Sherryl's Sacrament Meeting talk from October 27, 2013

Prayer Changes Things

 

We have a plaque in the entrance of our home that says “Prayer Changes Things” and I believe it does.

“Prayer is one of the greatest blessings we have while we are here on earth. Through prayer we can communicate with our Heavenly Father and seek His guidance daily.  Prayer is a sincere, heartfelt talk with our Heavenly Father.”  [GospelPrinciples, (2011), 34-38]

• Do I realize when we pray just who we are speaking to? 
• Do I realize that our Heavenly Father is God and what that means?

We read in the Bible Dictionary:

“….God created all things and is the ruler of the universe, being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent (through His Spirit),…”  [God]

Omnipotent:  “having unlimited power, able to do anything”   

• Moses 1:33 “And ^aworlds without number have I ^bcreated…”
• Gen. 18:14 “ Is any thing too ^ahard for the Lord?
• Matt. 19:26 “with God all things are ^bpossible.”

Omnipresent:  “present everywhere at the same time”

• D&C 38:2 “The same which ^aknoweth all things, for ^ball things are ^cpresent before mine eyes;”

·        Moses 1:6 “there is ^gno God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I ^hknow them all.”

Omniscient:  “knowing everything”

• 2 Nephi 2:24 “But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who ^aknoweth all things”
• Matt. 10:29 “Are not two ^asparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”
• Alma 18:32 “…he ^aknows all the thoughts and ^bintents of the heart”

• The lesson I learn from these scriptures is that: God cannot be surprised. There is nothing that we can say or do that He didn’t already know about.  There is nothing that can happen that He didn’t know about.  He cannot be surprised!

 God loves us

• Jeremiah 31:3 “…I have ^bloved thee with an everlasting ^clove:”
• John 3:16 “For ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonly begotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife.”
• 2 Nephi 1:15 “….I am encircled about eternally in the ^carms of his ^dlove.”

President Monson recently said  “...your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.”  [President Thomas S. Monson, General Relief Society Conference, October, 2013]

• THIS IS TO WHOM WE ARE PRAYING!  Our all knowing, all powerful, all loving Father.

WHY PRAY?  “Prayer Changes Things”

President Monson:  “Wherever we are in life, there are times when all of us have challenges and struggles. Although they are different for each, they are common to all.

“Many of the challenges we face exist because we live in this mortal world, populated by all manner of individuals. …There will be times when you will walk a path strewn with thorns and marked by struggle. There may be times when you feel detached—even isolated—from the Giver of every good gift. You worry that you walk alone. Fear replaces faith.

“When you find yourself in such circumstances, I plead with you to remember prayer.”  [President Thomas S. Monson, General Relief Society Conference, October, 2013]

·          “Prayer Changes Things!”  However, we need to keep in mind:

The Bible Dictionary states:  “The object of prayer is not to change the will of God …

• Like we think we are telling him something He has overlooked or not considered

“…but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them.”   

• We pray to get blessings!  To get help

“Blessings require some work or effort 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.”  [prayer]

• He knows what we want, what we need and what we will do with it but we still need to ask

President Monson: “We were not placed on this earth to walk alone. What an amazing source of power, of strength, and of comfort is available to each of us. He who knows us better than we know ourselves, He who sees the larger picture and who knows the end from the beginning, has assured us that He will be there for us to provide help if we but ask. We have the promise: “Pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.”^4”  [President Thomas S. Monson, General Relief Society Conference, October, 2013]

BUCKETS

Years ago when I read this definition of prayer from the Bible Dictionary, I had a brief moment when I envisioned buckets. I could see buckets floating in the air around me.  My buckets were old fashioned and wooden with a metal piece around the center and they each were hanging from a metal handle.  On the side of each bucket, a rope was attached that hung down within easy reach.   I understood that these buckets were full of blessings from our Heavenly Father and I thought it wonderful that we could reach up and pull on a rope and have blessings poured out upon ourselves and our family and friends.  Prayer is the appointed means used to pull the rope and obtain the blessings that God has for us.

• I have learned a few lessons over the years about pulling those ropes!  One of which is that blessings are attached to laws.

