How to Cast Your Burdens on the Lord & Climb Out of Your Pit

Everyone gets loaded down with heavy burdens, and it is hard to let them go. Do you struggle with casting your burdens on the Lord and having the strength to climb out of your pit?

BURDENS. Whether it is finances, strained relationships, failing health, or unexpected grief. Those types of burdens can steal your joy and zap your strength.

Sleep becomes elusive at best, and your waking hours are filled with a constant cycle of overthinking the obvious. Burdens make you feel like you are running an endless marathon when you are actually standing in a mud pit.

What can we do when our muddy mess is on the daily, and we are paralyzed in the isolating cycle of stress? How can we let go, and let God be God, when we are knee deep in the muck and mire?

Sister, you are not alone. If you name the name of Christ, you have a great burden-bearer who is able to lift your cares if you cast them His way.

The Bible tells us to cast our cares on the Lord, and find the comfort that we don’t have to bear these burdens alone. The angst is that we struggle with HOW to cast them on Christ when we are simply hanging on for dear life.

How do I cast my cares on the Lord and truly be free of worry and anxiety? Let’s look to scripture.

“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Psalm 55:22

God is actively causing and creating a way for our burdens to be thrown to the foot of the cross. We must trust, in our muddy mess, He is in the process of showing us how to rely on Him for our every need.

So, let’s take a look at 4 biblical steps you can use to cast your burdens on the Lord and climb out of your pit.

1. SAY IT.

SPEAK. Speak it loud and speak it deeply from your heart! 

Tell God exactly what your burdens are. Cry out in prayer–out loud.

Praying is quite different than pondering. It is our nature to think, figure, manipulate and predict without ever actually praying.

God knows the intentions of the heart, but when we are in a pit, our hearts need to physically cry out for help. We need to speak truth to our minds and get gut honest with our Heavenly Father.

Take notice of how these psalmists cried out in the middle of running their muddy marathon with authenticity. Can you identify with their heart cry, today?

3 Helpful Bible Verses to Help You Cast Your Burdens on the Lord

• Psalm 70:1-2: “Oh God, hasten to deliver me; O LORD, hasten to my help! Let those be ashamed and humiliated who seek my life; Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt.” 
• Psalm 69:1-3: “Save me, Oh God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have sunk in deep mire and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters and a flood overflows me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.” 
• Psalm 18:1-3: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress any my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” 

These cries came from the deepest storehouse of a burdened heart. The psalmist got specific and were casting the cares of their hearts at the throne of grace.

We need to do that as well. Write, speak, journal or even shout it out and then declare God’s truth about the situation. Don’t waste precious time and mental energy groveling in the muck and mire.

Is your marriage in shambles? Speak it in prayer.  “God this relationship is dying because my husband is addicted to porn. I am angry and hurt. I don’t know what to do, BUT YOU, O LORD! YOUR WORD SAYS that I am not alone and that you are my rock and my fortress. I will call upon You and You are worthy of my praise! Help me forgive him and bring bring Your restoration to my marriage. Show me how to love him as a fellow brother in Christ.” 

Do you have a wayward child? Speak it in prayer. “Father, I am begging you to pursue my child. He/she is so lost and undone. BUT GOD! Your word says that you are able to save to the uttermost! So God, I am asking You to protect them physically, sexually, and emotionally. Most of all God, restore them to Yourself. I’m their mama and I am desperately asking you to intervene for their good and your glory. Your mercy is new every morning, do not let him/her go!”

We can find soul rest when we can fall on God’s authoritative grace and acknowledge our weakness. It is so safe because it loosens the grip of our burdens and casts them at the foot of the cross.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Keep speaking out until God moves. Keep your eyes fixed on Christ and be expectant for His hands to begin changing hearts. It is important to keep your heart open to change as well.

2. SOAK IN SCRIPTURE

Get into God’s word with renewed passion and intensity.

If you have a specific burden that is dragging you under, name it and start looking for verses in the Bible that deal specifically with it. 

If you don’t know where to start, just try Googling “Bible verses on ________”. There is also a concordance in the back of your Bible that will list different words or subjects to look up. Another option is to go to www.blueletterbible.org and type in a specific biblical word in their search engine. (ex: marriage, sin, bitterness, rebellion, money, etc.) This site is an excellent reference for finding relevant verses and commentaries.

When you come across a verse you find helpful, be sure to write it down!  Pencil it out on an index card, in a journal, or color it in your Bible so you can quickly bring it to mind.

Surround yourself with as many verses as you can find.

Keep your scriptures in a place where they can be easily seen throughout the day, especially when the burdens begin to sink in.  For example, post them around your house, in your car, on your desk at work or keep them in your purse.

Why not put your favorite verse on a sticky note or make your special verse a screen saver?

Soaking in Scripture will give you the power to transform your thoughts by focusing on truth instead of lies.

3 Practical Bible Verses to Help you Cast Your Burdens on the Lord

• Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
• Romans 15:4: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
• Proverbs 4:20-23: “My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

There is another key to casting your burdens on Jesus besides saying it and soaking in His word.

3. SING, SING, SING!

Our adversary recoils at authentic, God-honoring worship because it lifts our eyes up to God, and opens our hearts to hear His perspective. Active worship is spiritual warfare.

Burdens make us self-centered, instead of God focused. The enemy loves to keep us in that muddy pit.

Worshipping with your whole being and confessing His authority not only releases our burdens to the Lord, but reorients our minds to the power of God over our burdens. Sister, raise your voice with confidence knowing that God is actively causing and creating a way to lift the burdens and care for your soul. Praise and worship is a practical way of casting your burdens on God.

Are you looking for a great playlist that will help you focus on Christ as you cast your cares on Him? Check out these gems on my Spotify Playlist !

Keep worship music playing around the clock if you need to, but as you worship, don’t forget to do this one final thing.

4 Practical Bible Verses to Help You Cast Your Burdens on the Lord

• Psalm 95:1-2: “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”
• Matthew 4:10: Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”
• John 4:24: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
• Ephesians 5:19-20: “…but be filled with the Holy Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father:”
• Psalm 119:172: “My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.”

4. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH WARRIORS.

God did not design us to carry the weight of heavy burdens alone.

He gave us sisters in Christ who can identify with our struggles and encourage us on the road to freedom. 

Gather a FEW close sisters that are true prayer warriors, or seek out a professional Biblical counselor to guide you into truth. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, prayer warriors can help pull you out of your pit and encourage you on the path to healing and wholeness. Never underestimate the power of surrounding yourself with warriors!

SAY, SOAK, SING, AND SURROUND. These are powerful tools when we rely on the Holy Spirit to move. May each of us cast our burdens on the Lord and lighten the load of another.

3 Bible Verses to Help You Cast Your Burdens on the Lord

• Proverbs 11:14: “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”
• Proverbs 19:20-21: “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”
• Proverbs 27:17: “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”