it is time.  And until then, I will rest in You.  I will trust You to handle the things I can’t handle and to help me with the things I can.  Tell me what I need to do to find rest for my soul, give me the strength to do it, and then help me to let go of everything else.  Tell me which things I need to give You control over.  You are God and I am not.  Forgive me for forgetting this sometimes.  Teach me how to let You be God of my life.           

          I believe that You really do care for me, love me, and want the best for me.  Even if I don’t feel it sometimes, I will believe it just because You said it.  And if You are a God of love, then I know I can trust You.  And so I put my life – my concerns, my problems, my circumstances, my future – fully into Your hands right now.  I give You all of my fears, depression, and heart wounds, and I trust You to fix them, to heal them, to use them for good, in Your time and in Your way.  (Maybe list each one, on paper or out loud, and pray them over to God.)  I cannot bear those heavy burdens any longer, and so I am giving them to You to worry about for me.  Please, give me Your peace and Your comfort in their place.

          Thank You, Lord, for being faithful, for being able to handle the things I can’t, and for promising to turn all the bad into something good, even my sins and mistakes.  Please put Your arms around me right now and comfort me.  Heal my broken heart.  Help me learn to rest in You.  Tell me that You are with me and that it will be okay, no matter what comes my way.  Because as long as You are with me, I can face the future and do anything You ask me to do.  Thank You for being a powerful, loving, good, gracious God.              

          In Jesus’s name,  Amen