For the month of November, we are asked to pick a general conference talk as our message to share with the sisters that we visit teach. I tend to try and think of things I need to hear again, study, or revisit when making a decision of which talk to share. The talk, “The Privilege of Prayer” by J. Devn Cornish came into my mind this time. His talk started out with a story about how his prayers were answered with a quarter he found on the sidewalk when he was in desperate need of a piece of fried chicken on his bicycle ride home from work. What a fun story to see how even the simple prayers that we have can be answered!
I love how he goes on to say, “I am led to believe that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that the things that are important to us become important to Him, just because He loves us. How much more would He want to help us with the big things that we ask, which are right (see 3 Nephi 18:20)?”
I have two thoughts. First are of my own children. They are 5 and 2 and I’m trying to teach them how to pray. It is not an easy task. Trying to teach children the fundamentals like who to pray to, what to say at the end, etc. are easy enough, but trying to teach them what to pray for is another task entirely! You want them to pray for meaningful things, and to pray for others (which seems to come naturally to children), but it is OK to let them pray for little things too. Because like he says to us, what is important to us, becomes important to Him. And, I can’t help but think that applies especially to little children!!
My second thought is simple. We are so blessed to have the gift of prayer. As Latter-Day Saints, we know the importance of prayer. We are encouraged to rely on it. And, whether it is big or small, our Heavenly Father does hear, and He loves us and is waiting to bless us. While we may not be as innocent as little children, we are still His children, and what is important to us, is still important to Him. We must not forget that!
And, the last quote I loved from this talk was this, “We must not only say our prayers; we must also live them. The Lord is much more pleased with the person who prays and then goes to work than with the person who only prays. Much like medicine, prayer works only when we use it as directed.” It is easy to pray, stand up, and walk away thinking, “OK, now I’ll wait for Him to answer” but, in reality, we need to be at work at all times trying to help get our prayers answered! Whether that be pondering the prayer, listening for the spirit, or actively doing something to make a desire of our heart happen, it is up to us to do our part, we must not forget that!
I am so grateful to know these principles, but I don’t always put them into action perfectly. That is why I’m so grateful for this talk that reminded me of the simplicity, and the gift of prayer!
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