Perhaps no communication is as personal as our prayers. Each day, as we have been counseled by our leaders, we should take the opportunity to pray to our Father in Heaven to express thanks, seek inspiration and invoke the blessings of God on ourselves, our families, our leaders and others.

Speaking to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Savior said: "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you" (Doctrine and Covenants 88:63-64).

President Brigham Young expressed this thought about prayer: "If we draw near to him, He will draw near to us; if we seek Him early, we shall find Him; if we apply our minds faithfully and diligently day by day to know and understand the mind and will of God, it is as easy as, yes, I will say easier than it is to know the minds and will of each other, for to know and understand ourselves, and our own being is to know and understand God and His being" (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 43).

Other modern-day leaders have counseled Latter-day Saints to incorporate prayer into their daily lives for righteous purposes.

"What do you pray for?" asked President Joseph F. Smith. "You pray that God may recognize you, that He may hear your prayers, and that He may bless you with His Spirit, and that He may lead you into all truth" (Gospel Doctrine, p. 215).

Elder Wilford Woodruff, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said, "We should call upon the Lord in mighty prayer and make all our wants known unto Him. For if He does not protect and deliver us and save us, no other power will. Therefore our prayers should ascend into the ears of our Heavenly Father day and night" (Millennial Star, Dec. 1886, p. 806).

President Heber J. Grant said, "One of the requirements made of the Latter-day Saints is that they shall be faithful in attending to their prayers, both their secret prayers and family prayers. The object that our Heavenly Father has in requiring this is that we may be in communication with Him, and that we may have a channel open between us and the heavens whereby we can bring down upon ourselves blessings from above" (Conference Report, April 1944, p. 11).

President Ezra Taft Benson counseled, "Pray in your homes morning and evening. Pray for civil magistrates and leaders even when you do not agree with them. Pray for the leaders of the Church. Pray, as you have been counseled, that the doors of nations of the world will be opened to the preaching of the gospel" (Conference Report, April 1978, p. 48).

President Gordon B. Hinckley has this advice to couples: "I know of no single practice that will have a more salutary effect upon your lives than the practice of kneeling together as you begin and close each day. Somehow the little storms that seem to afflict every marriage are dissipated when, kneeling before the Lord, you thank Him for one another, in the presence of one another, and then together invoke His blessing upon our lives, your home, your loved ones and your dreams. God then will be your partner and your daily conversations with Him will bring peace into your hearts and a joy into your lives that can come from no other source. Your companionship will sweeten through the years; your love will strengthen. Your appreciation for one another will grow" (Conference Report, April 1971, p. 83).

Through our prayers we manifest our love for the Lord and His teachings and learn to submit our wills to His as we seek inspiration in our lives and direction in our callings and for our circumstances. We are assured by our leaders and in the scriptures that our prayers do not go unanswered.

"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that , if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" (1 John 5:14-15).

May we take the opportunity to pray always and listen as we seek out the mind and will of our Father in Heaven.