Story time. Pull up in your sleeping bags and cuddle around the fire!
I pray a lot. I'm not saying that to sound snotty. I'm just stating a fact. Just because I do it a lot doesn't mean I'm like an expert on prayer in anyway. So this morning I spent an hour figuring out how to make those prayers more meaningful. What is it that I can change when I talk with God? The format never changes. I've taught a lot of people how to pray. And I've said a whole lot of them myself over the past 20 something years. I want my prayers to have more meaning. Do you ever feel that way? During that hour of digging around in the trusty scrips I found this paragraph in the Bible Dictionary and it really spoke to my heart:
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 (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship.
Ding ding ding! The first step to having more meaning in prayer is to figure out who I am! I am a daughter of God! When I pray I'm literally talking to my Dad who happens to live in Heaven. And guess what, the same is true about you (unless you are a boy, then you're his son...) So if I remember that I'm going to find it easier to talk to him.
So we're told that we are to pray every morning and every night right? (oops! accidental rhyme!) When I was in 8th grade I decided I would never go to bed without praying first. Mornings were a little harder. Nothing has happened in between those prayers except for dreams and snoring. God doesn't care. He still wants to hear from me. This is where the scriptures come in super handy. They're almost like a cheat sheet, giving us things to pray about! Alma 34:17-28 gives us a whole list of things to pray about. I don't have any fields to pray about but I do have things during my day that I need help with. And I can especially spend more time praying for others.
The time is short because my brain has been scattered and I'm pretty sure I have more to share. And this isn't even really all that focused. Campers, please excuse your troop leader for being a bit of a blonde today.
Will you spend a little extra time on your knees tonight? Ask God to help you realize your divine potential because you're His child. Then pay attention to any warm fuzzies you may be feeling in your heart. I bet my bottom dollar you have some :) And for you over achievers give this talk a read and report back. Happy praying!
3 sweet messages:
Loved that talk! I have had one day where I prayed morning and night, the other days it's like I remember the morning prayer but forget the evening prayer, or vice versa. However, just pray more overall has had an amazing impact!
Ever since I read your post a few days ago I have been trying harder to remember to get on my knees and pray and I've been getting much better! I think that there are a lot of things that I leave out of my prayers because it's silly and I don't want to bother the Lord with them, but lately I've been trying to use my prayer time to tell him everything. Oh and praying for others too because I don't usually think about that and I ought to.
This talk was WONDERFUL!!!! I pray every night and morning! I pray that all the missionaries are watched over and blessed for doing the best thing in the world. I also pray that my Big Bro (Elder Kennedy) will be safe and out of harms reach, and that I will get to see him occasionally! My prayers must be heard cause you guys are all safe and he is safe and I get to see him almost once every week or every other week! Keep on being awesome! You're great Sister McCall!
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