 During this past General Conference in April, I had the sweetest opportunity to spend some time visiting with one of my aunts. We caught up on life, talked about the things we’ve each been experiencing, and enjoyed one of those conversations that leaves you thinking about it long after it’s over.
At some point, she told me about something she had started doing called “pre-praying.”
Naturally, I had to ask, What is pre-praying?
Her answer was simple: praying for the future—for the things that haven’t happened yet.
My aunt explained that as she gets older, she has started praying for the trials and challenges she may eventually face. She’s praying now for strength, wisdom, health, and faith for circumstances she hasn’t even encountered yet.
I thought it was such a sweet and clever idea.
But lately, I’ve found myself thinking about it more and more.
I don’t consider myself very old. In fact, I’m still very much in the season of life where there are so many things ahead of me that I can’t yet see. There are dreams I’m working toward, decisions I haven’t made, challenges I don’t know are coming, and blessings I haven’t experienced yet.
And maybe that’s exactly why “pre-praying” has stuck with me.
We often turn to God when we need something. When life gets hard, we pray for strength. When we’re worried, we pray for peace. When we don’t know what to do, we ask for guidance.
And, of course, we should.
But what if we also prayed before we needed those things?
What if, during the seasons of life when everything feels peaceful and steady, we used some of that time to prepare our hearts for what may come?
I can pray for my health before I face health challenges.
I can pray for my career and future opportunities before I know what those opportunities will look like.
I can pray for my marriage—not only for the challenges we may face, but for the wisdom to continue loving, serving, and choosing each other.
I can pray for my future children, for the home I hope to build, and for the kind of mother I hope to become.
I can pray for my family, my friends, my faith, and the things I cannot yet see coming.
There is something comforting about knowing that I don’t have to wait until I’m in the middle of a storm to ask God to help me weather it.
One scripture that comes to mind often is Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
We don’t know everything our future holds.
But God does.
And maybe “pre-praying” is one small way of placing that unknown future in His hands.
It doesn’t mean we’re expecting bad things to happen. It doesn’t mean we should spend our present worrying about tomorrow. Instead, I think it means we can use the peace we have today to prepare our hearts for whatever tomorrow brings. We can pray for the strength we may someday need.
For the faith we may someday have to lean on.
For the wisdom we may someday need to make difficult decisions.
For the courage to face things we cannot yet see.
And perhaps most importantly, we can pray that when those moments come, we will remember that we are not facing them alone.
So the next time you find yourself praying, I hope you’ll consider “pre-praying.”
Pray for yourself. Pray for your future family. Pray for your health, your work, your relationships, and the dreams you’re still waiting to see unfold. And don’t forget to pray for our Church and for the people who may need strength, comfort, and guidance in ways we may never know.
We may not know what tomorrow holds.
But we can pray today for the person we will need to be when tomorrow arrives.
This article has undergone ministry review and approval.
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