Nottingham
Country Ward Sacrament Meeting TalkNottingham
Country Ward Sacrament Meeting Talk19 November 1995
When Nephi's brothers did not understand the things their father had been teaching them, Nephi asked simply, "Have ye inquired of the Lord?". (1 Nep. 15:8)
No message is repeated more times in scripture than the simple thought: "Ask and ye shall receive" (D& 4:7) Elder Boyd K. Packer-Ensign Nov. 79, pp.19-21; New Era, Feb 1995, p.4-9.
In the most recent conference President Hinckley said, "Brethren and Sisters, I know that you are a praying people. That is a wonderful thing in this day and time when the practice of prayer has slipped from many lives." President Hinckley, Ensign, Nov 95, p 89.
Often we find that our prayers become hurried or even neglected.
My brother who is on a mission in Taiwan received a challenge from his mission president to pray for 15 minutes morning and night. My brother noticed a difference in his missionary work and in his prayers. I decided to experiment on this advice and I found it did make a difference. Sometimes 15 minutes seems long and sometimes it seems too short but it can make us reflect on how much time we do spend in communication with the Lord.
When I was in college at BYU my grandparents, who live there in Provo, provided a way for me to earn a little money. They let me work for them once a week doing some houseİcleaning. Each week as I vacuumed in their bedroom I noticed at the sides of their beds that the carpet was very worn in one particular spot. After several weeks I realized that the worn out carpet was due to years of kneeling in prayer in that same spot each morning and evening and many times in between. Each week thereafter I felt a reverent feeling each time I saw the carpet. My grandparents are both in their 90's now and the carpet has since been replaced but the memory of the importance of prayer is still in my heart. I know their lives have not been free from pain or trial but I know they have turned to the Lord in times of pain and in times of joy. I hope that each of us has a place in our homes that is holy ground, or a sacred grove, where the carpet is beginning to wear down because we have been there in prayer.
President Hinckley said that we should pray for wisdom beyond our own. He reminds us that we need wisdom beyond our own in raising our children refer to fn 2.2
I know that we can pray about whatever is important to us. It may not be important to others but if it is important to us the Lord will care.
A missionary in Canada had lost his watch. It wasn't just an ordinary watch; it had belonged to his Grandfather who had died, and his father had given it to him as a goingİaway present as he left for the mission field. He was heartİsick. He and the missionaries searched everywhere. Weeks passed, questions were askedİ but all for naught. No one had seen his treasured watch. He says, "More than two months later, I was attending a meeting at our zone leaders' apartment with several other missionaries. My companion and I had been fasting with one of our contacts and were feeling close to the Spirit. As we started to leave, thoughts about my watch burst upon my mind. I didn't understand why, but I felt distinctly that I should ask the Lord about it.
I found a room where I could be alone and knelt down to ask for guidance. Suddenly, in my mind's eye, I saw my watch. I could see it doubled up inside some sort of black tubing. The image enlarged and I could then see not only the black tube, but also its immediate surroundings.
Outside, much to the dismay of several other missionaries, I dismantled the entire dash of the missionary car I had seen in my mind. There was my watch! It had slipped down the defrost vent and was lodged in one of the many hoses of the car's heating system. After reassembling the dashboard, I again retired to a vacant room to thank Heavenly Father for his loving influence.
Within a week, all the missionary cars in the mission were replaced and that particular car was sent to the junkyard. The car was gone, but the watch was foundİİİthanks to the power of fasting and prayer." Ensign/Oct. 1988, pp. 46.
I know that Heavenly Father knows us each individually and loves us, and he wants to help us and give us wisdom beyond our own.
President Hinckley also said, " To call upon the Lord for strength to do what we ought to do refer to fn 2.2 D&C; 10:5 says,"Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work."
President Hinckley also said ,"to pray for comfort and consolation."
It was just such a time in the life of Emma Lou Thayne when she needed comfort that she penned the words of one of my favorite hymns, "Where can I turn for peace?" She says, "The words to the hymn came for me out of a troubled time for our family; we had one daughter ill; I was facing a spinal fusion and an interruption of teaching midİquarter, my husband was about to become bishop of a student ward; and four daughters were under the age of seventeen with busy lives.
Our Latterİday Hymns, pp 155-156.
She wrote: Where can I turn for peace, where is my solace When other sources cease to make me whole? When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice, I draw myself apart, searching my soul?
Where, when my aching grows, Where, when I languish, Where in my need to know, where can I run? Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish? Who, who can understand? He, only one.
He answers privately, reaches my reaching, In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend. Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching. Constant he is and kind, Love without end.
Our Father in Heaven has promised us peace.
At the October conference Elder Oaks stated, "A powerful idea with immediate practical application is the reality that we can pray to our Heavenly Father, and he will hear our prayers and help us in the way that is best for us. We can always be in touch with a powerful friend who loves us and helps us, in his own time and in his own way. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Nov 95, p. 26.
We want you to know that we feel the Lord has answered our prayers in bringing us to this great ward. It was with much fasting and prayer that the Lord guided us to this area, and this home, and this ward. We're thankful for all of youİ for the way you are living your lives and raising your children. We're grateful for your friendliness and kindness to our family.
I know the Lord answers our prayers. He has blessed me many times with wisdom beyond my own, strength to do what I ought to do, and comfort and consolation in time of need.
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© 1995 Walden 3-D, Inc.
Last Update: 09 December 1995