September 26, 2025 • 17 mins
In this conversation, Sarita discusses the power of prayer, the importance of words, and the promises of God. Sarita emphasizes the importance of being mindful of what we say, as our words hold significant power. She also emphasizes the unwavering nature of God's promises, which offer hope and strength in times of difficulty. The discussion transitions into specific promises made by God, including love, provision, refuge, strength, joy, guidance, and peace, encouraging listeners to trust in these promises and remind God of them in prayer.
Takeaways
- The words we speak have a profound impact on our lives.
- We have been given tremendous spiritual power to influence our reality.
- God's promises are unchanging and reliable, unlike human promises.
- Trusting in God's promises can transform our prayer life.
- God promises to love us unconditionally and provide for our needs.
- He is our refuge and strength in times of trouble.
- God's joy can be restored even after hardships.
- We are encouraged to remind God of His promises in prayer.
- God's peace surpasses all understanding and protects our hearts.
- Believing in God's promises brings joy and hope to our lives.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Introduction (00:02):
Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine
encouragement. This is Joy inEvery Step with your host,
beloved preacher, retiredteacher, and faithful through
(00:31):
the valleys or dancing on themountaintops, Sarita's voice
will guide you back to hispromises step by step. So open
your heart, settle your spirit,and take the next step in faith
with joy in every step.
Sarita Bernadette (00:54):
Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette and welcome
back to another episode of Joyin Every Step. I'm glad you're
here. During the previousepisode we talked about true
hope, biblical hope. True hopeor biblical hope is built on
(01:14):
God's promises. When the ApostlePaul refers to the God of hope
who will make the people aboundin hope, we know it's because
God keeps his promises.
His promises give us strength,encouragement, and clarity. They
give us what we need to getthrough life. We can abound in
(01:38):
hope as we understand, recall,and truly trust in him. A
promise made by the Lord isindeed a binding declaration.
His promises emanate from hisunchanging character.
The Word tells us in Numberstwenty three and nineteen, God
is not a human being that heshould lie or a mortal that he
(02:01):
should change his mind. Has hepromised and will he not do it?
Has he spoken and will he notfulfill it? God's covenants with
his people are lasting ones,beloved. God cannot and will not
go back on his promises.
They are unlike human promises.His promises are sovereign and
(02:27):
are sure to be fulfilled. Thebinding nature of his promises
are not based on humanperformance but on his nature as
the ultimate promise keeper. Inthe last episode I mentioned the
fact that there are thousandsand thousands of promises in
(02:47):
God's word. So today we're goingto zero in on just nine of those
promises.
They're the same ones that Imentioned in that last episode.
First, God promises to love us.First John four sixteen So we
have known and believed the lovethat God has for us, God is love
(03:13):
and those who abide in loveabide in God and God abides in
them. Psalm 136 is a tribute tothe Lord's enduring love. Here's
verses one-four (03:26):
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for
his steadfast love enduresforever.
Oh give thanks to the God ofgods, for his steadfast love
endures forever. O give thanksto the Lord of lords, for his
(03:46):
steadfast love endures forever.Who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love enduresforever. The refrain for his
steadfast love endures foreveris repeated 26 times. I
(04:07):
encourage you to read it in itsentirety when you get a chance.
That refrain is a movingreminder of God's unwavering
nature. Romans eight versesthirty eight and thirty nine is
an example of what our responseto the Lord's love should be.
You've heard it before. For I amconvinced that neither death nor
(04:29):
life nor angels nor rulers northings present nor things to
come nor powers nor height, nordepth, nor anything else in all
creation will be able toseparate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Godpromises to provide for us
beloved.
(04:50):
Philippians four nineteen youknow it and my God will fully
satisfy every need of yoursaccording to his riches in glory
in Christ Jesus. God promises tobe our refuge. Refuge meaning a
secure and safe dwelling place.Psalm 91 verses one and two. You
(05:13):
who live in the shelter of theMost High, who abide in the
shadow of the Almighty, will sayto the Lord, my refuge and my
fortress, God in whom I trust.'Many of us are familiar with
that Psalm, Psalm 91.
It's an amazing testament toGod's covering and assurance of
(05:37):
his protection. I encourage youto read it and even commit it to
memory if you are able. God is apromise keeper. He promises to
be our strength. Isaiah 4one 10Do not fear for I am with you.
Do not be afraid for I am yourGod. I will strengthen you. I
(06:02):
will help you. I will uphold youwith my victorious right hand.
