OFFICIAL SUNDAY OPEN THREAD

PRAYER

⭐️ An Original Devotional By The New Americanist’s Own RailBoss

JJJ

rom the beginning of recorded history Mankind has been instructed in the redeeming act of prayer. As we find in the Latter Day Saint, canonized text of The Pearl of Great Price, an Angel declared to Adam, “Thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son for evermore.“

The Bible dictionary teaches:

“As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God; namely, we are His children and He is our Father; then at once, prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part. Prayer is the act by which the will of the child and the will of the Father are brought into correspondence with each other.

The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and others, the blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are conditional on our willingness to to ask for them. Blessings require some work or effect on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work; and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

In the Book of Genesis we read, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, that Noah was a just man, and that he walked with God;” meaning that he had bent his will to that of the Father in prayerful communication. And though he was mocked and derided by the people of his time, Noah was faithful to the communication and covenants he had received from the Lord. Because of this obedience, he and his posterity were saved from the flood.

In preparation for the Advent of our Savior, Jesus Christ, a son would be born to Zacharius and Elizabeth in their old age. Gabriel, an Angel of the Lord, appeared to Zacharius and “Fear fell upon him.” The angel said, “Fear not Zacharius, for thy prayers have been heard and thy wife, Elizabeth, shall bear thee a son, and his name shall be called John.” This great event happened while they were gathered together to pray in the Temple of God. Soon after this, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said unto her, “Fear not, thou hast found favor with God. Thou shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus.” Mary is recorded as saying, ” My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Savior.” 

All of these heavenly events were accompanied by a lifetime of personal, prayerful preparation.

From the book of Mosiah, the story of the conversion of Alma the younger reminds us of the healing power of prayer from a concerned father. “As Alma and the sons of Mosiah were going about leading astray the people of the Lord, an Angel appeared unto them; and so great was their astonishment that they fell to the Earth.” Mosiah 2714 states, “And again, the Angel said, behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people; and also the prayers of his servant Alma, who is thy father, for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee; that thou might be brought to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, for this purpose, have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God; that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.” Here we learn of the healing power of a father’s righteous prayers for his wayward son.

Unless we open the portal to Heaven on behalf of our children, we cannot expect to be sent that Divine knowledge and inspiration that is from a loving Heavenly Father, to guide our daily thoughts and deeds and to help us in directing our families on a moral and true course.

I am convinced that through my own mother’s faithfulness and prayers, that I was watched over and protected during my own misspent youth.The reason this principle of prayer is effectual, is because the love of Father in Heaven is so great. The things that are important to us, become important to our Father in Heaven. He wants to bless us. His work and his glory are to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, but he will not infringe upon our agency. We must ask for his help. Inspiration and guidance are gifts which are freely given, if we but seek them.

We are all blessed with many things to make our life on Earth much easier and full. We have homes, cars, cell phones, food, clothing and endless opportunity. All of these possessions are gifts from above and belong to him. Our free will is the only thing that we truly possess; and when we submit our will to that of our Heavenly Father, we will be blessed. We must ask for his help. and this is generally done through prayer. The attitude and type of prayers our Savior taught his yearning disciples, otherwise known as the Lord’s Prayer is a wonderful example. We start by speaking to our Heavenly Father:

Our Father which art in Heaven: It is our privilege to approach our Father directly. We do not pray to any other being. Remember that we have been counseled to avoid repetitions, including using the name of the Father too often as we pray.

Hallowed be thy name: Jesus addressed His Father in an attitude of worship, recognizing His greatness and giving Him praise and thanks. Surely this manner of referencing God and giving heartfelt thanks, is one of the keys to effective prayer.

Thy Kingdom come thy will be done: We freely acknowledge our dependence on the Lord and express our desire to do His will, even if it is not the same as our will.

Give us this daily bread: We ask for those things we want from the Lord honestly. It is essential in requesting things from God. Iit would not be fully honest to ask for help on a test in school if I had not paid attention in class or done the homework assigned. We should listen as we pray as the Lord nudges us, that there is more that we should do to receive help. It is contrary to the economy of Heaven for the Lord to do for us what we can do for ourselves.

And forgive us our debts: Or, forgive us our sins, An essential and sometimes forgotten part of personal prayer is repentance. For repentance to work it must be specific, profound, sincere and lasting.

As we forgive our debtors:There is a clear connection between being forgiven for our sins and forgiving others who have wronged us. D&C:64 states, “I the Lord will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”

And suffer us not to be led into temptation but deliver us from evil: Begin the protective process of putting on the whole armor of God, by looking forward to the day ahead, and do not forget to ask the Lord to protect you from the sometimes frightening things we face.

For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever: It is instructive that Jesus concluded his prayer by praising God again and expressing His reverence for and submission to the Father. When we truly believe that God rules his Kingdom, and that He has all power and all glory, we are recognizing that He truly is in charge, that he loves us with a perfect love, and that he wants us to be happy! The Lord has always blessed mankind when they first seek Him; and He prepares a way for their happiness and salvation.

(1 Nephi 13:12 ) Nephi’s vision of the latter days describes the foreordination of Columbus and his mission to discover the new world.

“I looked and beheld a man among the gentiles who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the spirit of God that it came down and brought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.”

Latter day historians tried to deny and erase the hand of Providence that propelled Christopher Columbus to America. From his own letter to the King and Queen he states:

“God has favored me with the spirit of intelligence; and neither reason, nor mathematics, nor maps of the world enabled me to fulfill the enterprise of the Indies. With the hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies; and he opened my will to desire to accomplish the project. This was the fire that burned within me when I came to visit your Highness. All who found out about my project denounced it with laughter and ridiculed me. Only your majesties had faith and perseverance. Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit, who encouraged me with a radiance of marvelous illumination.”

Roughly 250 years ago, George Washington was wintering with the revolutionary troops at Valley Forge. Many died of cold and starvation during the civil war. 150 years ago Abraham Lincoln had lost nearly every battle, until he had visited Gettysburg. The shock and horror of the thousands upon thousands of dead and wounded drove him to personally reassess his own relationship with God. He called for a national time of fasting and prayer, after which only a small handful of the many battles fought were lost; and the victory of freedom from suppression for all men was won.

Moses worked from stone tablets. The Egyptians worked from papyrus scrolls. Greeks and Romans worked with an Abacus. NASA put a man on the moon with a computer the size of the school bus. It wasn’t until I was six years old in 1968, they invented the pocket calculator. Today, we have the iPad, where every bit of information known to man is instantly and literally at your fingertips, from practically any place on the entire Earth.

All of these creations from the beginning of time have the ability to bring us the word of God and his Prophets, for our Father to communicate to us, but there is still only one way to communicate with Him, and that is from your knees, in sincere fervent prayer; as it has been from the beginning of time.The Lord may speak to you through the scriptures on your iPad, you cannot speak to him through it!!! There is no app for that!

In 1 Samuel 17:7 we are taught, “The Lord looketh not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance; but the Lord looketh upon the heart.” Open your heart to the Father of your spirit. Ask directly for all things, in all places, at any time. There have been, or there will be, circumstances in every life that will drive you to your knees in humble submission and supplication to an omnipotent and eternally forgiving Father in Heaven. Be prepared. Be practiced. Be humble.

Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen ✪