The Power of Prayer

By: Erin Davis

I know what you're thinking. With a title like "The Power of Prayer", you probably think this post will contain the same old same old quotes and thoughts about prayer that we've had drilled into our brains since primary. As cliché and simple as it is, I hope I will be able to impart other insights and thoughts about prayer that you've never considered. More importantly, I hope to be able to remind you just how powerful prayer is, and that it's power is nothing to ever be forgotten--though we often tend to.

I was reading on the lds.org blog today and it was titled "The Fuel We Need to Power Our Lives". As I read it, I gained such great insight about prayer and its accompanying strength that I would like to share with you. But for starters, I would like to start with my personal experiences with prayer and how they've shaped my perspective.

Prayer has always been a tricky thing for me. It's something I've done because I was always told to, and I often dread it at night when I just want to go to bed. Every night I didn't pray or didn't want to pray, there was always that nagging voice in my head that said "but you're supposed to pray and you know it". While I do know that I should pray, I would often go to bed thinking "one night isn't going to make a difference. Besides, I always say the same things over again and nothing ever happens". However, this started becoming a daily occurrence, and one night turned into several nights. I saw this immense difference in my behavior and thoughts, which was all created by something so small. I was surprised that such a small change in routine made such a big and noticeable change on my entire being. Recently, I've started to fall back into that habit. But, I'm so thankful for my newly found insights to remind me to pray. The following quote is from lds.org in their blog for this week:

"Through prayer, God will fuel our marriages, our children, our jobs, our decisions, our testimonies, our feelings, and our goals. His fuel may come in such forms as wisdom, eternal perspective, courage, or peace. And His fuel not only helps us with our problems, it helps us to be our best selves, to repent, improve, and eventually reach 'the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.'"

I read this quote, and it all got really real. It's what turned this blog from a typical primary lesson to exactly what I needed to hear. I was used to being told that prayer will help us in our marriages, children, and jobs. What I wasn't used to hearing was that it will fuel our decisions, feelings, and goals. I'm always needing help with making big decisions, and my feelings are often clouded by my constant doubt, fear, and uncertainty. Through prayer, I can have confidence that my feelings will push me towards making the right decisions, and that I don't have to constantly live in fear, doubt, and uncertainty. In fact, as we all know, these weaknesses can turn into strengths, simply because I spent a few more minutes on my knees in prayer than on my back in laziness and apathy.

The second sentence of that quote made an even bigger impact on me. I have the hardest time trying to receive revelation to fulfill my desire to follow the Lord. I try and try and try to recognize revelation, but I always felt like I had failed and was left confused. I read this and realized that what I was expecting was far different than what I was actually getting. I always expected this "burning in your bosom" that was difficult to ignore. Rather, what I didn't understand was that all along it was an increase in wisdom, eternal perspective, courage, or peace. Now, I don't have to lie awake at night just waiting for that burning. I can count on the increases I see in wisdom, eternal perspective, courage, and peace. I now have greater peace knowing that all those times I was left confused and felt like I failed, it was only because I wasn't paying close enough attention to the little things.

The Lord is so so subtle in His dealings with His children. I often get discouraged by this because I feel like I need a blaring alarm and neon signs in order to know what the Lord is trying to tell me. But His way is so much better. It helps me rely on the subtle whisperings of the spirit. As I come to recognize the spirit better, I can have a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father--for I will recognize how He speaks to me, and I can have greater confidence to receive answers when I speak to Him.