God promises.
God promises to be our strength.We don't have to be our own
strength. God is right there,beloved. God promises to restore
our joy. Life's hardships andour own mistakes can zap our
(06:26):
joy.
Psalm fifty one and twelvereads, Restore to me the joy of
your salvation and sustain in mea willing spirit. Then the
psalmist testifies about how theLord actually does that and goes
on to say in Psalm 9four 19,When anxiety was great within
(06:52):
me, your consolation brought mejoy. God promises to sustain us,
beloved. Psalm 5five 22 Castyour burden on the Lord, and he
will sustain you. He will neverpermit the righteous to be
(07:13):
moved.
Also in Isaiah 40 six:four hesays, I love this, Even to your
old age I am he even when youturn gray I will carry you. I
have made and I will bear I willcarry and save. God is doing the
(07:37):
work. He is sustaining us. Healso promises to guide us
beloved.
Psalm 30 two:eight I willinstruct you and teach you the
way you should go. I willcounsel you with my eye upon
you. He's watching. And in Psalm1nineteen ten5, I love this one,
(07:59):
Your word is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path. God
promises to always be with us.
Deuteronomy 30 one:six Be strongand bold have no fear or dread
of them because it is the Lordyour God who goes with you. He
(08:22):
will not fail you or forsakeyou. Beloved, when we're up
against tough situations, God istelling us he is right there
with us. We should have no fearor dread. Joshua one and eight
says, I hereby command you, myLord, be strong and courageous.
(08:45):
Do not be frightened ordismayed, for the Lord your God
is with you wherever you go.That's a promise, friends. He
promises us his peace, hispeace. He says in John fourteen
twenty seven, peace I leave withyou my peace I give to you I do
(09:07):
not give it to you as the worldgives do not let your hearts be
troubled and do not let them beafraid. Philippians four and
seven And the peace of God whichsurpasses all understanding will
guard your hearts and your mindsin Christ Jesus.
(09:27):
You see beloved God's peace issupernatural. When we cast our
cares and our concerns on him weget a calm that cannot be
affected by our circumstances.It's not that we ignore them,
but we can look at what's goingon and declare that he is still
God. We can acknowledge what'sgoing on and know that he is
(09:50):
right there with us. The versetells us that his peace protects
our hearts and our minds againstanxiety and worry.
Beloved, God is a promise keeperand we're told in the Bible that
we are to remind God of hispromises. That part's important
(10:14):
and it's not because he doesn'tremember. God is not forgetting
anything. The act of remindingGod of his promises helps us as
believers. It acknowledges God'simpeccable character.
It refocuses our minds on thepromise and away from the
problem. It strengthens ourfaith, and it encourages us to
(10:40):
be disciplined and persistent inour prayer lives. Let's revisit
Nehemiah for betterunderstanding and to kind of
pull this together. You mayrecall Nehemiah. I mentioned him
in a previous episode.
He was the Jewish leader and theprophet who, after hearing about
the Jews returning to Jerusalemafter they were exiled in
(11:01):
Babylon, he heard about what wasgoing on, and he knew that they
found the Wall Of Jerusalemthere in ruins and the gates
even burned down. See the wallhad served as protection from
the enemies for the people ofIsrael and the wall was
necessary in order for thepeople to worship in peace once
(11:22):
again. Nehemiah heard this andhe was saddened by the news
about the wall so he fasted andhe prayed. Nehemiah one verses
five through 10 read (11:33):
I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great
and awesome God who keepscovenant and steadfast love with
those who love him and keep hiscommandments. Let your ear be
attentive and your eyes open tohear the prayer of your servant
that I now pray before you dayand night for your servants, the
(11:57):
Israelites, confessing the sinsof the Israelites which we have
sinned against you.
Both I and my family havesinned. We have offended you
deeply, failing to keep thecommandments. We failed to keep
the statutes and the ordinancesthat you commanded Moses, your
servant. Verse eight (12:17):
Remember the word that you commanded
Moses your servant. If you areunfaithful, I will scatter you
among the peoples.
But if you return to me and keepmy commandments and do them,
though your outcasts are underthe farthest skies I will gather
(12:42):
them from there and bring themto the place where I have chosen
to establish my name. Verse 10,They are your servants and your
people whom you redeemed by yourgreat power and your strong
hand. Nehemiah God of thepromise he'd made to Moses
(13:06):
regarding the Israelites.Nehemiah went on to ask the
king, as you know, forpermission to go back to
Jerusalem and rebuild the wallthere. And the king agreed and
sent him off to Jerusalem torecruit and head up a whole
construction crew to rebuild thecity's walls.
