Responding to worry with prayer is an act of faith. We don’t inform God of new developments in our lives,; we entrust ourselves to the one who not only knows our future but promises to work all things for our good and his glory (Rom 8:28).

I’ve noticed a pattern in prayer requests. They tend to focus on the future. In the last month, I’ve been asked to pray for future exams, surgeries, visits, and “difficult conversations.” But also for anxious feelings about the unknown years ahead.

I’ve also noticed another pattern. Often, once the dreaded event we prayed about is past, it wasn’t as bad as anticipated. Noticing this pattern only required looking in a mirror. Sleepless nights, anxiously dreading the next day’s meetings, beat me up emotionally and physically before even getting to the meeting. Worrying about what could happen sometimes is a greater affliction than what does happen.

Anticipating the future is a uniquely human experience. The 18th-century evangelical preacher, Charles Simeon, says, “Other creatures equal him in actual enjoyment; but he alone can overleap thousands of intervening years, and derive pleasure or pain from the contemplation of distant events.” The excited fiancée derives joy from his wedding day the moment his future bride says yes. He also experiences the pain of rejection before proposing simply by worrying if she might say no.

Worry makes the future sting before it even arrives. As Simeon says, through worrying, our “apprehensions of future evil weigh more upon” us than the occasion requires. The trials I dread are often more difficult than the trials I face.

Is there an antidote? The Apostle Paul says yes. In Philippians 4:6-7, he says, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

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