Learning to Pray

Often in life we are confronted with challenges or crises that cause us to fall to our knees and seek the peace and comfort that we hope will come from the Lord. At such times, though, we often don't know how to disentangle our own thoughts from the answers that come through the Holy Spirit. Then we are left wondering whether we have had our prayers answered, or not. And, at times when we are seeking guidance, we are not sure what answers we may be receiving.

Let me offer an insight from electronics. There is something called a signal-to-noise ratio. I first experienced this while driving across Nevada in a car with an old analog radio dial. The tuning display was not very accurate and it could be difficult to find the station you wanted to listen to. We would leave the Salt Lake City area on the way home from college and listen to KSL radio as we drove into the salt flats and the desert. At first the radio signal was easy to hear and easy to tune in. We could enjoy music or news broadcasts. Then, as the miles accumulated, we would hear roughly equal parts static (noise) and radio station (signal). Finally, the signal would get so weak that all we could hear was static. In fact, it became impossible to find KSL, if you were not already listening to it, when the signal was weak on that old radio with a knob for tuning. When the signal-to-noise ratio is high we can lock on to a strong signal because it dwarfs the static. When the signal-to-noise ratio is low, like when we are distant, it can be very difficult to tune in to the radio signal through the static. But, over time, I learned just where on the dial to find KSL, even when the signal was weak.

Life is noisy. The Spirit is a still, small signal that whispers through the noisy static of life. It is important to learn how to tune in to the Spirit even when the noise of life's challenges makes it difficult. The time to really learn to hear the voice of the Spirit is not during difficult times, but in times of peace and quiet and the spiritual signal-to-noise ratio is high. Then, we are prepared for the times in life that seem filled with static. I would like to suggest an approach to prayer in order to learn to hear the voice of the Spirit. Then, we will be better prepared for those times when we really need to be able to tune in to the Spirit through life's difficulties.

Pray to know the truth of the teachings of the prophets. Here are three examples:

Oliver Cowdery met Joseph Smith and heard the message of the restoration. It seems that he prayed to know if these things were true. The Lord said to Oliver (in section 6:22-23), "cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?"

Nephi heard his father begin to cry repentance in Jerusalem and saw the people turn against his father. It seems that Nephi struggled to know the truth of the words of his father. He says (in 1 Nephi 2:16), "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers."

Regarding the Book of Mormon, Moroni invites us (in Moroni 10:4-5) to, "ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."  

Notice the result of praying and asking God about the truth of His words. It is peace to your mind, a softened heart, and an increased ability to believe. And, by this you will know the truth. This is accomplished through the power of the Holy Ghost. This is an experiment that can be repeated as often as we like. Choose any principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ask God if it is true, with real intent to accept and act upon the answer, and you will find that you will feel peace in your soul and a softened heart with an increased ability to believe. This is the voice of the Holy Spirit. Repeat this often enough and you will have a strong testimony of all of the principles of the Gospel and, importantly, you will know how to tune in to the voice of the Spirit in time of need.

Prayer is as simple as, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find." Let me just expand that to say, ASK God to manifest the truth of the words of His prophets and you will receive peace and a softened heart that will increase your ability to believe. SEEK in the words of the scriptures and you will find the next principle to ask about. Repeating this simple process during times of relative quiet will increase your ability to tune in to the voice of the Spirit in times of need.

Was that an Answer to Prayer?

Today I woke up planning to help my son and his wife move to a new apartment. I checked the weather forecast and found that it would likely rain in the afternoon while we would be moving their things. So, in my morning prayer I asked if God would allow the rain to hold off until after the move. I know that there are many reasons that it rains. In fact, I figured there might even be someone praying for rain. But, I felt good about asking for this and did so, believing that if it were consistent with God's will, He could do this thing. Then, it didn't rain while we moved their belongings. It rained right after we were done. It is windy and raining outside right now. But, it did not rain during the time we were moving when rain was forecast. Was my prayer answered?

I had a wonderful conversation with a colleague at work today about faith. He has been studying faith and came to a very insightful conclusion. Faith is believing evidence that is consistent with our doctrine, even when that evidence may also be consistent with other possible explanations. For example, maybe the lack of rain was an answer to my prayer. After all, God has said, "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you (3 Ne 18:20)." It could also be the case that the weather forecast was wrong, that the wind blew in a different direction than it might have, or that we were just lucky. Faith involves believing that my prayer was answered even though there are other plausible explanations.

Let me relate two scriptures about the first recorded prayers of two great prophets. First, consider the brother of Jared. He eventually saw Jesus Christ and saw a vision of all of earth's history. Few people have had the faith that he had. Yet, in the first prayer he offered that we have a record of, he asked that the language of he and his brother and their families might not be confounded (see Ether 1:34). In the next verse we find out how he knew that his prayer had been answered. "And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded (Ether 1:35)." There was no voice from heaven, no visit from an angel, nothing but the observation that the family did not have their language confounded. He got what he asked for, and that was the answer to his prayer.

Second, consider the first recorded prayer of Nephi. Nephi also saw the vision of all of God's dealings with His children through all time. Nephi saw the Savior, Jesus Christ. Nephi said the famous words, "I will go and do ... (see 1 Nephi 3:7). Yet, before all of those things happened, the first prayer that he reports was in regards to his father's decision to leave Jerusalem. Lehi heard the prophets in Jerusalem preach repentance. He prayed about that message and received his own vision and calling as a prophet. He cried repentance in Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem tried to kill him for his efforts. So, he says to his family that they are leaving everything behind and going into the wilderness. Nephi cried to the Lord for understanding. And, as a result Nephi reports that, "[the Lord] did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers (1 Nephi 2:16)." The answer to Nephi's prayer was a softened heart and a choice to believe his father's words.

Both of these remarkable prophets who exemplify great faith began their recorded experience with prayer by trusting the simple answers they received, even though other reasons for what happened may have been equally plausible. The brother of Jared trusted that when the thing he prayed for actually happened that it was an answer from God. Nephi trusted the feeling of a softened heart as an answer from God. That is the foundation of faith.

So, I got what I prayed for and I feel to believe in God. That is my faith for tonight. Now I am going to listen to the rain that is falling outside and go to sleep grateful for God's blessings.