(13:26):
I truly believe the courage, thefaith, and the leadership that
Nehemiah showed throughout themission stemmed from the fact
that he believed God was apromise keeper. When you look at
the way he prayed and the way heorganized that work, you see a
man who knew his God wasfaithful. When you trust that
(13:50):
God's promises are true andirrevocable, the way you pray
changes. Have you ever heard theexpression act like you know?
That expression is used tomotivate one to behave as though
you're familiar with aparticular fact or truth.
It can be interpreted as eitheran encouragement or a challenge.
(14:14):
Act like you know God to be apromise keeper, beloved. Act
like you know. In Nehemiah,remember the Lord who is great
and awesome. Then in Nehemiahfive nineteen he writes,
Remember me with favor, my God,for all I have done for these
(14:35):
people.
I believe Nehemiah's prayersreminding God of his promises
serve to renew his hope and evengive him inspiration as the
project progressed. After thewall was finished, the people
came together to fast and topray. They confessed their sins
(14:56):
before the Lord, and let me justsay here it was a lengthy
confession. It went on for awhile. They told it all.
But in verses seven and eight ofthe ninth chapter we read, You
are the Lord, the God who choseAbram and brought him out of Ur
(15:16):
of the Chaldeans and gave himthe name Abraham. And you found
his heart faithful before youand made with him a covenant to
give his descendants the land ofthe Canaanite, the Hittite, the
Amorite, the Perizzite, theJebusite, and the Gergeshite and
you have fulfilled your promisefor you are righteous. They
(15:41):
remind the Lord that he isfaithful in keeping his
promises. Yes, we messed up,they say, but we know that you
promised to always love us andprovide for us. We know that you
promised to be our refuge andour strength.
You promised to sustain us andrestore our joy. You promised to
(16:05):
always be with us and to guideus. And you promised us your
peace. What has he promised you,beloved? Psalm one hundred forty
five and thirteen, the B clause,says, The Lord always keeps his
promises.
He is gracious in all he does.Second Corinthians one and
(16:31):
twenty. I love this one. For allthe promises of God in him are
yes and in him, amen, to theglory of God through us. There
is joy in knowing God keeps hispromises.
You've been listening to Joy inEvery Step. I'm Sarita
(16:53):
Bernadette, and I'm grateful youchose to spend some time here
with me. You can find Joy inEvery Step wherever you listen
to your podcasts and give us afollow there. Do check out the
website at joyineverystep.org.
Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine
encouragement. This is Joy inEvery Step with your host,
beloved preacher, retiredteacher, and faithful through
(00:31):
the valleys or dancing on themountaintops, Sarita's voice
will guide you back to hispromises step by step. So open
your heart, settle your spirit,and take the next step in faith
with joy in every step.
Sarita Bernadette (00:54):
Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette and welcome
back to another episode of Joyin Every Step. I'm glad you're
here. During the previousepisode we talked about true
hope, biblical hope. True hopeor biblical hope is built on
(01:14):
God's promises. When the ApostlePaul refers to the God of hope
who will make the people aboundin hope, we know it's because
God keeps his promises.
His promises give us strength,encouragement, and clarity. They
give us what we need to getthrough life. We can abound in
(01:38):
hope as we understand, recall,and truly trust in him. A
promise made by the Lord isindeed a binding declaration.
His promises emanate from hisunchanging character.
The Word tells us in Numberstwenty three and nineteen, God
is not a human being that heshould lie or a mortal that he
(02:01):
should change his mind. Has hepromised and will he not do it?
Has he spoken and will he notfulfill it? God's covenants with
his people are lasting ones,beloved. God cannot and will not
go back on his promises.
They are unlike human promises.His promises are sovereign and
(02:27):
are sure to be fulfilled. Thebinding nature of his promises
are not based on humanperformance but on his nature as
the ultimate promise keeper. Inthe last episode I mentioned the
fact that there are thousandsand thousands of promises in
(02:47):
God's word. So today we're goingto zero in on just nine of those
promises.
They're the same ones that Imentioned in that last episode.
