Becoming His: Power of Prayer

Ere you left your room this morning.. Did you think to pray?

Last night I read this quote on prayer..

How true is that?! What a good reminder! Too often in life I forget to pray! 

This weeks challenge really focused on saying frequent prayers but it also touched on how we pray. 

Have you ever had a really good conversation with a friend, a significant other, a parent, a sibling, a child, even a stranger? A conversation where you really opened up to that person and they really opened up to you. A conversation that when you walked away you felt a sweet and powerful connection. 

I was sitting in church Sunday and as the sacrament was being passed I had the most powerful thought. It was so powerful that I had to write it down. How often do I hide my thoughts from God? 

Now that sounds ridiculous doesn't it? I mean can we truly ever hide our thoughts from God? He knows us. He knows our thoughts and our challenges and joys and trials and bad habits, He even knows our choices. Perhaps even before WE know our choices. So why then do we feel like we can hide our thoughts from Him? 

Lately my prayers have become a little mundane.  It seems that when things get rough or when I'm battling trials my thoughts become less-than positive. So in turn I don't mention them to my Father in Heaven or I brush over them so quickly without diving into too much detail. In my head I think, "Does God really want to hear my sob story? Does He really want to hear my struggles from the day? I don't want to bother Him with my problems." This is exactly what Satan deceives us to believe. The answer is YES! God wants to hear from you. Why hide from Him what He already knows? Take your problems to Him. Give Him your frustrations. Tell Him what hurts you, what bothers you, what has been on your mind all day long. He wants to hear them. He will never get tired of listening to you. In order to have an intimate relationship with your Father in Heaven, you MUST be open and honest with Him! Ask God, not Google.

He is there. He loves you! And if you ever need to feel closer to Him, you must first hit your knees.

"Pray, He is there.
Speak, He is listening.
You are His child,
His love now surrounds you."

Becoming His: Finding Joy In The Journey

Do you ever have those lessons that feel like a slap in the face? Like the Holy Ghost whispers, "HEY! LISTEN UP! THIS ONES FOR YOU!" This was one of those lessons for me.

I am an anxious person. I look to the future often. Which isn't a bad thing.... But far too often we become so wrapped up in the future that we forget to live in the present. Especially during times of trial.

During my darkest hours what would keep me going is knowing that there were brighter days ahead, only to find out that my brighter days were, yes, brighter, but also much dimmer than I had hoped.

Here's the rather sad truth. Satan exists. He is poking and prodding during times of darkness and even more so in our times of light. There is no escaping him in this earthly life. His temptations will always be upon us. But here's the good news. We might not be able to silence him, but we can put ourselves in situations the quiet him.

In the scriptures there is a very familiar story of some travelers, and on their journey they are captured. So as any righteous soul would do in this situation they began to pray for their deliverance, and do you know what God told them? Hold on. Find women. Find men. Get married, have children, have grandchildren. Could you imagine? Here you are captured and your answer is basically, build a life, your gonna be here a while. But, oh, what a lesson!

During the week I read multiple conference talks, each one seemed to talk about having an eternal perspective. This reminded me that perhaps we are not to far off from the people long ago. The very purpose of this mortal life is to be tried and tested, our very purpose to be on this earth is merely to grow!! Perhaps our "captured" years are these very years on this mortal earth. Often we are caught in times of trial and hardship. Often times I find myself looking towards my better days. I tell myself, hold on, suffer through these days and soon you will be where you wanna be. What a waste!! Enjoy the day your in. Wake up and find good in the life you have been given today! Be where you wanna be today!

President Monson quotes one of his favorite musicals in his talk Finding Joy in the Journey, he quotes, "You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you've collected a lot empty yesterday." 

How profound!

When you rolled out of bed today, God granted you a special gift, one more day of life. Whatever comes your way today, enjoy that gift. Thank Him for it! Cherish it. Cash it in wisely. You never know when it might be your last.

When we find joy in the journey, every day we will reach our destination.

I understand someday's its hard to find joy. Someday's its nearly impossible to find anything happy. I have experienced those days where you feel as though it would be best to climb back in bed and hide under the covers. But find your faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed, for if you have even just a tiny bit of faith God has promised He will bring you an "expected end." How comforting to know that even our longest, hardest trials have a light at the end of the tunnel. Whatever your going through, it WILL NOT last forever.

Be strong. Be faithful. Hold on. God is on your side!