Post # 25 -- Sweet Hour of Prayer

Dear Family and Friends

I have mentioned to you about some of the side-effects of the chemotherapy and I would not be able to get through my day without the strength of the Lord. He is there for me and for you, all you need to do is ask Him to be a part of your lives. You can talk with Him anytime, anywhere, and you do not need to be on your knees for Him to hear your prayers. So, it will be with His help that I will be able to walk without the neuropathy pain bothering me too much😊

How do we develop the faith we need to call on our Heavenly Father in prayer, to thank Him for our blessings and to ask Him for help when we need it and there is no one else around that can really help us? Well, I believe that prayer is where it begins. I was reading an auricle from our now Prophet – President Russell M/ Nelson. he teaches us so much about prayer and I wanted to share it with all of you, I hope you get as much from it as I have. If you are new to prayer it is a good beginning place for you and if you have been praying for a life time – it is a good refresher.

Sweet Hour of Prayer - Russell M. Nelson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

 We should pray in accord with the will of our Heavenly Father. He wants to test us, strengthen us, and to help us achieve our full potential.

In this day of computers, phones, and pagers, people communicate with one another better than ever before. Even so, good communication is often lacking.

I think we should add cell phones, internet, Facebook, twitter, snap chat, Instagram, gmail, email, messenger, tumbler, face time, and so many other ways of communication today than I can think of – you probably know about a few more as you are most likely more tech - savvy than I am:)

Recently while visiting a nursing care facility, I spoke with a woman about her family. She told me that she had three sons, two of whom visit her regularly.

“What about your third son?” I asked.

“I don’t know where he is,” she replied tearfully. ‘I haven’t heard from him for years. I don’t even know how many grandchildren I have.”

Why We Pray

If such a mother yearns to hear from her sons, it is easy to see why a loving Father in Heaven wants to hear from His children. Through prayer, we can show our love for God. AND He has made it so easy. We may pray to Him any time. No special equipment is needed. We don’t eve need to charge batteries or pay a monthly service fee.

No special equipment, no monthly fees, and you don't have to charge the batteries to use prayer and you can pray from any where at any time, standing, sitting, lying down, on the move or perfectly still, using words or a prayer of the heart and mind, with your family, as a group or individually. WOW!!! what more can we ask for? 

So, what are you waiting for? If you are not a person who prays, why not begin today? I promise you that it will be well worth any effort that you put into it. Your Heavenly Father loves you and He wants to hear from each one of you. It won't const you a thing except a few minutes of your time and i don't know about you, but i often use some of my time on less significant things throughout each day. let's each try to do better to talk with our Father in heaven who is waiting to hear from each one of us.

Some people pray only when confronted with personal problems. Others don’t pray at all. a scripture makes this observation: “Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember our riches, not to thank the Lord… for them.”

Prophets have long told us to pray humbly and frequently.

How to Pray

Jesus taught us how. We pray to our Heavenly Father, in the nmae of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is the “true order of prayer,” in contrast to “vain repetitions” or recitations given to “be seen of men.”

Jesus revealed that we pray to a wise Father who knows what things we have need of, before we ask Him.

Mormon taught his son, Moroni, that we should pray “with all the energy of heart.” Nephi exclaimed, “I pray continually for [my people] by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, … and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.”

The sweet power of prayer can be intensified by fasting, on occasion, when to a particular need.

Prayers can be offered even in silence. One can think a prayer, especially when words would interfere. We often kneel to pray; we may stand or be seated. Physical position is less important than is spiritual submission to God.

We close our prayer “in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” When we hear another’s prayer, we audibly add our “amen,’ meaning, ‘That is my prayer, too.”

I teach the steps of prayer to my preschool class and they pray with me every day. I teach them that first they should 1. address God as our Heavenly Father, next I teach them to 2. thank their Heavenly Father for  all their blessings, then they should 3. ask Him for what they need, and last to 4. close their prayer “in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. They are so excited to learn that they can talk to their Heavenly Father at anytime and anywhere😊

When to Pray

When should we pray? The Lord said, “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.”

Alma said, “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.”

Personal Experience with Prayer

Many of us have had experiences with the sweet power of prayer. One of mine was shared with a stake patriarch from southern Utah. I first met him in my medical office more than 40 years ago, during the early pioneering days of surgery of the heart. This saintly soul suffered much because of a failing heart. He pleaded for help, thinking that his condition resulted from a damaged but repairable valve in his https://https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/trust-in-the-lord-mm/watch/series/mormon-messages/trust-in-the-lord-mmheart.

Extensive evaluation revealed that he had two faulty valves. While one could be helped surgically, the other could not. Thus, an operation was not advised. He received this news with deep disappointment.

Subsequent visits ended with the same advice. Finally, in desperation, he spoke to me with considerable emotion: “Dr. Nelson, I have prayed for help and have been directed to yo. The Lord will not reveal to me how to repair that second valve, but He can reveal it to you. Your mind is so prepared. If you will operate upon me, the Lord will make it known to you what to do. Please perform the operation that I need and pray for the help that you need.”

"The home should be a place where reliance on the Lord is a matter of common experience, not reserved for special occasions. One way of establishing that is by regular, earnest prayer. It is not enough just to pray. It is essential that we really speak to the Lord, having faith that he will reveal to us as parents what we need to know and do for the welfare of our families."

—Spencer W. Kimball, "Strenghtening Our Families"

His great faith had a profound effect upon me. How could I turn him away again? Following a fervent prayer together, I agreed to try. In preparing for that fearful day, I prayed over and over again, but still did not know what to do for his leaking tricuspid valve. Even as the operation commenced, my assistant asked, “What are you going to do for that?”

