When God Is on Your Side

Have you ever felt trapped by a situation? Have you ever found yourself in distress, overwhelmed by circumstances, disappointed by people, or uncertain about what tomorrow might bring?

Perhaps you've prayed through tears, carried burdens no one else could see, or wondered how you were going to make it through another day.

Our Scripture today comes from Psalm 118:5-9, a powerful reminder that when we call upon the Lord, He answers us, stands with us, and proves Himself more trustworthy than anyone else.

Transcript

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Good morning and welcome to I Curl Let's Pray Ministries, the podcast where hearts are encouraged, faith is strengthened, and you are reminded that someone occurs, God occurs, and so do I. Thank you all for joining me today. I am forever grateful and indebted to God for every heart that is listening right now. And today we're going to talk about when God is on your side. Amen. Have you ever felt trapped by a situation? Have you ever found yourself in distress, overwhelmed by circumstances, disappointed by people, or uncertain about what tomorrow might bring? Perhaps you prayed through tears, carried burdens no one else could see, or wondered how you were going to make it through another day. If that's where you are today, I want you to know that God hears you, God sees you, and God is with you. Our scripture today is going to come from Psalms 118, 5 through 9. A powerful reminder that when we call upon the Lord, he answers us. Amen. He stands with us and proves himself more trustworthy than anyone else. Psalms 118, 5 through 9 states, I called upon the Lord in my distress. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side. I would not fear what can man do unto me. The Lord taketh my part with them that help me. Therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Amen. May the Lord have a blessing to the hearing and the reading and the doing of his word. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Holy Father, we thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for allowing us to gather around your word this morning. Thank you for every listener who has joined us today. You know every burden, every concern, every prayer request, and every challenge they are facing. Holy Father, remind us through your word right now that you are our refuge, that you are our strength, and that you are help, our help in the times of trouble. Let faith arise where fear has tried to take hold, that hope rise where discouragement has settled in. Speak to our hearts, oh God, today, right now, and remind us that you are always faithful. It's in your son, your darling son, do you guys name we pray? Amen. Amen, amen, amen. I called upon the Lord in distress. And he heard my cry. That's enough right there to shout. I called upon the Lord in my distress. And the Lord heard me. That is a blessing that the Lord heard me. Notice He didn't say, He didn't say he never had trouble. He didn't say life was always easy. He didn't say he never faced pressure. Instead, he admitted he was in distress. That's encouraging because many believers, like me and you, think we should never feel overwhelmed. But even the heroes of faith experienced difficult moments in the Bible. The difference is they knew where to take their troubles, right? The psalmist took his distress to God. And what happened? The Lord answered me. Let's pause one moment. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. I'm telling you, to hear the Lord answering me means the Lord is still working today. He can still hear it because there is comfort in knowing that when we call on him, he hears us. Sometimes his answer comes immediately, sometimes it comes gradually. Sometimes it comes differently than what we expect. But God always hears the cries of his children. The psalmist says that God set him in a large place. In other words, God brought him out of restriction and into freedom, out of pressure and into peace, out of fear and into confidence, out of distress and into deliverance. The Lord is on my side. Verse 6 is one of the most powerful declarations in the scripture, right? The Lord is on my side. I would fear not. Pause on that for one moment. The Lord is on my side. The Lord is on your side. So we shall not fear because the Lord is working on your behalf. The creator of the heavens and the earth is on your side. The one who spoke light into existence is on your side. The God who poured the red seas is on your side. The God who raised Jesus from the dead is on your side. That doesn't mean life will trouble will be trouble-free. I'm telling you, everybody's gonna go through something, but you're not gonna face it alone. Amen. Spirit has to lose its power when we remain steadfast in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ's word. Spirit loses its power when we call on the name of Jesus. When God is on your side, you can face uncertain days through the blood of Jesus Christ. When God is on your side, you can walk through difficult seasons. When God is on your side, you can keep on moving forward, even when you don't have all the answers. Amen. Trusting God over people, that's where it's at. You can't trust man, you got to trust God. Verse 8 and that tells us and teaches us about this experience. