Prayer and Promises

THE PROMISE 

Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

— Matthew 11:28, HCSB 

THE TESTIMONY 

The Burden-bearer, the Majesty of Heaven, has invited you to come unto Him. Come, He says, unto me, and lay your burdens upon me. 

Will you come? You may tell your sorrows to one another; but the case of others might not be like yours, so they could not appreciate your burden of sorrow should you tell them of it. 

But you open the Bible, and there you read, Come unto me, ye that are heavy laden, and ye shall find rest to your souls; and you say, Oh! here is the promise such as I need. And again you read, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and you say, Here I come to thee, Father, with my burden of anxiety, and will lay it at thy feet. You come to God in prayer, and you say, Here Lord, my anguish is so great I cannot form my prayer into words, but, Lord, thou understandest it all, and I lay my burden upon thee, the Burden-bearer. I will lay it on thee, and thou hast promised to take it. Take my burden of cares, I cannot carry it any longer; now, Lord, bear it for me.

Now since you have thus carried your burden to the Lord, leave it there; do not take it away with you. Many come to the Lord in this way, and they never really lay their burden upon him; for they gather it all up again, and carry it away with them. You are not to do this. Leave your burden there, leave it with the Burden-bearer, he has promised to take it. Then come away and say, I will not gather my burden up again, but when I have left it with Jesus, I will not begin to worry about it again. And then let the anguish of your soul be exchanged for rejoicing in the Lord. You are not to go with your heads bowed down in darkness, and crying, Oh, my troubles and perplexities! No; there is something better for you to dwell upon. It is the immortal treasure, the exceeding great reward; it is to talk of the matchless charms of the loving Saviour, and his undying love for sinners. 

— The Review and Herald, April 19, 1870 

THE RESPONSE 

Open the Bible and read this promise, Come to Me, you who are burdened, and I will give you rest.  

Pray, Here Lord, my anguish is so great I cannot form my prayer into words, but, Lord, You understandest it all, and I lay my burden upon You, the Burden-bearer. I will lay it on You and You promised to take it. Take my burden of cares, I cannot carry it any longer; now, Lord, bear it for me.

Leave your burden with the Burden-bearer, Come away and say, I will not gather my burden up again, but I have left it with Jesus, I will not worry about it again.

Let the anguish of your soul be exchanged for rejoicing in the Lord. Talk of the matchless charms of the loving Savior and His undying love for sinners.