My Talk on Prayer

Two Summers ago my family went to Moab for a family vacation. There are over twenty Lindsay's altogether and we love to bike, hike and climb. On this trip we went on a four-hour bike ride through a Gemini Bridges loop. The trail is stunning and is set against the red rock cliffs. I have an older brother named Mark who is mentally handicapped and is not physically fit enough to bike the trail, so he rode a four-wheeler along side us. We all spread out along the trail, letting the fast bikers soar ahead and the bikers with kids stayed behind. I was somewhere in the middle with my Dad and older kids. The sun began to set and we were heading back to the parking lot when we realized that Mark was not with any of the bike groups and that no one had seen him for two hours. My brothers drove the loop in a car and couldn't find Mark on the trail which meant that he had gotten off the main trail and could be anywhere in the vast canyons. We called search and rescue and they said that they would be out and made us promise that no one would go back into the canyon to find him. It was memorial day weekend and search and rescue were already over burdened--it would be a while before they could get there. We felt helpless and couldn't stop thinking about how black it was getting in the canyon, and the cliffs. My father gathered us to pray, we stood in the parking lot in a circle and prayed. My father told Heavenly Father how much all of us standing there loved Mark, that he had blessed our lives and that we were worried about him, and that we needed help to find him. It would be a couple of hours after that prayer before we would know that Mark was okay, but things in the canyon began happening quickly. A group of about 40 night riders on dirt bikes showed up to spend hours of the night playing in the canyon. We told them about Mark, gave them a description, and told them to look out for him. The night riders went out right away, scouring the canyon for Mark. And deep in the canyon, a man who was camping in an obscure area came upon Mark, and after talking to him for a few seconds realized that he is half a sandwich short of a picnic and needed help. The man led Mark to the main road and waited with him until the night riders found him and led him back to us in the parking lot. Search and rescue had never come. 

The memory of my family gathered in prayer under the moonlight and the honest and heartfelt words spoken by my father for the safe return of our brother still holds a tender place in my heart. The safe return of my brother helped me to believe in earthly and heavenly angels; that Heavenly Father's love extends to all of His children, even the least of those among us, and I came to have a surer knowledge of the power of prayer. 

While I tell that story I recognize that it is easy to pray when we are under urgent circumstances but often find it difficult to kneel in prayer for the daily and simple things that we are in need of. Alma counseled his son Helaman to "Cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." (Alma 37:36-37). I wanted to tell some simple prayer experiences that I have had over the last couple months and as I pondered on my recent prayer experiences I realized that I have had many, many littled answers to prayers. I realized that simple miracles abound in my life because of prayer. 

In April I went to an Audiologist as part of a routine check up and had confirmed what I had suspected for a while—that I have moderate hearing loss. I basically have the hearing of an old person. My audiologist suggested that I could try not having a hearing aid, focusing on people’s faces when they talk, but that the moment I feel frustrated, or like I am missing out on too much, I should get a hearing aid. The high ranges such as women’s and children’s voices are most difficult for me to hear. The situations that are frustrating for me are; large social settings, the swimming pool, speaking with mumblers, and my own children when my back is turned. I felt devastated by this loss. My husband, perhaps because of his own sadness, was too quick to want to laugh it off. For several weeks I couldn’t talk about my hearing without crying. I prayed to Heavenly Father for many weeks, and through those prayers received comfort and healing. examples... Thesis. Max. Housework.

The scriptures instruct us in the way we should pray. In Moroni 7:48 we are told to “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart.” We are told to “live in Thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you” (Alma 34:38). I spend a good chunk of each prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the blessings that have come to me. I regularly thank Heavenly Father for leading me to my husband Charles, for my wonderful children, for our home and substance and I thank Heavenly Father for the little moments or things in each day that make me happy. I thank Heavenly Father for my flowers, for a fun swimming session, a good chat with a girlfriend or a good book. The more diligent I am about thanking Heavenly Father for my blessings, the more wonderful things seem to present themselves in my life.

We are also asked to pray for the needs of others. In Alma 34:27 it says to pray “for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.” My children laughed recently when I told them that I always pray for people who don’t wear a helmet on a motorcycle. I will say, “Father, forgive him for being stupid and please protect him on that motorcycle today.”

The scriptures tell us that our prayers will not be heard if we do not take care of the of the poor and the down hearted. Alma 34:28 says that if you “turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if you have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is in vain, and availeth you nothing.” The last time I read the Book of Mormon this scripture was powerful to me. I took it to heart and began to buy peanut butter for the food bank every time I went to Harmon’s, I regularly signed up to bring the women in the ward meals and I made sure, even if we weren’t in our regular ward on fast Sunday to still give a generous fast offering. I actively looked for other ways that I could serve those in need. Last fall I started school and became self-absorbed and let some of these good habits slip. I feel inspired to re-commit myself to a life of service, knowing that service is an integral part of prayer.

The scriptures tell us of many blessings that we will be offered through prayer. And among these blessings we are offered hope. I think that hope is a magnificent gift in our times. My children are constantly hearing conversations that go like this.

Grandpa to Me…Do you have a wheat grinder?

Me…Yes, I have one that attaches to my kitchen aid and I also have a hand grinder for the apocalypse.

Charles…Well if we had solar panels you wouldn’t need the hand grinder.

Grandma…But there might not be any Sun with the nuclear fall-out.

Sister-in-law pipes in…Yeah, remember Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.”

Grandma…Yes. We’ve all read the book, that’s right, we are all going to just end up eating each other.

My children constantly hear worried conversations about gas prices, food production and a changing way of life and I feel a tremendous desire for my children to have hope. In the book of Mormon we are assured that if we pray we will be given hope. The Missionary Aaron promises a Lamanite King that, “If thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest” (Alma 22:16). I know that through prayer we can recieve a perfect brightness of hope.

Amen.