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. People, and we say this all the time, we know this. People can get our hopes up just to shoot us down. And you know how they say don't count all your chickens before they hatch? And people do that. Oh yeah, they said they're gonna do this, and oh, they say they're gonna invest in this, and they say they're gonna take me here and they're gonna do that. And then we get all excited and it comes tumbling down. People can make these promises, I'm telling you, but they cannot keep them. People can change their mind in 2.3 seconds, but when you serve a God that cannot lie, he's right there by your side, walking with you. He's not saying people ain't important. That's not what the psalmist is saying. He's saying our ultimate trust belongs to God. Our relationships are blessings, our friends are a blessing, our leaders are a blessing, but none of them should take the place of God in our lives, amen. When our confidence is rooted in people alone, disappointment is inevitable. When our confidence is rooted in God, stability follows, amen. Have you truly given whatever burden in your life over to the Lord? Are you trying to carry yourself? That's our reflection question. That's the only one. Have you truly given all your burdens over to God? Are you still trying to carry them alone? Because God is truly faithful. I'm asking you, pleading with you, begging you to trust God. Because I'm telling you, God is faithful. Give God a chance. Believe in Him. Something might have broken your heart, but I'm telling you, God didn't break your heart. And sometimes when things happen in life, we be the first one. God, why would you let this happen? God, I'm hurt. God, I'm broken. God, you said if I was serving, God, I've been paying my tasks. I've been coming to church. I've been on the usher board. I've been on the deacon board. I've been in the ministry with the children, and I've been tatted. I've been going out and evangelized. I've been going to the soup kitchens and everything's still falling apart. But God said, I'm still with you. I never said life was gonna be peaches and cream. Everybody's gonna go through something. That's how he gets the glory, and that's how we become a testimony. So I'm telling you, whatever burdens you're carrying, and you feel like you can't give them over to God, and you're trying to solve it on your own, I'm telling you to trust in God. Take a moment after this podcast and reflect on God's faithfulness and his goodness, right? And don't carry it alone. Trust in God, hope in God, believe in God, amen. And just cast your cares on him and ask him to help your unbelief because you want to believe like you believed before, amen. Remember the tabs he made away when there seemed to be no way. Hold on to God's unchanging hand. And I want to tell you this truth before we go into prayer. And I've been saying it. God is on your side, He has not forgotten you. I'm telling you, God sees you. He has not abandoned you, He has not overlooked your prayers. He is a persistent God. He is pursuing you, He's working on it, and He always answered in His due season with His answer. We just have to ask God to equip us to accept whatever His answer may be and to accept His answer, whichever way it may come. God might give us a word through a song, through a preacher, through a friend, through a family member, through a thought, through a word through our spirit. But we have to remember the same God who brought victory into our hearts before will bring us victory again, peace, freedom, and more victory. So I'm telling you, turn it over to God, keep praying, keep trusting, keep believing because God is on your side. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Honey Father, we thank you for being our refuge and our strength. Thank you for hearing us when we call upon you in our distress, oh God. Honey Father, today we surrender everything over to you because we know that you are faithful. Honey Father, remind us that you are walking with us step by step, movement by movement, Honey Father. Left, right, left, right, right, left, right, left. You're in sync with us, oh God, and we're falling behind you. Honey Father, I pray that when we get weak and when the listener gets weak, that you will carry us, oh God. So you said in the sand where you see one set of footprints, that's where you carry us, oh God. God, I'm praying that you will let them know, every listener know, that you are still carrying them today. Strengthen their heart, master, and spirit today. Encourage them, Henry Father. Comfort them, Heavenly Father, provide for them, Heavenly Father, heal them, Heavenly Father, and restore them, oh God. Give them peace if their hearts are troubled right now. Give them great peace, oh God. I pray. God, I thank you for every listener's faithfulness. Thank you for your promises over their life. Thank you for your unfailing love upon their life. Thank you, oh God, for trusting them with the gifts and talents that you have given unto them. Heavenly Father, I pray that you move on their behalf today, oh God. I pray that you let them see your splendor, your all today, Heavenly Father. God, help them to be captivated in your beauty today, Heavenly Father. Let them know that you are on their side and they can call out in their distress, and you're going to hear and answer their prayer, Heavenly Father. Help them not to fear, oh God, because you are with them. They're a rod and their staff that comforts them each and every day. Henry Father, let them know that you are leading the way to cast all their curves on you, Henry Father. God, help them to hold on until their change comes. It is in your darling Sunday, Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. I feel like I was all over the place today, but that's okay. Um, I just thank you all for joining once again. I pray that you got something out of the podcast. As always, I pray that the God that we serve shower down blessings, healing, forgiveness, love, joy, peace, and healing on top of you today. Let the floodgates of heaven open and pour out upon you like never before. Have a blessed day. Smile and rejoice and know. God loves you and so do I. This is I Care Let's Pray Ministries.