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).
Anxiety is sometimes the fruit of pride—especially when it is accompanied by prayerlessness. Though we often minimize our lack of prayer, prayerlessness unmasks an independent spirit—it reveals our failure to recognize our weakness and utter dependence on God. When you don’t pray, and when you take on your anxieties by yourself, you show your need for humility before the Lord.
Peter makes this important connection. But notice that before Peter exhorts his readers (who are suffering Christians) to make a habit of bringing their anxieties to God—of throwing them at his feet, so to speak—he issues a call to humility. We must cultivate true humility in ourselves and for ourselves. Like a garment, we must put it on (see Col. 3:12). No human being can do that for us. Yes, others may humiliate us, but only the Spirit’s sanctifying
work can move us to genuinely humble ourselves. In order to do this, we need divine grace to combat pride and unbelief. Today’s verses are loaded with transformative truth
