Prayer

I had to give a talk in church a month go or so. Since family wasn't able to come listen to my talk in person I thought I would post it on the blog for them to see.

Receiving answers to prayers

Elder Boyd K Packer has this to say about prayer – “We succeed in the church by teaching the members to pray. Even our little ones are taught to fold their arms and bow their heads and with whisper coaching from their parents they are taught to pray. There is one part of prayer – the answer part- that perhaps, by comparison we neglect.”

My talk today is on just that, the answer part of prayer. I’m basing some of my talk from a talk given by Elder Richard G Scott called “Learning to Recognize Answers to Prayer.”

Recognizing answers to prayers.

Here’s an experience Elder Richard G Scott shared – “Across from me a woman sat sobbing. With tear-filled eyes, she told me, “I don’t know what I believe anymore.” She spoke of having struggled and prayed many days to know how to make a vitally important decision in her life, without success. She anguished, “I don’t know what to do. If you’ll tell me what to do, I’ll do it.” With her hand on the scriptures, she said, “God told us He would help us. He answers everybody else’s prayers. Why won’t He answer mine?”

Have you ever felt this way? Or had a similar experience with pray and feeling like you don’t receive answers to some of your prayers. When answers to urgent prayer don’t seem to come when we are wanting them to?  You need to remember that our Heavenly Father listens to every pray and I also believe he answers them too, I don’t believe he ignores any of us…. We might feel this way because we don’t understand some truths about prayer, or because we don’t recognize answers when they come.

Elder Richard G Scott goes on to say… “Our Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail but to succeed . It may seem inconsistent, but that is why recognizing answers to prayer can sometimes be very difficult. Some face life with only their own experience and capacity to help them. Others seek, through prayer, divine inspiration to know what to do. When required, they qualify for power beyond their own capacity to do it.

Communication with our Father in Heaven is not a trivial matter. It is a sacred privilege. It is based upon unchanging principles. When we receive help from our Father in Heaven, it is in response to faith, obedience, and the proper use of agency.” - - close quote.

We live in a world offering fast food, instant messaging, on-demand movies, and immediate answers to the most trivial questions, found instantly from our phones or by googling it on the internet. So why not prayers?

President Uchtdorf describes patience as “the ability to put our desires on hold for a time, it is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter. Nevertheless, without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace.”

Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which, at the time, may appear to be so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer.

 “Our ability to practice patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father and his prayer. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His. We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God's purposes and patterns to unfold in our lives, on His timetable.”

We are here on earth to gain experience we can obtain in no other way. We are given the opportunity to grow, to develop, and to gain spiritual maturity. To do that, we must learn to apply truth. How we face challenges and resolve difficult problems is crucially important to our happiness.

To better understand prayer, I like to see in my mind a child approaching trustingly a loving, kind, wise, understanding Father, who wants us to succeed. Don’t worry about your clumsily expressed feelings. Just talk to your Father. He hears every prayer and answers it in His way.

“Elder Richard G Scott goes on to say...When we explain a problem and a proposed solution, sometimes He answers yes, sometimes no. Often He withholds an answer, not for lack of concern, but because He loves us—perfectly. He wants us to apply truths He has given us. For us to grow, we need to trust our ability to make correct decisions. We need to do what we feel is right. In time, He will answer. He will not fail us.

I have described the absolute reality of our relationship with our Father. There is nothing about us He does not know. He is conscious of our every need and could provide all of the answers. Yet, because His purpose is our eternal happiness, He encourages us to make the correct choices.” - - -Closed quote

Sometimes, like a child, we misbehave, act unwisely, and feel we cannot approach our Heavenly Father with a problem. When communication is strained, how wonderful it is to have a Mediator who works things out when we obey His counsel and repent. Such is our Elder Brother, the Savior.

Perhaps Oliver Cowdery’s experiences were recorded for us to understand how to pray and how to recognize answer to prayer. Oliver was told: “That assuredly as the Lord liveth, … even so surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive. …“I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost.” (thats found in Doctrine & Covenants 8:1–2)

When we receive an impression in our heart, we can use our mind either to rationalize it away or to accomplish it. Be careful what you do with an impression from the Lord.

Oliver was further taught: “Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith”.

“According to your faith shall it be done unto you.” Doctrine & Covenants 8:10-11

“Ask in faith” means ask with confidence in our Heavenly Father. Like many of us, Oliver did not recognize the evidence of answers to prayers already given by the Lord.