First, God promises to love us.First John four sixteen So we
have known and believed the lovethat God has for us, God is love
(03:13):
and those who abide in loveabide in God and God abides in
them. Psalm 136 is a tribute tothe Lord's enduring love. Here's
verses one-four (03:26):
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for
his steadfast love enduresforever.
Oh give thanks to the God ofgods, for his steadfast love
endures forever. O give thanksto the Lord of lords, for his
(03:46):
steadfast love endures forever.Who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love enduresforever. The refrain for his
steadfast love endures foreveris repeated 26 times. I
(04:07):
encourage you to read it in itsentirety when you get a chance.
That refrain is a movingreminder of God's unwavering
nature. Romans eight versesthirty eight and thirty nine is
an example of what our responseto the Lord's love should be.
You've heard it before. For I amconvinced that neither death nor
(04:29):
life nor angels nor rulers northings present nor things to
come nor powers nor height, nordepth, nor anything else in all
creation will be able toseparate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Godpromises to provide for us
beloved.
(04:50):
Philippians four nineteen youknow it and my God will fully
satisfy every need of yoursaccording to his riches in glory
in Christ Jesus. God promises tobe our refuge. Refuge meaning a
secure and safe dwelling place.Psalm 91 verses one and two. You
(05:13):
who live in the shelter of theMost High, who abide in the
shadow of the Almighty, will sayto the Lord, my refuge and my
fortress, God in whom I trust.'Many of us are familiar with
that Psalm, Psalm 91.
It's an amazing testament toGod's covering and assurance of
(05:37):
his protection. I encourage youto read it and even commit it to
memory if you are able. God is apromise keeper. He promises to
be our strength. Isaiah 4one 10Do not fear for I am with you.
Do not be afraid for I am yourGod. I will strengthen you. I
(06:02):
will help you. I will uphold youwith my victorious right hand.
God promises.
God promises to be our strength.We don't have to be our own
strength. God is right there,beloved. God promises to restore
our joy. Life's hardships andour own mistakes can zap our
(06:26):
joy.
Psalm fifty one and twelvereads, Restore to me the joy of
your salvation and sustain in mea willing spirit. Then the
psalmist testifies about how theLord actually does that and goes
on to say in Psalm 9four 19,When anxiety was great within
(06:52):
me, your consolation brought mejoy. God promises to sustain us,
beloved. Psalm 5five 22 Castyour burden on the Lord, and he
will sustain you. He will neverpermit the righteous to be
(07:13):
moved.
Also in Isaiah 40 six:four hesays, I love this, Even to your
old age I am he even when youturn gray I will carry you. I
have made and I will bear I willcarry and save. God is doing the
(07:37):
work. He is sustaining us. Healso promises to guide us
beloved.
Psalm 30 two:eight I willinstruct you and teach you the
way you should go. I willcounsel you with my eye upon
you. He's watching. And in Psalm1nineteen ten5, I love this one,
(07:59):
Your word is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path. God
promises to always be with us.
Deuteronomy 30 one:six Be strongand bold have no fear or dread
of them because it is the Lordyour God who goes with you. He
(08:22):
will not fail you or forsakeyou. Beloved, when we're up
against tough situations, God istelling us he is right there
with us. We should have no fearor dread. Joshua one and eight
says, I hereby command you, myLord, be strong and courageous.
(08:45):
Do not be frightened ordismayed, for the Lord your God
is with you wherever you go.That's a promise, friends. He
promises us his peace, hispeace. He says in John fourteen
twenty seven, peace I leave withyou my peace I give to you I do
(09:07):
not give it to you as the worldgives do not let your hearts be
troubled and do not let them beafraid. Philippians four and
seven And the peace of God whichsurpasses all understanding will
guard your hearts and your mindsin Christ Jesus.
(09:27):
You see beloved God's peace issupernatural. When we cast our
cares and our concerns on him weget a calm that cannot be
affected by our circumstances.It's not that we ignore them,
but we can look at what's goingon and declare that he is still
God. We can acknowledge what'sgoing on and know that he is
(09:50):
right there with us. The versetells us that his peace protects
our hearts and our minds againstanxiety and worry.
Beloved, God is a promise keeperand we're told in the Bible that
we are to remind God of hispromises. That part's important
(10:14):
and it's not because he doesn'tremember. God is not forgetting
anything. The act of remindingGod of his promises helps us as
believers. It acknowledges God'simpeccable character.
