This week’s verse is from 1 Peter where he says:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV)
I dug into this verse in a recent blog post, which you can find here.
But, God put something very specific about this verse on my heart to share for this week’s prayer challenge.
When I was in middle school, I went to a youth Summer camp every July. My parents would drop me off for the week and I’d get to experience all that week had to offer.
I loved it!
But, I think what I loved most was when my parents came to pick me up at the end of camp.
Not necessarily because I wanted to leave, but on that drive home I got to tell my parents everything that happened in the last week!
I’d spend the entire hour-and-a-half drive home unloading every little detail I could think of to my parents who I felt truly cared about me and wanted to know all about what I had to say.
But, once I got home, I didn’t turn around and share all those details with the stranger in front of me in line at the grocery store, or the school friends I saw a few times during the summer.
Why?
Because I really only wanted to pour out all I had gone through and got to experience with my parents who I knew loved me and cared about me.
When you take time talking with God about what’s on your heart, do you share with Him everything that’s on your heart?
Do you pray as if God truly cares about you?
Or do you filter through to only bring what you feel is of enough importance or worth His time?
If we take this verse in 1 Peter at its full truth, we will bring all our anxieties to Him, regardless of how heavy or light, big or small.
Praying to God about the big things in our lives, the areas where we need Him to intervene, is not usually difficult for us to remember to do.
The part of this verse I’d like us to focus on this week is where it says to cast ALL your anxieties on Him.
For me, it’s the small stuff that I’m forgetful to bring to my Father’s open Hands.
But if I’m going to take Him at His word and truly speak to Him trusting that He cares deeply for me, then I can’t filter my anxieties as I bring them to the One who already knows the depth of them all anyway.
This week, I want to challenge us to be intentional about bringing even our smallest anxieties to Him.
I have started to take time specifically to first write down any and all anxieties that weigh on me even half an ounce at the end of the day and take each of them to Him no matter how little or silly it seems.
And at first, honestly, it felt kind of awkward as I needed Him to break down some insecurities I had where I was acting as if I had to win over any part of His care for me, or that I could bore Him with my heart.
And to my delight, as I’ve continued, I have felt so incredibly cared for and known by my Father in ways that I wouldn’t have noticed unless I stopped to bring even the littlest weight of my heart to Him.
Even in the small things that I thought I was capable of dealing with on my own and had a good handle on, the Holy Spirit has given me wisdom to deal with that situation so much better than I ever would have thought to.
He’s reminded me of resources He’s provided that I have had at my fingertips all along, and forgot all about.
God’s graciously opened my eyes to see that even the small situations I deemed unworthy of His time to speak into, or have felt not worth my time bringing them to Him, He actually wants me to bring to Him and I need to for my own sake and the sake of reminding my heart who I trust with my life.
Not once have I felt I’ve wasted my time bringing my small anxieties to Him.
In fact, it’s opened my eyes to all the time I’ve wasted worrying over something that I thought He wouldn’t care about.
Yet, He has asked me to bring all I have to Him.
Week Two Challenge: Find a spot to physically write down all of your anxieties, whether that be a note on your phone, or an actual notebook somewhere. Take time and ask God to reveal the anxieties of your own heart, big and seemingly miniscule, so that you may bring your heart in its entirety to Him.
And as you pray over them this week, be ready, expectantly, to write down all the ways God speaks into these areas.
My prayer for us this week is that we would get to experience the depth of what this verse promises us, as we follow His Word to bring even what seems trivial for us to mention to the Creator of the Universe, yet trusting Him that He cares for us as He says He does.
From one of His children to another,
Christi