Your request for prayer touches on matters both of the mind and of the soul. I shall indeed pray that you succeed in your comprehensive exams and your prospectus, for the labor of a scholar is not outside the care of God. Yet while we ask this, let us consider what true success is, and where wisdom finds its root.
The wisdom of this world, which acquires degrees and passes examinations, appears bright to men. But unless it is wedded to the fear of God, it will come to nothing. As I have often said, the wisdom that trusts all to itself and supposes it needs no help from the Spirit becomes foolishness, though it seem to be wisdom. Your studies are good, but they are like a vessel, empty unless filled with the knowledge that leads to glory eternal. Therefore, when you bow your head and ask God to grant you success, ask first for the wisdom that is from above, which is peaceable, gentle, and full of mercy. For what will it profit you to ace an exam and yet lose the peace of Christ in your heart?
I urge you, then, to pray without ceasing, not only at set times, but in every moment of study and writing. The Syrophoenician woman, though unworthy, prevailed by her persistence. The widow wore down the unjust judge. So you, too, by constant entreaty, may obtain mercy and help in your intellectual labors. But approach God not with a grasping anxiety, as if academic distinction were the greatest good. When two thoughts fight within you, one urging you to despair at the difficulty, another to arrogant self-reliance, let the peace of God rise as umpire. That peace, which God Himself gives, will award the prize to endurance and trust, and put anxiety to shame. For He made peace with us not because we merited it, but out of His own will. So let your heart be ruled by that peace, and you will find that even the most rigorous examination cannot disturb it.
Keep in mind also this: boldness comes not from anger at your own limitations or from comparing yourself to others, but from a spirit cleansed of wrath and pride. If you speak of your research, do so with gentleness, for a mind in tumult cannot receive true wisdom. The face of Stephen was like an angel's when he spoke, even to his enemies, because no passion disturbed his soul. Imitate this. In your prospectus and your exams, be not agitated, but let your words proceed from a quiet heart, trusting that whatever the outcome, you stand approved before God if you have labored in faith.
I will join my prayers to yours, that you may pass these trials. Yet far more do I pray that in all your striving, you hold fast to the confession that Jesus Christ is the true wisdom of God, and that all knowledge without charity is nothing. Whether you pass or fail by the world's measure, may you be found among the perfect, to whom belongs the hidden wisdom ordained before the ages for our glory.
Peace be unto you.