Robert L. Millet wrote: Surely no roadblock could be more prevalent than distraction and preoccupation. Sometimes we don’t pray well because our minds and hearts are focused on other things. We are too prone to think of prayer as something within the spiritual realm and of religion as just another department of life. Communion with the Infinite requires discipline, and discipline requires making priorities. Obviously we need to chase wickedness out of our lives if we are to draw close to God in prayer. But, in addition, when it is time to pray, we must put aside the things of the world, even good things, in order to engage the greatest good. . . .
Another roadblock to an effective prayer life is duplicity, or trying to lead two lives. James explained that “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (Jame 1:8.) Thus we would suppose that a person who is worldly throughout the day would have great difficulty praying intently at night. Elder Howard W. Hunter observed: “Henry Ward Beecher once said: It is not well for man to pray cream and live skim milk.’ . . . That was a century ago. There is now a danger that many may pray skim milk and live that not at all.” (In Conference Report, October 1977, 79; italics in the original.) Just as our lives are only as good as our prayers, so our prayers are only as good as our lives. That is, the more faithful we become in keeping the Lord’s commandments and putting first things first in our lives, the more we open the doors of communication with the heavens and the more comfortable we feel with holy things and holy beings. ~Robert L. Millet, A Year of Powerful Prayer (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013). 224-25 (Ooops, I apologize . . . . this was formerly under ‘Create a Fortress. . . sometimes I make a mistake . . . with thousands of posts . . . .they can happen.)