It refocuses our minds on thepromise and away from the
problem. It strengthens ourfaith, and it encourages us to
(10:40):
be disciplined and persistent inour prayer lives. Let's revisit
Nehemiah for betterunderstanding and to kind of
pull this together. You mayrecall Nehemiah. I mentioned him
in a previous episode.
He was the Jewish leader and theprophet who, after hearing about
the Jews returning to Jerusalemafter they were exiled in
(11:01):
Babylon, he heard about what wasgoing on, and he knew that they
found the Wall Of Jerusalemthere in ruins and the gates
even burned down. See the wallhad served as protection from
the enemies for the people ofIsrael and the wall was
necessary in order for thepeople to worship in peace once
(11:22):
again. Nehemiah heard this andhe was saddened by the news
about the wall so he fasted andhe prayed. Nehemiah one verses
five through 10 read (11:33):
I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great
and awesome God who keepscovenant and steadfast love with
those who love him and keep hiscommandments. Let your ear be
attentive and your eyes open tohear the prayer of your servant
that I now pray before you dayand night for your servants, the
(11:57):
Israelites, confessing the sinsof the Israelites which we have
sinned against you.
Both I and my family havesinned. We have offended you
deeply, failing to keep thecommandments. We failed to keep
the statutes and the ordinancesthat you commanded Moses, your
servant. Verse eight (12:17):
Remember the word that you commanded
Moses your servant. If you areunfaithful, I will scatter you
among the peoples.
But if you return to me and keepmy commandments and do them,
though your outcasts are underthe farthest skies I will gather
(12:42):
them from there and bring themto the place where I have chosen
to establish my name. Verse 10,They are your servants and your
people whom you redeemed by yourgreat power and your strong
hand. Nehemiah God of thepromise he'd made to Moses
(13:06):
regarding the Israelites.Nehemiah went on to ask the
king, as you know, forpermission to go back to
Jerusalem and rebuild the wallthere. And the king agreed and
sent him off to Jerusalem torecruit and head up a whole
construction crew to rebuild thecity's walls.
(13:26):
I truly believe the courage, thefaith, and the leadership that
Nehemiah showed throughout themission stemmed from the fact
that he believed God was apromise keeper. When you look at
the way he prayed and the way heorganized that work, you see a
man who knew his God wasfaithful. When you trust that
(13:50):
God's promises are true andirrevocable, the way you pray
changes. Have you ever heard theexpression act like you know?
That expression is used tomotivate one to behave as though
you're familiar with aparticular fact or truth.
It can be interpreted as eitheran encouragement or a challenge.
(14:14):
Act like you know God to be apromise keeper, beloved. Act
like you know. In Nehemiah,remember the Lord who is great
and awesome. Then in Nehemiahfive nineteen he writes,
Remember me with favor, my God,for all I have done for these
(14:35):
people.
I believe Nehemiah's prayersreminding God of his promises
serve to renew his hope and evengive him inspiration as the
project progressed. After thewall was finished, the people
came together to fast and topray. They confessed their sins
(14:56):
before the Lord, and let me justsay here it was a lengthy
confession. It went on for awhile. They told it all.
But in verses seven and eight ofthe ninth chapter we read, You
are the Lord, the God who choseAbram and brought him out of Ur
(15:16):
of the Chaldeans and gave himthe name Abraham. And you found
his heart faithful before youand made with him a covenant to
give his descendants the land ofthe Canaanite, the Hittite, the
Amorite, the Perizzite, theJebusite, and the Gergeshite and
you have fulfilled your promisefor you are righteous. They
(15:41):
remind the Lord that he isfaithful in keeping his
promises. Yes, we messed up,they say, but we know that you
promised to always love us andprovide for us. We know that you
promised to be our refuge andour strength.
You promised to sustain us andrestore our joy. You promised to
(16:05):
always be with us and to guideus. And you promised us your
peace. What has he promised you,beloved? Psalm one hundred forty
five and thirteen, the B clause,says, The Lord always keeps his
promises.
He is gracious in all he does.Second Corinthians one and
(16:31):
twenty. I love this one. For allthe promises of God in him are
yes and in him, amen, to theglory of God through us. There
is joy in knowing God keeps hispromises.
You've been listening to Joy inEvery Step. I'm Sarita
(16:53):
Bernadette, and I'm grateful youchose to spend some time here
with me. You can find Joy inEvery Step wherever you listen
to your podcasts and give us afollow there. Do check out the
website at joyineverystep.org.
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