Prayer! What is it?

According to a dictionary.com

prayer

1. a devout petition to God or an object of worship.

2. a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession.

3. the act or practice of praying to God or an object of worship.

4. a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying: the Lord's Prayer.

5. prayers, a religious observance, either public or private, consisting wholly or mainly of prayer.

What does prayer mean to you?

 Here is what prayer means to these people. 

 Sister Asendente: "Prayer is a line that connects us to our Father in Heaven. It is a line that doesn't get busy. So you can call Him anytime."

 Emily Wray: "Pray to me is a connection to something bigger than human, a light that is in all of us, and feeling, brightness. A relief that when you pray, God hears. A connection that not only God see's but what other people can feel."

Elder Sabin: "Prayer to me is like having the ability to communicate with somebody who knows all the answers."

Sister Mace: "Prayer is what keeps me sane and gives me the capacity to keeping going, even when I think I have reached my limits. Prayer is my source of strength and is a direct communication with a loving Heavenly Father who not only listens and hears every word, but answers all of the fears, concerns, frustrations, and questions that we all have. Prayer is also how we can give thanks for all of the many blessings, patients, love and understanding he has given each of us in our times of need."

Sister Green : "Pray is vocalized Faith. It is the opportunity to talk to and recieve guidance from a perfect Father. It is the will of us aligning with Him and allowing us to recieve the blessings he wants to give us but is conditional upon us asking for them."

Lacey Griffiths: "Prayer is a moment that I can take, anytime, anywhere, any way I get a face to face moment with God. In those few precious moments I am am not judged, ridiculed, nor am I passed judgement! I cherish each moment I get with my Lord and Savior to ask for and thank him for the blessings bestowed upon me and my home!"

Jessica King: Prayer is proof to me of a loving Heavenly Father. He has provided a way for us to communicate with him at any time. He is always there when I need him, always within listening distance. It just shows me how much He loves me.

Laura Lehman: Personal prayers are my favorite. I can completely let down my guard and have a conversation with my Father in Heaven. I also have the time to listen for, and feel the answers.

Sister Tuckett: Prayer gives me peace, it lets me know that everything will be alright. I know that I can pray and that God will answer and that I can have strength. He has been there for me so many times in my life.

Prayer is one of the most special gifts that we have been given by God. It allows us to know that we are not alone and that someone loves us unconditionally. If it has been a while since you have prayed talk the time to open up your soul to the Lord and come to know that He is always there for you. Then think about what prayer means to you.

How do you know?

The other day a man asked me a very interesting question.

"How do you know that Jesus is your Savior?"

I thought a lot about that and then applied that questions to other things. Like how do I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church on the earth again. How do I know that the Book of Mormon is true? How do I know that there is a prophet on the earth again? How do I know?

Well let me answer by first asking another question. How do you know that the floor is there in the morning when you are lying in bed? I mean I always trust that the floor is there every morning but I still have to try it out and put my feet down. I have to act and do my part. If I lay in bed and just say that the floor is there doesn't really help to know if the floor is there.

Nephi also teaches us how we can know certain things of God. Here is a converstaion that he had with his brothers.
"And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.

Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?

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."

So to answer the question of how do I know. I know because I have acted. I know that Jesus is my Savior because I have accepted Him and then I have followed Him. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church on the earth, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that we have a prophet on the earth today because I have prayed and asked God and then I followed my answer that I have received.

One last thing, I know that you can come to know these truths for yourself. All you have to do is ask God with a open heart and then be willing to act. Be willing to take that step on the floor. I know it will change your life and make it better than better.

Confusão

Oh hey! Você não vai entender isso, porque você não fala em portugues. Lembre-se que Deus te ama e se preocupa com você.

Uh... what? Have you ever had a time that you had someone speak to you in another language, or even sometimes in your native language, and you just have no idea what they are saying? I sure have. May last few companions have been waiting for their visa to go down to Brazil. Sometimes they will speak portugues out loud and then look at me like I should understand. I just give them a blank stare back because I don't speak Portuguese.

Have you ever felt that perhaps God speaks to us in a different language? That perhaps He is speaking to us in Portuguese? That maybe He isn't even speaking at all? Well I can testify that He does speak to us. He is there. He is reaching out to us and all we have to do is listen.

Listening to God though is different than listening to someone next to us talking. To listen to God we don't just listen with our ears but we listen with our hearts and with our minds."Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart." Doctrin and Covenants 8:2  We have to really be focused. One of the main ways we can hear God by praying and actually talking with Him not just to Him. When we really seek out to have a conversation with our Heavenly Father and really let Him know how we are doing He will answer us.

So the next time you feel that maybe God is speaking in Portuguese have a conversation with Him and you will find out that you can understand Him perfectly.

Clean That Window

The last semester of college that I took before I came on the mission I took up an early morning custodial job. The hours were from 4-7 in the morning and I woke up at 3:30 5 days a week to get there in time. It wasn't a horrible job once you got used to the not so great hours. Really it was pretty easy. I did the same thing every single day. I vacuumed the entry ways and washed all the glass doors. I really didn't mind the vacuuming part it was my favorite. The doors on the other hand were a little annoying. No matter how clean you washed them the day before there were always new, fresh hand prints for me to clean. Just because I cleaned the day before did not guarantee that they would stay perfectly clean for the next day. If one day was missed, for example we didn't clean on Sunday, then the doors were just filthy and it took a little bit longer to clean them. Even though it seemed like a small task, maybe 5 minutes for each door, it was something that needed to be done each and every single day.

In our own lives there are things that we need to do each day to make sure that our souls stay clean. They seem so easy that we might forget them or we might not think that they are important; reading our scriptures, saying our prayers, repenting daily, being kind to those around us, remember Jesus Christ. It only took me 5 minutes for each door but if I made sure that I cleaned them each day then the next day it was just as easy. If we get in the habit of reading our scriptures and saying our prayers then next day it is just as easy to do them. But if we forget then it does seem hard to get back on the path even if we didn't do it one day. So lets all take the time and do the simple each day. Everytime we do we really do draw closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ which is our purpose of being here on earth.

God Loves You

Hey guess what? God loves you!

I think that this is the most important thing that any of us could understand. All other knowledge doesn't really mean a whole ton until you come to understand that God loves you.

But first before you can know that God loves you you have to know who God is to you. Is God someone who is close to you? Do you think that He is just some being up in the heavens that isn't really mindful of you? I can tell you that God is close to you and that you can have a very personal relationship with Him. In fact He is the father of our spirits. He created us. He knows everything there is to know about us. He even knows us better than we know ourselves. The scriptures strongly testify of who God is and how much He knows and cares for us. In Alma 18:32 it says,"...and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; fory by his hands were they all created from the beginning."

So God does know and love each and every single one of us. Knowing that He does opens all sorts of doors. For me the main thing that it helps me with is the understanding that He will and does answer my prayers. I just imagine how much my dad loves me and how he will answer my questions. God loves us even more than we can understand and if our dads will answer us then of course so will our Heavenly Father. "What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7: 9-11)

But you don't have to take my word for it. Look around and see God's love. Pray to Him and feel God's love. Everytime you read the scriptures I know you will be able to understand that God does love you.