Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

— 1 Peter 5:7

A student sat at a table in the corner of the library. The table was covered with books and papers. In just a few days, classes would be over for the semester, and deadlines for final papers and exams were looming. I asked the student how she was doing, and she told me she was “so stressed out!”

I replied, “Well, I cannot write your papers for you, and I wouldn’t be much of a help in studying—but, if you like, I would be happy to pray with you.”

She said she would appreciate that, so we prayed together. After a few moments, she said, “I don’t feel anxious anymore.” Her response was amazing. She simply said, “I no longer feel any stress.”

Another student in a similar situation said, “I don’t have any reason to feel anxious after bringing my cares to the Lord.”

The words of an old hymn come to mind: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit; oh, what needless pain we bear—all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

The good news for an increasingly anxious world is that the Spirit wants to produce peace in our minds, hearts, and lives, and often that can happen when we open ourselves to the Lord in prayer.

Lord God, we live in anxious times in an anxious world. As we cast our cares upon Jesus, grant us peace. We pray in the name of the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus. Amen.