Prayer

Prayer helps me to keep the proper focus and perspective in life.

There are many times to pray and things to pray about. A few days ago I took a walk down by a large rive in our area and found myself alone. Usually when I am hiking/walking I don’t take a lot of time to stop; but this day I did.

I stood on the banks of the wide and fast moving river with the warm spring sun shining down on me. Then I sat on an old log and offered up a prayer of thanksgiving to my Heavenly Father. I have much to be thankful for and wanted to make sure that God knew it.

Taking some time to pray with only giving thanks is a wonderful experience that can help you to realize that even in the midst of struggles or problems we still have blessings in our lives.

I have found throughout my life that the power of prayer can help to lift me out of my troubles, give me strength and direction, provide an opportunity to express my gratitude, and a time to petition help from God on the behalf of others.

But prayer is not always easy. We want answers now, we want help now, and we want it all when we want it.

But we forget that is not the purpose of prayer.

As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part…

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.

Bible Dictionary, Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints

Prayer is our way of showing faith to a loving Heavenly Father in petitioning him for what we might need, however, we need to remember that what we want may not always be what we need.

We are blessed to have an all knowing, all loving God who does know what we need. So the hardest part of prayer may not be praying itself, but it may be in the listening, feeling, and letting go–letting God’s will overcome our own, that may be the most difficult thing to learn with prayer.

It’s amazing that the most supreme being in the universe, the creator of worlds, gives us access to Him. There is no waiting in line, no limit to the number of minutes we can use, no appointment to make, or no charge to do so.

Prayer is the ultimate, greatest, and most direct form of communication.

Prayer is the passport to spiritual power

Thomas S. Monson, april 2010

Take time in your life to pray and to turn your will over to God. As you do so you will find greater peace, love, joy, understanding, and comfort in your life.