From a previous post Larry W. Tippetts, from his book ‘Receiving Personal Revelation’ shared:
With Christ at the center of my being, everything I do, think, or feel passes through the reality of God and my relationship to Him. It seemed to make a very real difference in how I viewed the day before me and the circumstances of my life. My ability to make the little choices that make up a typical day was enhanced—how I prioritize and use my time, how I relate to. . .others. The adjective ‘centering’ seems to help define the essence of prayer for me. ‘Help me Father to know thy will for my life and have the strength to do my part.'” (June 3, 2007). . . .continuing
“Pray Always Principle”
The command to “pray always” is found at least twenty-five times in the standard works. What does it mean to “pray always” or “pray continually”? And why does the Lord ask us to do so? Perhaps developing the mental discipline or pondering—any kind of thought activity that includes a connection with God—can help us to pray always. Such thought prayer can be nearly constant and need not involve words. Even when we are thinking of other things, prayer is present when a heart is always turned to God. “Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed” (Hymns, no. 145). Prayerful thinking can be done by walking, commuting, exercising, or anytime a our mind is not otherwise occupied. One of my students came up with a nice analogy to describe continuous prayer. “Perhaps, pray always is like a pilot light, a silent burning inside that is always ready to jump into full flame as God Prompts or leads us.”
As I was thinking about this principle of praying always, it occurred to me that for disciples of Christ, our living ought to be an extension of our worship. Since worship is a form of prayer, our living becomes a prayer. I believe the highest form of worship is the way I live my life every day. The way I act, think and speak in any setting is a form of prayer. See also Elder Bednar’s “Pray Always,” Ensign November 2006, 41-44.) The foundation of spiritual growth is to keep God constantly before our minds. (“Look unto me in every thought” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36.) This will require a challenging but joyful mental and spiritual focus that makes Him more and more a part of every thought, every feeling, every action. Somewhere I read that a disciplined mind will return to God just like the needle of a compass returns to true north, regardless of how the compass is moved.
From My Journal—Brooding. . . .”This week in my classes on personal revelation I have been teaching the importance of pondering, contemplation, and meditation as a form of prayer. It struck me that a form of pondering that I engage in too often might be better labeled as brooding. The dictionary defines brooding as “to think or worry persistently about.’ It seems that brooding is a less productive form of meditation; it carries with it a negative mindset akin to worrying. I feel a kind of heaviness when I brood. I need to be aware of this subtle distinction.” (May 7, 2009)
~Larry W. Tippetts, Receiving Personal Revelation (American Fork, Utah, 2017), 81-82
