Humble Yourselves (1 Peter 5:6–7)

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

This is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. Cast your cares on God. Cast your anxieties on him because He cares for you. But this sentence starts in verse 6, with humbling yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time, he may exalt you.

1 Peter 5:6–7 teaches us about the connection between humility and anxiety.

So put it all together, the whole picture, not just cast your cares on him. Start by humbling yourself before God, which makes sense. If we’re going to cast our anxieties on him, that’s a humbling act to cast our cares on someone else. To call out for help amidst the things that are heavy on our hearts.

Yes, that starts with humility before God, but look at where it leads. Humble there yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. God exalts those who humble themselves before him. Humility leads to exaltation. Humility leads to your good. Now, put it together with verse 7. Casting all your anxieties on God and humility will lead to your good. It will lead to your exaltation in the proper time because God cares for you.

So I just want you to bring to your mind right now, your anxieties, the things that are heavy on your heart, the things you are either worried or tempted to worry about. Let’s just bring them before God right now. Humbly, oh God, we want to do what 1 Peter 5:6–7 commands us to do right now. We humble ourselves before you, under your mighty hand. Oh God, you are sovereign Lord over everything or everything in our lives, including the things that we are concerned about, worried about, anxious over. So we cast them before you right now.

1 Peter 5:6–7 encourages us to rely on God’s strength.

All the specific things coming into our minds right now, people in our lives were worried about, circumstances we’re concerned about, things and that we’re walking through that we’re anxious about, God, we cast them all before you right now, under your mighty hand. And we praise you for your care for us. We praise you for inviting us to do this, calling us to do this. We praise you as the one who bears our burdens for us.

And you are big enough, strong enough, gracious enough, merciful enough, for every burden we carry, we cast them all on you right now. Oh God, help us to carry these burdens. Take our anxieties and replace them with your peace. Lord, take our weakness and replace it with your strength. Take our sorrow and replace it with your joy. We pray with faith that as we humble ourselves before you, you will lift us up in the proper time.

Prayer for the Malay People

God, we praise you for the hope, the love, the mercy that we find in 1 Peter 5:6–7, and we pray God for the spread of this hope through us in the world. We pray specifically today for the Malay people of Southeast Asia, so many of the multitudes of Malay who have little to no knowledge of the hope that is found in Jesus, the one who will take the burden of sin and death away from them totally. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel among the Malay in Southeast Asia, and we pray that you would use your church toward that end. We pray for these five church planters that will be sent out through offerings given today through Radical.

God, we pray for your anointing on them. We pray for your strength and them knowing that’s not an easy journey that lies ahead for them. Help them to do 1 Peter 5:–7, we pray and give them success in leading others to cast their anxieties, to cast their sin upon you, and to know you care for them to receive your salvation. God, we pray that Malay people would humble themselves under your mighty hand, that they might be lifted up by you, the one who cares for them so much. You sent your son to die for them. May it be so we pray all these things according to 1 Peter 5:6–7. In Jesus’ name, amen.