Helping prayer become more meaningful
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Consistent with his message in the last general conference, Elder David A. Bednar discussed three additional principles that can help prayers become more meaningful. Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve spoke Saturday afternoon.
Principle #1. Prayer becomes more meaningful as we counsel with the Lord in all our doings.
Elder Bednar said, "The patterns used by God in creating the earth are instructive in helping us understand how to make prayer meaningful." He pointed out that things were created spiritually before they were created naturally upon the earth.
"In a similar way, meaningful morning prayer is an important element in the spiritual creation of each day — and precedes the temporal creation or actual execution of the day. Just as the temporal creation was linked to and a continuation of the spiritual creation, so meaningful morning and evening prayers are linked to and are a continuation of each other."
Elder Bednar explained, "At the end of our day, we kneel again and report back to our Father. We review the events of the day and express heartfelt thanks for the blessings and the help we received. We repent and, with the assistance of the Spirit of the Lord, identify ways we can do and become better tomorrow. Thus, our evening prayer builds upon and is a continuation of our morning prayer. And our evening prayer also is a preparation for meaningful morning prayer."
He said that morning and evening prayers, and all in between, are not unrelated, discrete events, but rather are linked together each day and across days, weeks, months and even years. "This is in part how we fulfill the scriptural admonition to 'pray always."'
Principle #2. Prayer becomes more meaningful as we express heartfelt gratitude.
Elder Bednar told of an occasion when he and his family were hosting a member of the Quorum of the Twelve in their home. The family had learned of the unexpected death of a friend, and their immediate desire was to request blessings for the surviving spouse and children. When it came time to kneel in family prayer, the apostle, unaware of the tragedy, suggested that the prayer be exclusively an expression of thanks for blessings received.
Sister Bednar, who offered the prayer, responded in faith to the direction.
"Our family learned from that experience a great lesson about the power of thankfulness in meaningful prayer," Elder Bednar reflected. "Because of and through that prayer, our family was blessed with inspiration about a number of issues that were pressing upon our minds and stirring in our hearts."
Principle #3. Prayer becomes more meaningful as we pray for others with real intent and a sincere heart.
Elder Bednar said, "Just as expressing gratitude more often in our prayers enlarges the conduit for revelation, so praying for others with all of the energy of our souls increases our capacity to hear and heed the voice of the Lord."
He admonished: "If those we love and serve have not heard and felt the influence of our earnest prayers in their behalf, then the time to repent is now."
