Pray always — in good times, in bad times
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In times of tragedy and danger, people turn to God in prayer, said Elder Henry B. Eyring.
"The world seems to be in commotion," he said. "There are wars and rumors of wars. The economies of whole continents are faltering. Crops are failing from lack of rain in places all over the earth. And the people in peril have flooded heaven with prayers. In public and in private, they are petitioning God for help, for comfort and for direction.
"You have probably noticed, as I have in recent days, that prayers not only have become more numerous but more heartfelt."
Speaking during the Saturday morning session, Elder Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve said the great increase in heartfelt prayer, and the public acceptance of it, has been remarkable. However, he added, he and others worry that the changes will not last.
"Our own personal experience and God's record of His dealings with His children teaches us that," he said. "Dependence on God can fade quickly when prayers are answered."
Elder Eyring said that while God implores Church members to pray, the enemy of their souls belittles and then derides prayer.
"The warning from 2 Nephi is true: '. . . For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.' "
Elder Eyring added that God is often forgotten out of vanity.
"A little prosperity and peace, or even a turn slightly for the better, can bring us feelings of self-sufficiency."
A third reason prayer can be forgotten is rooted in each individual, said Elder Eyring.
"We are spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father who placed us in mortality to see if we would choose — freely choose — to keep His commandments and come unto His beloved Son. They do not compel us. They cannot, for that would interfere with the plan of happiness. And so there is in us a God-given desire to be responsible for our own choices.
"That desire to make our own choices is part of the upward pull toward eternal life. But it can, if we see life only through our mortal eyes, make dependence on God difficult or even impossible when we feel such a powerful desire to be independent."
Elder Eyring told Church members to become as children. "Those who submit like a child do it because they know that the Father wants only the happiness of His children and that only He knows the way. That is the testimony we must have to keep praying like a submissive child, in the good times as well as the times of trouble.
"With that faith," he said, "we will be able to pray for what we want and appreciate whatever we get. Only with faith will we pray with the diligence God requires."
Elder Eyring said prayer does not take flowery speech nor long hours of solitude. "Our hearts can only be drawn out to God when they are filled with love for Him and trust in His goodness."
Joseph Smith, he said, gave Church members an example of how one can come to prayer with a heart filled with the love of God and then pray unceasingly through a life filled with trials and blessings. "He began as we must with faith in a loving God who can and wants to communicate with us and help us. That faith was rooted in impressions which came to him as he pondered the words of God's servants in the scriptures."
Elder Eying told members to read the scriptures often. "If we become casual in our study of the scriptures we will become casual in our prayers. . . ," he said.
"If you ponder the scriptures and begin to do what you covenanted with God to do, I can promise you that you will feel more love for God and more of His love for you. And with that, your prayers will come from the heart, full of thanks and of pleading. You will feel a greater dependence on God. You will find the courage and the determination to act in His service, without fear and with peace in your heart. You will pray always. And you will not forget Him, no matter what the future brings."
