12- April 17, 2023 Prayer & condition of our Hearts

 12

This week I came across the same scripture in 1 Nephi a couple of different times, and I felt impressed to share it with all of you. You often hear the quote that prayer is the way we communicate with God, and that the scriptures (living prophets included) are the way God communicates with us. Sometimes we find ourselves going through the motions of prayer. Other times we are sincere in our asking and seeking, but not completely confident we will actually get an answer, and then there are those times we really feel connected and both directions of communication are flowing.

The difference in these experiences is the condition of our hearts as we go to Him. He is constant, His arm always steady, willing, and able, but we must come to Him. 

1 Nephi 15:11 - “Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you. “

How this looks for me: 

- We strip ourselves of pride when we are really seeking His answer and not the one we want to hear 
- We soften our hearts when we admit that we can’t do it alone and need His guiding hand for direction or comfort. When we eliminate our timetable and patiently wait for His timing to unfold
- Asking in Faith is truly believing He is there, that He cares, and that He most assuredly will answer our prayers as we have “eyes to see and ears to hear” His answers
- We demonstrate our existing faith in Him as we are exactly obedient to what He has already taught us through His prophets 
- We constantly fine tune our ability to listen for the promptings of the Spirt that send us His answers, and then we promptly act on those thoughts and feelings

Each of us are constantly faced with questions, decisions, or simply a need for comfort. Our goal should be to improve our communication with Him through prayer, and opening up His line of communication by studying daily the scriptures. This will make our prayers more meaningful, if we are actually earnestly seeking to hear His answers. The promise is that we will then see miracles in our lives as we see His hand clearly leading us along. Just as Nephi, I believe this to be true!

Mama and I love you so much and hope you all have a great week! Love,

Dad

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