A Father and His Child
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Matthew 7:7–8
Each of you is a [child] of God, created in His image. Yours is a celestial journey. Heavenly Father wants you to check in with Him through sincere and fervent prayer. Remember, you are never alone. Never forget that you are loved. Never doubt that someone surely cares for you.
Thomas S. Monson
These past few weeks I have been studying about prayer. As I have been reading scriptures and different talks and article I can’t help but reminisce about some very sweet and precious times on my mission.
On my mission I really learned what prayer should be. Not a repeated phrase said half-heartedly to say that you did it, or a mumble under your breath only when your world is “falling apart”. Prayer is a sweet and powerful blessing given to us to communicate with our Father in Heaven. You are his child and he wants to hear from you.
Have you ever listened to a little child learning to pray? Have you ever listened to some speak their first uttered prayer? These are very sacred experiences in my opinion and there is something very special about them. They speak to Heavenly Father like they would their earthly father or a very cherished and wise friend. As I had the blessed opportunity to go and to teach others of Jesus Christ and his Restored Gospel I also was able to teach people how to pray to their Heavenly Father.
Before my mission when I would pray I would usually say the same things. For example, if it was praying for a meal it usually went something like this, “thank you for this food please bless it to nourish and strengthen out body’s amen” and if I would remember to pray before bed the ending was always please ended with “bless me to have to night sleep and to wake up happy and healthy in the morning”. These are bad or wrong BUT, I don’t know about you but that doesn’t really sound like a conversation between a daughter and her is loving, caring Father. I had had very personal and meaningful prayers to my Father in Heaven before, but they were very few and far between. I was not making the effort to really gain that personal relationship on a daily basis. While I was in the MTC (The Missionary Training Center). One of my class’s teachers told us to each go into a little room kneel down and to pray out loud and ask if we Heavenly Fathers Child and if he really loved us. (side note: Being in the MTC was very very difficult for me having anxiety and depression I had a couple attacks daily and I thought about going home several times. I had prayed about it and felt like I needed to stay so I did, but I had no clue why. Why was this so important for me to do? There had to be someone else that would do such a better job than me. I was far too weak and flawed to be of any help to anyone. I held on having faith that someday I would understand.) That day the start of that much yearned for understanding came. As I knelt in that room I had such intense waves of anxiety I started to cry. My head was filled with lies from the adversary, and I think many of us have experienced with some of these lies at some point. I was unworthy, who was I to ask these questions, what if I didn’t get an answer, why would he listen to me anyways, there are billions of people in the world and there are so many that have so many more problems than I do, I don’t want to bother him, I had been very good and always pray like I should have why should I pray now. As I knelt there battling within myself I also knew that I was his child and that he wanted to hear from me. Through the tears a finally croaked out Dear Heavenly Father, and I asked the questions. I asked if I was His spirit daughter and if He really knew who I was and if He loved me. As I asked these questions for the first time out loud I was so overwhelmed with peace and love I could no longer kneel and I sat down. Tears were still streaming down my cheeks, but they were no longer from anxiety and fear but of over whelming joy. As I sat there I continued to pray and pour out my heart, I spoke to him like I would my dad. I knew in that moment why I was there and why I was supposed to go on a mission. Heavenly Father loves and cares about each and every one of his children more then we can ever understand in this life and yearned to let each and every one of them.
As a missionary I was blessed to teach others and to watch them as they came to learn of their Savior and their Heavenly Father. As we would ask them to pray many didn’t know how or where worried that they would do it wrong. We would tell them that God Was their Father and he wanted to hear from them, we would read scriptures on prayers. Soon they would have to courage to pray. For some it would be the first time they had prayed out loud. They would pray with such humility and hope and reverence, they spoke to him like they would their father or a very wise and cherished friend. He always answered! He knows each of his children and knows how to speak to them. Everyone receives answers in a way unique for them, as we pray we learn how the spirit speaks to us and we are better able to understand when Heavenly Father answers our prayers. I cherish this sacred experiences.
Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call [pray] upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;
Yea, cry [pray] unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.
Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.
Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.
Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.
Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.
Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.
Alma 34:17–27
I love these scriptures, they teach us that we are to pray about everything! Heavenly Father wants us to come to him about everything the big things in our lives and the things that are so very small. President Boyd K. Packer taught, ”Prayer is your personal key to heaven.” As we pray and live in obedience to his commandments we unlock the windows of heaven. As we pray we need to remember that trails will still come and that does not mean that we have done something wrong difficulty come and go and Heavenly Father blesses us to have trails that we might become stronger and help others on our way. President Monson taught this about prayer in a devotional at BYU in 1968,
“Oh, do not pray for task equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your task. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.
Your Heavenly Father will not leave you to struggle alone but stands ever ready to help. Most often such assistance comes quietly, at other times with dramatic impact.”
I love this quote so much. It reminds me that as I battle with my anxiety and depression that I can pray for the “power” to rise above. That instead of praying that this be taken from me that I can pray that I will be able to turn my “weakness” into a strength. That I can use this trail to not only become stronger personally but to help others that are also living with a similar trial.
As I continue to remember my individual worth and that I truly am a daughter of God, my prayers are again beginning to change. I had fallen back into the rut of repeated phrases and quick mumbles if I prayed at all. I had fallen back into listening to the lies of the adversary. I felt unworthy to pray again, and I felt alone. As I tried to fight this battle on my own I realized that true understanding and healing only comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ a gift and a blessing. I needed to pray, I need the help of my savior, I needed my relationship back with my Father in Heaven. I needed their love and guidance to be the best that I can be.
As a pray to my Heavenly Father I try to envision a loving father, taking interest in all that his daughter has to say. He cares about the big and the small. My needs and wants, what I am thankful for, and the struggles and trails I face. As I pray I feel the strength from heaven helping me through the day, my burdens feel lighter and I am better able to keep my anxiety and depression at bay. I still have really bad days that sometimes turn into a bad week or two (the past two weeks) But just because I fall down it doesn’t mean I have to stay there. My mission President was so amazing and such a huge blessing for me, He used to say, “it’s okay to no be okay” and he would go on to say, “but don’t stay that way keep going and keep trying.”
It’s okay to not be okay! Loving yourself does not mean to give up on yourself and staying the way you are. You are worth so much more! You are a child of God! Your Heavenly Father loves you! He wants to hear from you! Have a conversation with him, be open and real. You deserve to have a personal relationship with him, to have his heavenly help in your life. When you finish praying stop and just be still feel the peace that comes from prayer, listen and seek for how he speaks to you! I promise he is the, that he is listening and that he will answer. Answers come in many forms. But they do come! I pray that something I have said has helped you or given hope. You are loved You are needed and you have infinite worth. I pray that you too will continue on in having a more personal relationship with your Father in Heaven.
Thank you so much for reading! Much Love!
Jennie
Referneces:
Matthew 7:7–8
“A Time to Choose” Ensign May 1995 Thomas S. Monson
Alma 34:17–27
“Prayer and Promptings” October General Conference 2009, Boyd K. Packer
“Pathways to Life Eternal” BYU Devotional, February 27,1968
