I’m writing a picture book about a kindergartner who panics when he arrives at school and sees a substitute. The poor child is on the verge of a meltdown when he suddenly remembers he should pray instead.

Okay, this picture cracks me up! But adults do the same thing.

The other day, all of a sudden, my computer started doing random things. A weird box popped up. It was stuck in a loop. Had I gotten a virus? Was I being hacked? I restarted the contraption, but it wouldn’t allow me to log in. I shut down. This time, I started her up while whispering a prayer. Aha! I noticed my Bible was resting on my keypad. Drrr! Once I moved it, everything worked fine!

How many of us react with a panic mentality? And, how often? Here’s what I need to remember. Pray before panic. Or, better yet. Skip the panic. Go directly to being a prayer whisperer and continue in that mindset.

As I recall, many of God’s people had good reason to panic. Daniel was thrown in a den with hungry lions (Daniel 6). Three others were thrown in a fiery furnace (Daniel 3). Joseph was imprisoned after Potiphar’s wife brought false charges against him (Genesis 39). Queen Esther risked her life by going before the Persian king uninvited (Esther 5). Don’t doubt for a minute that these heroes of the faith were not having some intense conversations with the Lord Almighty!

But panic is NOT our friend. Nor does it help. We need to go to the Lord in prayer and cast our cares on Him. Go ahead. He can handle it.

The apostle Peter shared this wisdom, “Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray” (1 Peter 4:7). Self-control includes remaining calm. Turns out, prayer is the perfect ‘substitute’ for panic.