Patricia T. Holland wrote:
Often when I face difficulties, I need to turn off the phone, lock the door, kneel in earnest prayer, and then curl up in a chair and meditate, contemplate, search the scriptures and cry out again and again in my heart, completely focusing my mind on the mind and will and presence of God until I can see a clear picture of him with loving outstretched arms. With such a loving image I begin to feel my connection to him and a confirmation of his love. Sometimes I may have to work at this for hours, for a significant portion of the day, or several days. . . .
I realize that life has to go on and that you will not be able to pursue this heavenly communication in a completely uninterrupted way, but if it is a high priority and a fundamental goal in your life, you will find ways, early or late, to be with God. If the key to your car, or your mortgage check, or a child were lost, would you take time to find them? Wouldn’t finding them provide the peace you needed to then go about your day? If God is lost in your life and you are not going to be strong or stable without him, can you be focused and fixed enough to find him?
If you believe that your earthly father could comfort any heartache, heal any illness, solve any problem, or just be there with you through the crucibles of life, wouldn’t you call him to you constantly? I am just childish enough to believe that our Father in Heaven can bless us in all of those ways. The price to be paid for this kind of communion is time and your best powers of concentration, but by that investment you may offset untold hours, days, weeks, and months of struggle or sorrow or pain. ~Patricia T. Holland, from ‘A year of Powerful Prayer / Getting Answers for Your Everyday Life’ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013) p. 125-26
