WHAT?! A supplemental? I thought we were done with prayer! Well, before ya'll gather an angry mob, basically, supplemental is a cool word that I used to basically mean, "Hey, I forgot something that I wanted to include with my earlier posts and want to now, but without making it seem like a part 3". Savvy? Good.
Mostly, I wanted to put in the basics of how we pray. I mean, I talked about what it is, why it is so important, and examples of prayers being answered. But, if we don't know the basics of how to apply it, what's the point? Well, that's why we have this supplemental. I forgot the HOW. So here it is.
First, we address God, our Heavenly Father, since that is who we are speaking to.
Second, we offer up what's in our hearts. We thank Him for the many things that He has given us (Our families, our homes, the Gospel, etc...). We also ask Him for things that we stand in need of, whatever that may be - temporal, spiritually, emotional, so on and so forth. It is also a time where we can ask God to know if something is right or true, and what He would have us do.
Lastly, when we have said all that we want to say, we close in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Pretty simple, right? But it works, and as I said yesterday, God truly does listen to and answers our prayers. Some may ask, "How does God answer my prayers?" Well, that is an excellent question!!! I am so glad you asked! My next post will be covering just that very question. But yeah, prayer is so important and God truly does want to hear from us, because He loves and cares about each and every one of us. I promise you that, because I have seen it many times in my own life.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Back to the Basics: Prayer (Part2)
A sequel? Cool beans!! Yeah, you already know, but still, you could at least ACT surprised. Well, as I said yesterday, today will be more of actual experiences with prayer, instead of just defining it. Shall we begin? Alright, we shall!
Well to start off today's blog, I would like to...wait, does anyone want to guess? You said share a scripture? Who said that? Well, whoever did, you are correct! Wow, so smart! The scripture is found in 2 Nephi 26:15. It says starting about halfway down,"yet the words of the righteous shall be written, AND THE PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL SHALL BE HEARD". What an amazing promise! That is so cool. That is God promising to us that our prayers will always be heard. God always answers our prayers. I would like to give a couple examples today showing that. The first is Daniel.
Daniel was a righteous man and prayed to God daily. The king sent out a proclamation saying that they could not pray to anyone except the king. Still, Daniel prayed. Because of that, the king threw Daniel into a den of ferocious and, I imagine, very hungry lions. The cool part is is that because Daniel was faithful, and always prayed, he was spared.
Alright, second story. This one is of Joseph Smith. Joseph was a young boy of about 14 years of age. He wanted to know what God wanted him to do. One day, he read James 1:5 that states,"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." Joseph knew he lacked wisdom as for what God would have him do. So, he knelt down in a grove of trees near his house and prayed. That day, Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ appeared unto him and spoke to him face to face, tellling him the things that he should do. *It's important to note: Joseph Smith asked a specific question and he got a specific answer.
Alright, last story is of my own experiences in life. As I sat thinking about what prayer, of all the many prayers that I have offered up throughout my life, should I share and the result thereof, I finally decided on one I offered when I was about 15 or 16 years old. I had heard many times that God loved me and knew from all my many blessings that he did. But that day, I decided to ask God if I might truly feel of His love. I truly received an answer that day. It was the one of the warmest and most peaceful feelings I have ever had in my life.
I testify that God does love each and every one of us. Just as Daniel, Joseph Smith, and billions of people since the world began have prayed and received answers to their prayers, I add my witness, that God lives, and that He hears and answers our prayers.
Well to start off today's blog, I would like to...wait, does anyone want to guess? You said share a scripture? Who said that? Well, whoever did, you are correct! Wow, so smart! The scripture is found in 2 Nephi 26:15. It says starting about halfway down,"yet the words of the righteous shall be written, AND THE PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL SHALL BE HEARD". What an amazing promise! That is so cool. That is God promising to us that our prayers will always be heard. God always answers our prayers. I would like to give a couple examples today showing that. The first is Daniel.
Daniel was a righteous man and prayed to God daily. The king sent out a proclamation saying that they could not pray to anyone except the king. Still, Daniel prayed. Because of that, the king threw Daniel into a den of ferocious and, I imagine, very hungry lions. The cool part is is that because Daniel was faithful, and always prayed, he was spared.
Alright, second story. This one is of Joseph Smith. Joseph was a young boy of about 14 years of age. He wanted to know what God wanted him to do. One day, he read James 1:5 that states,"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." Joseph knew he lacked wisdom as for what God would have him do. So, he knelt down in a grove of trees near his house and prayed. That day, Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ appeared unto him and spoke to him face to face, tellling him the things that he should do. *It's important to note: Joseph Smith asked a specific question and he got a specific answer.
Alright, last story is of my own experiences in life. As I sat thinking about what prayer, of all the many prayers that I have offered up throughout my life, should I share and the result thereof, I finally decided on one I offered when I was about 15 or 16 years old. I had heard many times that God loved me and knew from all my many blessings that he did. But that day, I decided to ask God if I might truly feel of His love. I truly received an answer that day. It was the one of the warmest and most peaceful feelings I have ever had in my life.
I testify that God does love each and every one of us. Just as Daniel, Joseph Smith, and billions of people since the world began have prayed and received answers to their prayers, I add my witness, that God lives, and that He hears and answers our prayers.
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