If you feel that God has not answered your prayers, ponder the scriptures—then carefully look for evidence in your own life of His having already answered you.

To help each of us recognize answers given, the Lord said: “If you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.

“The Lord provides further insight by counseling us to study a problem out in our mind and then to ask if it be right: “If it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

… “But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought.” ---Doctrine & Covenants 8:8-9

It is vitally important to recognize that the Lord also responds a third way to prayer by withholding an answer when the prayer is offered. You might be asking why would He do that? and you might also be seeing that our Heavenly Father doesnt answer our prayers when we want them to be answered.

Elder Richard G Scotts replies to that questions by saying…..He is our perfect Father. He loves us beyond our capacity to understand. He knows what is best for us. He sees the end from the beginning. He wants us to act to gain needed experience:

When He answers yes, it is to give us confidence.

When He answers no, it is to prevent error.

When He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him, obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth. We are expected to assume accountability by acting on a decision that is consistent with His teachings without prior confirmation. We are not to sit passively waiting or to murmur because the Lord has not spoken. We are to act.

Most often what we have chosen to do is right. He will confirm the correctness of our choices His way. That confirmation generally comes through packets of help found along the way. We discover them by being spiritually sensitive. They are like notes from a loving Heavenly Father as evidence of His approval. If, in trust, we begin something which is not right, He will let us know before we have gone too far. We sense that help by recognizing troubled or uneasy feelings. - - close quote

Nephi’s efforts to obtain the plates of brass show how the principles work. When the older brethren were asked to go, they “murmured” and received no help. Nephi was assured, in 1 Nephi 3: 6-7  “Thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured.” Nephi’s words, “I will go and do,” reveal a positive commitment to act and to succeed by using spiritual law.

After two unsuccessful attempts, Nephi remained confident. He crept into the city toward the house of Laban without all the answers. He observed, “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do,” significantly adding, “Nevertheless I went forth.” thats found in 1 Nephi. 4: 6–7

Nephi was willing to try time and again, using his best efforts. He expressed faith that he would be helped. He refused to be discouraged. But because he acted, had confidence in the Lord, was obedient, and properly used his agency, he received guidance. He was inspired step after step to success, and in his mother’s words was “given … power [to] accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded.” thats found in 1 Nephi. 5:8

Nephi knew he was required to confide in God, to exercise faith, and to act so that he could receive help, step by step. He did not murmur nor ask for a full explanation. But, observe particularly, he did not wait passively for help. He acted! By following spiritual law, he was inspired and given power to act.

Sometimes answers to prayer are not recognized because we are too intent on wanting confirmation of our own desires. We fail to see that the Lord would have us do something else. Be careful, seek His will.

When the Lord answers our prayers, it’s easy for us to say, “Lord, forget that request a few days ago. I’ve taken care of it myself.” We think that we have done something ourselves, or that what occurred by divine direction was merely a coincidence. A number of experiences have convinced me otherwise. The Lord constantly blesses our lives, but often we fail to recognize those blessings, as tender mercies of the Lord.

The principles simply will not work when agency is intentionally used to cause contention with the will of God. If there is unrepented sin, we are left to our own devices to flounder and struggle on our own. We can be rescued through our own repentance.

When we seek inspiration to help make decisions, the Lord gives gentle promptings. These require us to think, to exercise faith, to work, to struggle at times, and to act. Seldom does the whole answer to a complex problem come all at once. More often, it comes a piece at a time, without the end in sight.

We can’t talk about receiving answers to prayer without looking at the most important part about prayer and that is gratitude! Our sincere efforts to thank our Heavenly Father. No matter how challenging our circumstances, honest appreciation fills our mind to overflowing with gratitude.

ENDING: I have learned that God doesn't always answer us in the way that we want or according to our timetable, but He does answer us. Our Heavenly Father, at times, uses prayer to test and try our faith. We often want and expect answers almost immediately, but often this is not when answers come. It takes faith and patience to get an answer, but I know that God will always answer us. I know that there is no better way to receive comfort, peace, or truth in this life than through humble prayer.

testimony- i like to bear my testimony that i know this church is true, that the book of mormon was translated by joseph smith and are meant  to help us, and that there is living prophet who leads and guides the church and receive revelation for our time