Power of prayer

What does prayer mean to you?

"Because we know that we are the children of God, one of the most important things we must make up our minds to do on our way to success and happiness is to pray regularly and fervently to him for guidance and strength."  - Marion G. Romney

We pray because we know, or want to know the relationship we have with the Father. 
"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God... then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part.  Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship.  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.  Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them.  Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings."  -Bible Dictionary

I know that was really long but it teaches us that we are God's child, that we pray for things that God is already willing to grant us, but He is waiting for us to ask for them.  We receive blessings when we put forth work, and PRAYER is a form of WORK!

How do we pray?

1. We address our Heavenly Father  ex. "dear Heavenly Father"

2. Say things that we are grateful for

3. Ask for help, questions, blessings

4. close by saying "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

We also can receive help with praying when we seek the Spirit to help us to pray. 

Ephesians 6:18

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication IN THE SPIRIT..."

The Spirit can help us to pray.  Some times we can feel like we don't want to pray, or not good at praying.  But when we pray with the help of the Spirit, we can have comfort and help with our prayers. 

So what uses does prayer have in our lives?

1. We can pray to receive answers

2. We can pray to repent and change and become better

3. We can to thank Heavenly Father for our blessings and ask him for things we need

4. Then the ultimate challenge is to discern the things that the Holy Ghost is telling us when we pray. 

The next couple of blogs will be going over these points.

Praying to know knowledge

There are 3 examples from the scriptures that I want to talk about that prayed to know knowledge.

Lehi

Nephi

Joseph Smith

These 3 men knew the source of all truth.  Lehi, was a prophet who desired to know the will of God.  He was instructed to leave Jerusalem and go to the "promise land."  He was very close to the Lord and asked in prayer which way to lead his family.  What to do when they got to the Americas.  His prayers and obedience allowed him to see a vision called the "tree of life" vision.  This vision he saw different people in life, some trying to be obedient and others not so much.  But it gives us great knowledge to learn from.  Lehi seeing this vision led Nephi, his son, to pray and to ask God to see the vision and the interpretation of the vision.  He had 3 qualities that allowed him to receive an answer to his prayer. 

1 Nephi 11:1

"For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the spirit of the Lord..."

When we have desire to know specific knowledge, faith that God will give it to us, and ponder it out in our minds, GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS.  The answer most likely won't be a vision, but will come in the form of peace, joy or happiness with the decision.  Your mind can become enlightened on a subject you are struggling to understand.  If the answer is not necessary for you right now, he grants peace and patience until the time is right. 

Joseph Smith is another example of this.  He had desire.  He wanted to know what church to join.  He wanted to be obedient and follow God with exactness.  He had Faith. He knew that after he read James 1:5 that "if any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God."  Joseph Smith knew if he followed this scripture, that God would answer him.  Then he pondered it.  I use to think that Joseph Smith woke up one morning, debated which church to go to.  Read the scriptures and BAM- James 1:5 was read.  And the rest was history.  That is far from the truth.  Joseph Smith debated this out in his mind.  He records in the Joseph Smith History 1:8 "I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit."  1:13 "At LENGTH I came to the conclusion..."  This was not an overnight decision.  Joseph allowed it to stew in his mind.  he pondered it and wanted to learn truth and asked in faith, knowing that God would answer his prayer.

Sometimes our questions are answered the day of.  Sometimes we are allowed more time to ponder and pray about a question so that when we are prepared most, we will receive the answer.  Some times answers take time and effort to show God our faith, patience, and dedication to know the answer.  Think of how much more you appreciate anything you get if you worked for it versus when you just receive it.  Our appreciation grows.  We cherish the answer or gift we receive. 

I know that God will answer our prayers.  If he doesn't answer with the answer we want, he has something better in store for us!

Pray to repent

We do not have to be perfect to pray.  We do not have to be "worthy" to pray.  A lot of times we need the strength that comes through prayer to overcome sin or temptations. 
Alma 34:22-23
"Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.  Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is the enemy to all righteousness."
Doctrine and Covenants 10:5
" Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work."

It doesn't say once you have to overcome, then you can pray.  It tells us to pray TO conquer. 

An example is Alma the Younger.  He was a man that was going around destroying the church and everything surrounding it.  He was not a righteous person at all.  He was telling his son about his conversion and he stated
"...not of any worthiness of myself." Alma 36:5

That God loved him so much that even though he was doing bad things, that Alma was visited by an angel and was given guidance on how to repent and to change.  He goes on to tell his son "...teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, WITH their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ." Alma 37:33  We are not expected to overcome sin and temptation on our own.  We will only be able to overcome all of those things WITH our faith, relying on our Savior through prayer. 

We have to remember at all times that NOTHING "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:39

There is nothing that is in our power to make God love us less.  He loves us eternally and infinitely and he will love us to the end and ALWAYS beckon us to return to him, no matter what we have done, what we have said, and what we have felt.  He LOVES us! 

If we ever get to a point and feel that we are not worthy to pray or shouldn't pray- remember this scripture
"Hearken unto the spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth NOT a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray."  2 Nephi 32:8

If you feel that you can't pray for what ever reason.  PUSH THAT THOUGHT OUT!  That is the devil trying to get you to feel bad.  That is not what God would have you do.  He wants you to pray and feel of his love and to repent so that you can have all guilt removed.

Pray for thanks and blessings

We should always thank God for all of our blessings.

Doctrine and Covenants 59:7
"Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things."

Doctrine and Covenants 46:7
"  But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally...doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving." 

We pray for things we are grateful for.  We pray for things that we are striving to develop.  Doctrine and Covenants 4 "things of god must be sought after."  We can seek after Christlike attributes through prayer.  The prayer of faith we can have divine help to develop these traits.

Also, we can ask for priesthood blessings which is a prayer for us from someone holding the Priesthood .
James 5:14
"Is an sick among you?  let him call for the Elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick..."

We can pray for things we need help with.  Things we are struggling with and we can always have access to the priesthood for an added measure of prayer.

Discerning Promptings

Sometimes the hardest thing to me is receiving the answers to my prayers.  I doubt the thoughts that I have thinking they are my wishes, not God's.  I have never heard God speak in my head.  So how do I get answers?

My sister-in-law once said something to the effect of
"God can't direct a person if they are not moving."

We cannot expect God to tell us every choice we make.  That we sometimes have to step in the direction we think we need to go and then God will make it known to us if that is the right choice.  We will sometimes feel the answers during our prayers, and that is great.  But sometimes we have to exercise some faith and start moving forward and then God can guide us from there.  If it was right, he will open the doors for you.  If that choice was wrong, then He will put up road blocks and help guide and lead you another way.

I KNOW that God answers prayers.  I know that he loves to hear from us and that when we pray, we are "seeking and obtaining a private interview with him." - Marion G. Romney

Praying for the gift of discernment is a great way to develop an ability to understand and receive answers to prayers. 

But always remember:
"Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks; Waiting patiently on the Lord, for you prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament-the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted... All things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord."- Doctrine and Covenants 98:1-3

Decide today to pray unto our Father who is in Heaven.