P is for...

This week studying Enos, Jarom, Omni, The Words of Mormon, and Mosiah 1, 2, and 3 was the BEST!
I was reminded of so many wonderful things, and have had so many thoughts twirling around in my head about what to share this week.
No joke. I've even posted a picture so you can see my mad study skills with all of my post-it notes through-out my scriptures for this assignment. The hardest part for me has been trying to decide which thing I want to focus on. Because I want to share it ALL!

This is not my family, but I love this picture of them praying together.
This picture is from the lds.org media library.

Although I want to share it all, I've decided to go with prayer. Prayer is such an integral part of having and exercising faith that I just can't imagine that any of the rest of it will matter as much if I don't talk about the importance of prayer first. Prayer enables us to communicate with our Heavenly Father so that we can give thanks, know things for ourselves, be comforted, receive help, ask for blessings, seek forgiveness, pour out our hearts, and gain knowledge just to name a few.

It's like having a conversation with your dad, only Heavenly Father may not speak back to you with His voice, but He will use a variety of ways to communicate the things He wants us to know. Our answers may come as a feeling, or thought, maybe even a dream; or as we are reading scriptures or other good books, possibly even through the words of a song; or from other people either by what they say or by being of service in some way to us, and quite possibly through our service to them. It might even come in the form of something as odd as a billboard on the highway. I promise you that He will answer us. He knows us individually, and He loves us.

I was taught from an early age that there is an order to prayer. We start by addressing Heavenly Father, then we thank Him for all of our blessings, then we ask for the things we need or want, and finally we close in the name of Jesus Christ. It's that simple. Now, just because we pray for something we want or need doesn't mean that we will get it, or even if we do get it, it may not be in our timing. All blessings are given according to the will of Heavenly Father and His timing.





The following video is the
Sermon on the Mount: The Lord's Prayer. This is where Jesus teaches his disciples the correct manner of prayer and then He offers the Lord's prayer.

There is also a language of prayer we use to show reverence and respect to Heavenly Father. To the right is a little rhyme I found in the Friend magazine to help children remember the language of prayer. I've also linked a wonderful talk entitled The Language of Prayer by Elder Dallin H. Oaks that explains the reasons we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints use what some may view as archaic pronouns in our prayers. For example, instead of using the pronouns you, your, and yours, we use the pronouns thee, thou, thy, and thine. Since the pronouns thee, thou, thy, and thine aren't being used commonly, it allows a distinctive form of address in the English language to symbolize respect, reverence and closeness.

Along with the scriptures that I studied, I also watched various video clips. Here is the link to one of my favorite clips from Elder David A. Bednar's talk entitled Pray Always. The following short video is a quote from Elder Bednar's talk, and a beautiful reminder about why meaningful prayer is important.

I'll leave you with the words of Enos and then another video about prayer. So, there comes a time when Enos is turning himself back to God and he says this about himself, "And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto Him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto Him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens." Enos 1:4 

What are some things we can learn from Enos' example of prayer? Has your soul ever hungered to know God? I would love to hear how prayer has blessed your life.

Thank you for taking some time to ponder and reflect on prayer. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Also, if you have trouble viewing any of the videos, please try another browser.