Prayer: A Letter to All

Dear Reader,

Many of you are my friends or family.  I am grateful for each of you and love you very much.

I would like to share with you how prayer has been a great blessing in my life.  I have turned to it countless times, during my happiest and most sorrowful moments.

That reminds me of a great book I once read: A Tale of Two Cities.  Charles Dickens began his beloved tale with the now famous paradox: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."  And somehow such conflicting syntax resonates with us.  In our lives we are capable of feeling both the greatest of joys and the deepest of sorrows. No one is immune, and sometimes it is a dark and hard place where we find ourselves.  But whether we are burdened by the heaviest of weights or we feel we are floating by on clouds, every person on this earth has the potential to receive great strength from their loving Heavenly Father.  God has given each of us the power to call upon Him and seek His help through prayer.  

When we call upon God, we are talking to the most powerful, the most important, the most loving, and the most compassionate person in the universe.  Not to mention, He is our Father.  Heavenly Father is very personally invested in the lives of each of His children.  He wants to hear from us.  He wants to hear from you.  Yes, you.  No matter how important you feel or don't feel, how intelligent, how beautiful, how imperfect, how confused, how lonely, how unworthy...He loves you and wants you to talk to Him.  

I have found a few ways that we can make our prayers more powerful:

First: find a quiet place where you can talk to Him aloud.

Second: "learn to ask the right questions.  Consider changing from asking for the things you want to honestly seeking what He wants for you." (Richard G. Scott - Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer)

Third: pray in gratitude.

Fourth: seek for answers from your prayers by actively pursuing and listening for the answer.
If the answer seems to be withheld, continue in faith -- thankful that God trusts you enough to make a righteous decision.

I know that as we seek to come closer to our Heavenly Father through prayer, we will be blessed with increased strength in our moments of weakness as well as in moments of ease.  God can grant us peace during anxiety, mourning, and confusion.  He can help us find answers to difficult questions, and calm a heart that has been broken.  He loves us.  He loves you.  "Ask and ye shall receive.  Knock and it shall be opened unto you" (D&C 4:7).

Love,

Samantha