On 1 Peter 5:7 After a question asked of @CSLCHSnMore

The New International Version (NIV) translates 1 Peter 5:7 as 'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you'.

J.B Philips' New Testament paraphrase rather beautifully expresses it like this:

So, humble yourselves under God’s strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.

But what does this mean practically?

1 Peter 5 7

I came to Christ in my late forties having spent a lifetime looking for meaning everywhere but in God. Initially my interest in the Bible was one of intellectual curiosity. But as I read that started to change, to a point where things flipped from curiosity to conviction and unequivocal faith.

It took a while for me to let down my defences and pray properly. But when I did it really felt like throwing myself at Christ’s feet and saying ‘here I am; I believe; you are real and I know you are there for me’.

To the question asked: when I share my burdens in prayer, or even just get on my knees, address God and mumble jumbled thoughts in my head (which happens when it’s all too much or I’m too tired to think straight) I feel lighter afterwards. Physiologically less stressed. Years ago I was once prescribed diazepam for anxiety and the result is the same (though without the disinhibition associated with medication). When I think about the effect that prayer has on my stress response, given how foreign the concept of prayer was and my initial skepticism about it's power, I still find it remarkable.

There is a reason why people over the centuries have got on their knees to pray, head bowed, hands clasped. It is a posture of submission. In some respects a posture of defeat; an acknowledgement that my works have failed; that I give myself to you, God. That you have authority and control over me and my circumstances and this world.

Prayer can be a balm, a salve.

Throwing your anxieties on God is something very real when you have true belief that He is listening and that in Him you will not be tested beyond your limit. We believers must remember that we have the Holy Spirit within us who strengthens us beyond anything we could have imagined before we were first saved.

But that is something for another day. You will know it when you see it.