And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. – 1 Samuel 1:18, KJV

I remember clearly a conversation I had once with a dear friend who has since passed away. During our talk, I addressed the heavy burdens that he carried upon his heart, burdens which later helped send him to an early grave. I admonished him to do what 1 Peter 5:7 (AMP) says to do, which is:

Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Then and only then, I told him, would he be free from the emotional weight he carried. His response was pretty simple: “I don’t know how to do that.” I said something in response, but my response wasn’t a very strong one. If I had to do it all over again, I would now answer his objection with the example of Hannah in 1 Samuel Chapter 1.

In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, was yet without child. Being barren in the Israeli culture of the day was bad enough. Her distress was multiplied, however, by her husband’s other wife, Peninnah, who had borne several children for their common husband. Constantly putting Hannah down for being barren, Peninnah arrogantly, verbally abused poor Hannah, sorely distressing her soul.

How did Hannah respond to this burden? She cast all of her cares upon God through a sincere, deeply emotional prayer.  During her prayer, Hannah held nothing back from her King. She emptied her soul of all self-reliance and of all human control over her problem, and in the process she cast all of her hope and all of her dependence upon God to deal with the issue. As a result, Hannah was transformed! When she began her prayer, she was in bitterness of soul. When she arose from prayer, she was at perfect peace – the result we will all get if we truly cast our cares upon God.

Peace like Hannah’s only comes when we realize what Hannah realized: God wants us to share our burdens with Him. Like a good parent who helps a child carry a burden that’s too big, God wants to lift from our shoulders the weighty burdens that press down on our souls. The only thing we have to do to access this help is to follow Hannah’s example. The question is, “Are we humble enough to recognize that our strength has limits, and are we humble enough to ask God for help?” If you pray for help but still suffer from anxiety, then your answer is “no,” you aren’t humble enough. You still have anxiety because you haven’t fully cast your cares upon God. You’ve retained some control over the issue(s), either conscientiously or unconsciously clinging to the human mantra, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me!” If this is your attitude, then plan on remaining weighed down by your cares. To claim God’s peace, you must do with your cares the same thing you did with your sin when you got saved – put ALL of your trust in Christ, retaining no trust in yourself.