So, Like I said at the beginning of this little journey that I am on, as a missionary, I prayed ALWAYS. when I rolled out of bed, when I sat down to study the scriptures,before I ate, before we left our appartment, before we taught anyone, sometimes on the side of the street seeking the Lord's will for us in that hour, when we returned home, before i fell into bed and many, many more times through out each day of those 18 months. At that time I had a very strong unwavering testimony of prayer. Today, due to the lack of praying always in my life, that faith in prayer and testimony of prayer is much weaker. I struggle because of that. I still believe that prayer works, that our Father in Heaven hears and answers even the weakest of prayers, but because I have not acted on that principle as much as I should have lately, that testimony has weakened immensely.
I am studying prayer today, but without studying I can tell you this. I know when we pray out loud, there is a different spirit that accompanies our prayers. When we pray in secret, in our minds as we drive down the road or as we struggle not to strangle our children at the grocery store, those prayers are heard also. As we pray for others, they are uplifted and blessed, as are we. When we fast with prayer the Lord is able and willing (according to His will) to pour blessing on us. We are not alone in this life, we don't have to be not even for 1 second. That knowledge is priceless. That is knowledge that not many people throughout the world know. As a mother I should rely on prayer much more than I do. I need all the help I can get. And, because of the knowledge I have of the plan of salvation, I know that Heavenly Father knows me and my children individually, better than I know my self and much better than I know my kids. So, why wouldn't I take my concerns, my fears, my accomplishments, my struggles, my deepest desires for my self as a wife and mother and for my children to Him, He who knows all.
Does pray always mean that I spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week kneeling at the side of my bed praying? Probably not. there is more than one way to pray. As we kneel down and pray, we are focusing all or our energy for that few minutes on prayer. As we close that prayer and get up and on with our day, we need to have a prayer in our hearts. Remember the things that we have been counseling with the Lord about, remember the things we have asked His help with and work towards the desired goals. Do things, read things, listen to things, say things that will allow the spirit to stay with us. Take time throughout the day to "check in" so to say with the Lord. Keep in touch. That, in my opinion is how we pray always.
With that said, will He answer all my prayers right now, the way I want? Of course not. How would we grow or learn if every time we went to the Lord with a question he instantly gave us the answer without any work on our part. When reading the story of the Brother of Jared, who I have grown to love, we learn that there are different ways prayers can be answered. On occasion he was told what to do, on occasion he was told it would work its self out, on occasion, he was left to his own wisdom and desires to come up with a solution. the same is true for us.
As I have studied for a few short minutes today this is what I have found:
Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the role of prayer: “Petitioning in prayer has taught me, again and again, that the vault of heaven with all its blessings is to be opened only by a combination lock. One tumbler falls when there is faith; a second when there is personal righteousness; the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is, in God’s judgment—not ours—right for us. Sometimes we pound on the vault door for something we want very much and wonder why the door does not open. We would be very spoiled children if that vault door opened any more easily than it does. I can tell, looking back, that God truly loves me by inventorying the petitions He has refused to grant me. Our rejected petitions tell us much about ourselves but also much about our flawless Father.”
There is a country song by Garth Brooks that says' "some of Gods greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." How true that is. How much time to we spend focused on things that don't matter or that haven't even happened yet. The Lord knows, he gets the big picture. He loves us and when a prayer is left unanswered it is either because the Lord might be letting someone else be the answer to that prayer, the timing is not right, we don't need to know the answer, or because our will is not in accord with the Lord's. When we are doing all we can, studying, praying, serving, asking,(and I don't mean being perfect) the Lord will not let us down, he can't. It is not in his nature to do so.
The Savior said, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you” (3 Ne. 18:20). If we pray for something that is right, it will be ours.
“Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them.” . That is from the bible dictionary. It also talks about how prayer is work. If we ask for something we need to be willing to do all we can to help that prayer be answered, be it studying things out for ourselves, serving those who we pray for and others as well, doing what we can to be a good mom and not leaving it to the Lord to change or fix us on his own, and trusting that in due time, answers or blessings, or a change will, in fact, come.
There is a talk by President Eyring given at BYU in 1999, I read it often on my mission and shared it with may people. It is titled "Always" http://lds.org/ensign/1999/10/always?lang=eng&query=pray+always This talk, talks about the importance and sacredness of the word "always." We hear it every sunday as we prepare to take the sacrement, "always remember Him," "always have His spirit to be with us," part of a covenant.
There is also the command to pray always, like in 3 Nephi 18:18, it reads, “Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” It is a warning to pray always. Satan was in the pre-exsistance, he knows us, he knows how to make us fail, or feel like we are failing. He knew I would struggle with my role as a wife and mother, that I am not patient of selfless enough to enjoy my role each day, but if I were praying always, I would have an added measure of the spirit with me, I would learn patience, satan would have a harder time breaking me down because he would have more to go through than just me. He would have those angels from heaven to break through first and then the me that is guarded by strength that comes with prayer, that my Heavenly Father is waiting (probably very impatiently) to send my way. He wants me to succeed as a mother, he wants my children to be great. I know that. When we know that praying always can bring that kind of blessings (which I do. I have seen) why do we not do something so simple as pray always. AND, as we pray always, that helps us to keep the covenant we made at baptism, and renew each sunday to always remember Him. Can we really forget someone we are in constant communication with? I think not.
My goal for this week is to be mindful of prayer, to make more of an effort to start and end my days with prayer. To pray out loud alone and with my family. To seek to know the Lord's will for me so that my prayers will be in accord with his will. To give thanks for the blessings which are mine. I am so greatly blessed to be a part of the only true church of Jesus Christ, to know that the Heavens are still open and not just to the prophet, but to all of us. "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek, and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." 3 Nephi 14:7
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