I said, “I do not know.” We began the operation. After relieving the obstruction of the first valve, we exposed the second valve. We found it to be intact but so badly dilated that it could no longer function as it should. While examining this valve, a message was distinctly impressed upon my mind: Reduce the circumference of the ring. I announced that message to my assistant. “The valve tissue will be sufficient if we can effectively reduce the ring toward its normal size.”

But how? We could not apply a belt as one would use to tighten the waist of oversized trousers. We could not squeeze with a strap as one would cinch a saddle on a horse. Then a picture came vividly to my mind, showing stitches could be placed – to make a pleat here and a tuck there – to accomplish the desired objective. I still remember that mental image – complete with dotted lines where sutures should be placed. The repair was completed as diagrammed in my mind. We tested the valve and found the leak to be reduced remarkably. My assistant said, “It’s a miracle.”

I responded, “It’s an answer to prayer.”

The patient’s recovery was rapid and his relief gratifying. Not only was he helped in a marvelous way, but surgical help for other people with similar problems had become a possibility. I take no credit. Praise goes to this faithful patriarch and to God, who answered our prayers. This faithful man lived for many more years and has since gone to his eternal glory.

Inquire of the Lord

When we pray, we should not presume to give counsel but should inquire of the Lord and hearken to His counsel. Joseph Smith’s first prayer ushered in the Restoration of the gospel. In 1833, he received the Word of Wisdom after asking the Lord for counsel. The revelation on the priesthood received in 1978 by President Spencer W. Kimball came after intense inquiry. Inspiration regarding the construction of smaller temples came after the pondering of President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Answer to Prayers

Not all of our prayers will be answered as we might wish. Occasionally the answer will be no. we should not be surprised. Loving mortal parents do not say yes to every request or their children.

At a recent extended family hoe evening, our grandchildren were having a wonderful time. A six-year-old grandson became very upset when his father said it was time to go home. So what did this dear boy do? He came to me and said, “Grandfather, may I have your permission to disobey my father?”

I said, “No, sweetheart. One of life’s great lessons is to learn that happiness comes through obedience. Go home with your family, and you will be happy.” Though disappointed, he dutifully obeyed.

We should pray in accord with the will of our Heavenly Father. He wants to test us, to strengthen us, and to help us achieve our full potential. When the Prophet Joseph Smith was held in Liberty Jail, he pled for relief. His prayers were answered with an explanation: “All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

I believe that prayer is a good beginning of our spiritual preparedness. I also believe that the power of prayer is tremendous. Think about it for a moment or two, whom should you pray for today, what do you need to pray for? Heavenly Father knows of our needs before we ask Him, He is only waiting for us to ask. Just because we ask for something doesn’t mean that we will get it, or even in the way that we think or feel we should get the answers, but our Heavenly Father will always answer our prayers.

The answer may not be what we expect, or when we expect it, or even how we expect it, but He will always answer our sincere heartfelt prayers. It has been my experience that He answers our prayers through other people. I was watching a Christmas movie the other day – and yes, I know that it’s July! I watch  the Hallmark channels and they do Christmas in July, so I get to watch them when I am not working and I love it! I would watch Christmas movies all year round. and it's quite alright if you think i am a little crazy to do this, but Christmas movies just make you feel good.

As I was saying, in this movie a young single mother with three children shows up to a town to look for work as her husband just left her and the children. she has two girls of her own and a young boy that was her husband's before they were married, but when her husband takes off she takes the boy with her and her girls. She drives her car as far as she can with the money that she has available to her and ends up in a small town. she gets a job at a diner and tries to work leaving her children in the motel with the young boy watching the girls alone. The baby floods the toilet after he falls asleep, so the motel manager gets upset with her. His wife has shows her compassion and helps her out by asking her daughter to babysit for her while she works.This she agrees to do for little to no money. 


Anyhow, her husband finds her and hands her divorce papers then he takes the boy away with him ad his buddies. the young mother goes to a park and prays -- she wasn't sure that there was a God, but she takes a chance and says 'If there is a God, if you are up there please don't let him take my boy ( she called him by his name, but I don't remember it) away, he needs to be here where he is safe and loved. The father dumps the boy off because he stutters and wears glasses and is not good enough, his son tells him that he wants to stay there with his sister.  

The towns people fall in love with her and her children, they all come together to help her out and long story short – there is a line in the movie that I really like about how Heavenly Father sends angels to help us, they just don’t always have wings. There are a lot of us right here on the ground. Or something to that effect😊 This is so very true because we are God's hands here on the earth, He needs all of us with all of our gifts and talents to be His angels here on earth.

Have you been someone's angel before? I know that I have tried to be as often as I can, mostly anonymously.  One of my favorite things to do with my children was to deliver Christmas presents to neighbors in need without them knowing who delivered them. my children would take the packages to the door then ring the doorbell and run and hide and watch to be sure the gifts were taken inside.

 I don’t know that heavenly angels have wings because I have not seen one that I am aware of, but I have had experience with an awful lot of His angels right here on earth and they are some amazing people to say the very least! They have been there to answer my prayers and help my family and I our on numerous occasions – maybe one of them was you at one time or another, and if that has been the case, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being in tune with the Spirit and being the Heavenly Father’s hands here upon the earth! Let us all be willing to pray to know who the Lord needs us to help each day. remember He needs all of our help! so don't forget to pray, everyday - morning, noon, and night-- and keep a prayer in your heart throughout every day.