Sep 26, 2013
No Matter How Burdened, God Can Change Your Heart
Deeply Burdened
Last week as I drove on the freeway, I was deeply burdened and full of unbelief.
I felt like David in Psalm 42 — in the pit of destruction, sinking into the miry bog.
So what could I do?
I knew I had my Scripture cards on the seat next to me, and I thought about praying over some verses.
But could God meet me when I am this burdened? Can he help me when I feel full of unbelief?
Open Invitation
Jesus did not say — “Come to me all who are rested and strong.” He said — “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden” (Matth 11:28).
He did not say — “If anyone is full let him come to me and drink.” He said — “If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37).
And David did not say — “The Lord saves the strong in spirit.” He said — “The Lord saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Which meant I had an open invitation from God to come to him for help.
God Will Change Our Hearts
The truth is that no matter how burdened, weighed-down, or unbelieving — God can change our hearts.
And not only can he change our hearts. He promises that he will.
I see that in Isaiah 57:15 —
I dwell in a high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
And Psalm 40:2-3 —
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
It’s also in Psalm 4:6-7 —
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
And then there’s Psalm 119:25 —
My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!
Praying A Promise
So I grabbed my Scripture cards and read 2 Chronicles 15:7 —
But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.
That was exactly what I needed to hear. But my heart was not feeling it. I knew I needed the heart-changing power of the Spirit. So I prayed something like this —
Father, I’m in bad shape. My heart is hard with unbelief, and your precious Word is bouncing right off it.
So, please, through Jesus’ death on the Cross, forgive my unbelief. Thank you that all I need is to look to Christ with faith, and the moment I do, you are running toward me like the Prodigal’s father ran toward him.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon me, as you promise in Luke 11:13. Use your Word to strengthen my faith, as you promise in Romans 10:17. Help me, as you promise in Isaiah 41:10.
Then I read back over 2 Chronicles 15:7 — more prayerfully this time; fighting to see and feel the truth.
But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.
What Happened
It’s hard to explain.
But as I prayed and preached to myself — take courage! Do not let your hands be weak! — my heart started to change.
Over maybe a five minute period I started not just to know but also to feel that God was real. It was like God himself was speaking those commands to me. And my faith strengthened.
Then I prayed and preached that last line to myself — for your work shall be rewarded. And as I did, I felt a little of the reward of seeing God’s glory in Christ. And I knew that this reward was mine now and forever — and would be worth it all.
I felt this so strongly that while was driving I just had to shout out — YES!
God had been faithful. He had changed my heart.
And he can — and will — change yours.
Comments? Feedback?
If you know someone this would help, email it to them using the “share” button below. Or use the other buttons to share it on your favorite social media.
If you would like to interact with others who are seeking to live by faith in Christ, visit our Forums page.
If you would like to receive a Saturday email summarizing the week’s posts — subscribe here. (I will only use your email address for Living By Faith Blog communications, and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.)
And here are some related posts you might find helpful –
- How To Fight The Fight Of Faith
- How To Strengthen Your Faith
- Why Keep Praying When I’m Feeling Dull?
- Why Do I Feel Far From God?
(Picture is from Everystockphoto by soopahtoe.)
Thanks Steve, this was helpful. I’ve got some more promises in my arsenal.
You are so welcome, Ash. I’m glad this was helpful!
Once again, Your words and scripture have been an encouragement!
Ron
I’m so glad to hear it Ron — and thank you for your encouragement as well.
Hi Steve,
Once again, many, many thanks for your faithful witness in this blog. I needed to hear this today. I’m going to print it out so that I can pray it through until it stirs my heart as it did yours. My husband and I have been in ministry for over 29 years and have experienced wonderful times and also, very hard times. But nothing weighs on me more than 2 of our 5 grown children who are not following the Lord . . .yet. It affects me in all areas and seems to be the hardest battle not to get discouraged as I wait for the Lord to answer that heartfelt, constant prayer of mine. I refuse to let it paralyze me in ministry but truthfully, it is hard. I ask for your prayers for me and for them. That the Lord will continue to strengthen my husband and me in faith and show us ways to reach them – and that we will be buoyed up, energized and inspired by Him to faithfully serve as we wait. Thanks so much. I am praying for you too.
Thank you for your encouraging words. I will pray for you right now.
In Christ, Steve Fuller
Thank you Steve for being open and honest so that God’s faithfulness and glory can be shown to people like me! I experienced a very similar situation yesterday and today and was tempted to run from God in shame from my unbelief but He reminded me that His grace is sufficient for me for His power is made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and that we should come to Him with our unbelief like John the baptist did in the beginning of Matthew 11. Thank you again brother.
Hi Luke,
I am so glad this encouraged you. And that’s a really helpful point about what John the Baptist did with his unbelief — bringing it to Jesus.
Onward in Christ!
Steve Fuller
Everything you have written is exactly what I needed today. I thank God for letting me stumbled across your blog. I praise God He enriches men like you to encourage others. Thank you for posting this. God bless 🙂
Hi Kai,
I’m so glad you found this encouraging. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Hello Steve, I have been studying your teachings and the comments. You teach in such a humble and attainable manner. Then the patience and brotherly love you give out in the comments are a testament of the command on brotherly love. Actually, loving others is what I have the most difficult with. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you dont love or trust yourself all that much,how do you do it?
Thank you for the example you are showing,
Tess
Thank you so much for your encouraging words, Tessa.
And regarding loving your neighbor as yourself — I think Jesus’ point is that we all already love ourselves, in the sense that we always seek what will bring us the most joy. So Jesus is calling us to seek others’ joy in the same way we seek our own joy.
And the reason we can do that is because we are seeing and feeling all we have in Christ, so our own longing for joy is being fulfilled to overflowing — in him. I hope that helps some.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
The site was helpful, we seem to get judged by people quite often, we believe in the power of God, Jesus, we don’t always live up to our responsibilities that God wants from us tho, God has been changing our hearts for sometime now, I’m thankful that my friend has shown me better ways of dealing with certain things, more godly ways, I’m thankful God has put her in my life, I also help her in certain ways also that brings her peace that God gives, this life’s very tuff to be honest within yourself of who you really are, what the Lord sees in who we really are, I pray God gives you all peace thru Jesus, I pray for God to help us all be closer to what he wants us to be, we are struggling with a few things, and family, please if you would pray for God to show us what he wants, and helps us be a family again, love you brothers and sisters