Prayer

I am an avid believer in the power of prayer.  (I haven't always been.  It took several years, some major life destruction, and a couple of influential people to remind me once again of things I already knew...that prayer is necessary and effective.)  


There are some days, though, that I just wake up wondering if I'm really praying for the stuff I should be praying for.  If anyone hears it.  If any of it will really make a difference.  


I regularly pray for my kids and my husband.  I pray for direction in my callings.  I pray for friends and family members who desperately need some kind of heavenly assistance right now.  I pray to be able to listen to the promptings of the Spirit and act on them quickly.  And there are other, more personal things that regularly come up when I'm on my knees.  Most of the time I receive direct answers to the things I've asked for...comfort, assurance, hope, confidence, sugar eggs that make it all the way from my kitchen to the church without any accident.  

But sometimes the answers I get are less clear.  They are things I'm not expecting.  They are things about what the future holds for me and for my family.  And they are things I have to wait for.  When those kinds of answers come, I always wonder if I'm hearing things.  And I always wonder what I'm supposed to do with them.  I'm a detail girl and a planner.  It's difficult to know stuff is coming, but not know the details of that stuff.  How can I make a list if I don't know the details?  And if left alone in my head for too long, I wonder if I've really heard any of those things at all...or if I'm just some kind of lunatic.  (That is entirely possible...)  


This morning I was feeling one of those "impatient for an answer" kind of feelings.  I was feeling like I just want to know already.  Like I just want some of those blanks filled in.  My house is empty this morning.  It's rainy...again.  And I was left alone with the Conference talks.  Here's the one I picked...Russell M. Nelson Face the Future with Faith    And here's what he said:

If we pray with an eternal perspective, we need not wonder if our most tearful and heartfelt pleadings are heard.   
D&C 98  "Your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord...and are recorded with this seal and testament - the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.  Therefore He giveth His promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory saith the Lord."
The Lord chose His strongest words to reassure us!  Seal. Testament. Sworn. Decreed. Immutable.  Covenant.  Brothers and sisters, believe Him!  God will heed your sincere and heartfelt prayers and your faith will be strengthened.

Don't you love it when that happens?  I wanted something concrete.  I wanted something from someplace other than inside my own head.  And poof! Elder Nelson shows up with exactly the thing to make me stop wondering, stop being so impatient and just enjoy the ride already.  

Be Good.  Be Patient.  Don't Forget.

I'm grateful for the power of prayer.  I'm grateful for the ability we have to talk to a Father in Heaven who is always willing to listen.  I'm grateful for personal revelation that comes through the Spirit and the things that are brought to our understanding in ways we don't expect.  And I'm especially grateful for a living Prophet and Apostles who are guided and directed by that same Spirit to counsel us on behalf of the Lord.