D&C 130:21 -22 says:  “There is a ^alaw, irrevocably decreed in ^bheaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all ^cblessings are predicated—And when we obtain any ^ablessing from God, it is by ^bobedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”

Brigham Young taught:  “Our religion is nothing more or less than the true order of heaven—the system of laws by which the Gods and the angels are governed.  Are they governed by law?  Certainly.  There is no being in all the eternities but what is governed by law.”  [The Infinite Atonement, Tad R. Callister, p. 300]

• I have learned, that the same laws have continued in place for everyone on the earth from Adam until now, God cannot make an except for me or for you.

• Also, I have learned that when I pull my rope through prayer, I need to be keeping the law that governs the bucket if I want the bucket to tip.

“In certain circumstances these gifts are bestowed without any required action on the part of the recipient; in other circumstances the beneficiary must satisfy certain conditions…because the giver will not bestow the gift until certain minimum conditions are satisfied.”  [The Infinite Atonement, Tad R. Callister, p. 310]

• Keeping God’s commandments is part of getting answers to prayers.  So what are commandments?

D&C 82:8-9  “And again, I say unto you, I give unto you a ^anew commandment, that you may understand my will concerning you; Or, in other words, I give unto you directions how you may ^aact before me, that it may ^bturn to you for your salvation.”

• His commandments are directions of how we are to act. 
• Why is that important to us?
• So we can meet the minimum requirements,
• Why? So we can pull the rope
• Why? So we can get the blessings
•  Why? Because we want things changed.

The very next verse states:

D&C 82:10  “I, the Lord, am ^abound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no ^bpromise.”

• We need to study the scriptures.

President Monson:  “Allied with prayer in helping us cope in our often difficult world is scripture study….As we read and ponder the scriptures, we will experience the sweet whisperings of the Spirit to our souls. We can find answers to our questions. We learn of the blessings which come through keeping God’s commandments. We gain a sure testimony of our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of Their love for us.…As we remember prayer and take time to turn to the scriptures, our lives will be infinitely more blessed and our burdens will be made lighter.”  ^”  [President Thomas S. Monson, General Relief Society Conference, October, 2013]

• Whenever the Lord or his servants ask us to do something….and we do it….we are blessed…with the appointed blessing.  D&C 82:10
• Here is a promise that I have always loved.

Pres. Marion G. Romney said:  “… The Book of Mormon teaches us truth [and] bears testimony of Christ. … But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called ‘the words of life,’ and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. … ‘Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book a lifetime pursuit’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, 4–7; or Ensign, Nov. 1986, 5–7; quoting Marion G. Romney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1980, 90; or Ensign, May 1980, 67).

Another promise that I love is found in  James 1:5  “If any of you lack ^bwisdom, let him ask of God, that ^cgiveth to all men liberally, and ^dupbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

• It doesn’t say if you lack wisdom about which church to join Though that is what Joseph Smith needed help with.
• If just says “if any of you lack wisdom” and I find myself in that situation quite often
• This promise doesn’t work if I really know what to do but don’t want to do it!

Do you know what the next verse says?

James 1:6  “But let him ^aask in ^bfaith, nothing ^cwavering.”

• Asking God in faith is not just asking for a second opinion—since we have asked everyone else that we know.
• We need to ask if faith….with the intent to do as we are instructed
• God knows our hearts.  He knows us.  He knows if we are serious. 
• If we aren’t serious, why should He bother to answer our question?

James 1:6  “But let him ^aask in ^bfaith, nothing ^cwavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”

James 1:7:   “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”

WE DO NOT WALK ALONE

• Even though I know that “Prayer Changes Things” 
• I also know that we are on earth to be tried and tested.  [Abraham 3:25]

President Packer once said:  “Some frustrations we must endure without really solving the problem. Some things that ought to be put in order are not put in order because we cannot control them. Things we cannot solve, we must survive.” [Elder Boyd. K. Packer, “Balm of Gilead,” Ensign, October, 1987]

President Monson:  “As we seek our Heavenly Father through fervent, sincere prayer and earnest, dedicated scripture study, our testimonies will become strong and deeply rooted. We will know of God’s love for us. We will understand that we do not ever walk alone. I promise you that you will one day stand aside and look at your difficult times, and you will realize that He was always there beside you”  ^”  [President Thomas S. Monson, General Relief Society Conference, October, 2013]

I love my Heavenly Father.  I love His son, Jesus Christ to whom I am eternally in debt for the sacrifice He made for me.  I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide me through this life.  I know “Prayer Changes Things.”  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.