Prayer is a key element of the Christian life. I don’t think any of us would argue that. But it is also not the easiest aspect of the Christian life.   Praying Colossians 1 free download   Welcome to this BONUS episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show! In this episode you'll hear an excerpt from The Prayer Podcast as we take a look at Romans 12 verse 1 and learn some things about prayer.   I pray this bonus episode will be encouraging for you. Remember, when you know God's promises and you pray boldly based on those promises, you'll see mountains move in your life and in your heart.   Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any bonus or regular episodes! Prayer can feel risky, can’t it? It can feel safer to go to church each week, to follow through with the read the Bible in a year checklist, to go to small group now and then…and to let others do the praying, especially the out-loud praying.   I get it. I’m pretty introverted. Like, I’m guessing about half of the people in the world. It’s probably about a 50/50 split of introverts and extroverts. Not all of us enjoy the spotlight, being the focus of all the attention in the room. And some people, the other half of the world’s population, do seem to like the limelight. Both of these can be problematic when it comes to prayer.   Does God want showy prayers? Or genuine ones? Look at me kind of praying, or head bowed, seeking the heart of the Lord kind of praying?    Psalm 51, verse 6 says that God desires truth, or honesty, in the inmost being. Honesty from the heart. I have found it very helpful for me to pray that way - honestly, from my heart. And that also makes it so much easier for me to pray in public, even as an introvert. So if you struggle with praying aloud in a group setting, this verse may be encouraging or helpful for you. And it takes the pressure off - what we want when we pray out loud in front of others, and what we think they want when we pray. Focusing on what God wants takes a lot of the zing out of it.   Today we are going to look at a verse from the book of Proverbs, and it is often referred to as a book of wisdom. That’s accurate.    And I think this verse I’m going to share with you is going to bless you in regard to your prayer time. And of course, I get the privilege of praying for you today based on this verse.   Proverbs 15:29 - NLT - The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the righteous.    Far from.   We want our prayers to be heard, or why would we spend time praying? And if we spend time praying and want our prayers to be heard, we also want them to be answered.    It’s weird to pray and not expect an answer, and that can happen to all of us; sometimes we just pray through our prayer list and don’t give a lot of thought to the expectation of God’s answer. So, we don’t want that to be our default. But if we prayed and never really ever at all expected any sort of answer to any of our prayers, that would be strange.    We expect to be heard and to get an answer. Obtaining an answer is really a huge part of why we pray. There is a need -  we need help, an illness, finances, work troubles, all the things we pray about. We are looking for answers and when we take those things to the Lord in prayer, we are going to the One who has answers, who can help us when we need it.    This verse shows us that a key part of achieving that end goal of answered prayer is not to be far from God. It says He is far from the wicked, but hears the prayers of the righteous. As followers of Jesus, we know that our righteousness is through Him and not of our own good works (“good works” is in air quotes, because none of us is righteous and that’s why we need a Savior).    How can we ensure we are not far from God?  Well, let’s maintain our spiritual integrity.  Integrity isn’t what we do out in public, in front of everyone, on the social media platforms, not even on Sunday morning at church. I mean, we want to be people of integrit