Continuing from D. Kelly Ogden and his book: *8 Mighty Changes God Wants for you Before YOU get to Heaven” . . . . Continuing from a previous post: “What is Mighty Prayer”?
There is a difference between “saying prayers” and really communicating with Heavenly Father. What do the scriptures mean when they speak of “pouring out your soul” to God? And when the scriptures refer to “mighty prayer,” how does it happen?
Here are two illustrations from my own experience. During the mission in Santiago, Chile, I found myself frequently in the office staring at the picture board that contained two hundred photos of elders and sisters, with essential notes about their time in the mission and where they were presently serving. I spent a lot of time on my knees in that office pleading with Heavenly Father for guidance in doing the work of his Son. A number of times I would be praying and I would actually open my eyes, get off my knees and stand before the picture board—still during my prayer—and pray for each missionary by name. (That would take quite a while.) I wanted to look into the face of each and every missionary, mention their names and ask for blessings on each one of them.
We need to get much more specific in our prayers, mentioning the names of people we know with special needs. They are all around us, in every ward, on every street. The Spirit will tell us for whom we can pray, and how we can help them.
Another example: Revelation often comes during prayer, and I know the limits of my memory. When the Lord tells me something, when he gives me some insight into a gospel principle or instruction on how to proceed with something or how to help someone, I need to write it down—not waiting until the end of my prayer or I might forget it. So while I am still praying I will on occasion get up and grab a notebook, pen in hand and record what came into my mind—even if it takes five or ten minutes to write about it (during which time more revelation may come). Then I will get back on my knees and resume my prayer. Is that heresy—to get up and interrupt and flow of prayer? To me, that is part of talking to my Father in Heaven. It is not a one-way monologue; it is a two-way communication. if he tells me something, I need to write it down, right then.
I learned beautiful new truths as I studied the gospel in the New Testament — at least to me they were new truths, and they brought some real doctrinal joy to me. They had a lot to do with a new vocabulary word: “Importune.”
In the first eight verses of Luke 11 it is recorded that the disciples asked Jesus how to pray. He not only gave them a model prayer but taught them through a parable to seek God. The parable is followed by the frequently quoted injunction: “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. . . ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (v. 9-10). God wants us to pray, plead, implore, and importune — specifically, frequently, and sincerely. He wants us to ask.
I have noticed that Doctrine and Covenants 6 contains a host of phrases that urge us to desire and ask:
- “if you will ask of me you shall receive” (v.5)
- “even as you desire of me, so it shall be unto you” (v.8)
- “if thou wilt inquire, thou shalt know” (v.11)
- “as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received” (v.14)
- “I have spoken unto thee because of thy desires” (v.20)
- “I grant unto you . . . if you desire of me:” (v.25)
- “If you have good desires . . .” (v.27)
- “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (v.36)
The Parable of the friend at midnight actually begins in the Joseph Smith Translation with a simple but powerful promise: “Your heavenly Father will not fail to give unto you whatsoever ye ask of him” (JST Luke 11:5). The message: Don’t give up in despair; keep asking. Someone who learns to righteously importune is learning a key element in righteous prayer.
Not so long ago I realized that my prayer-life was changing. I had always been one to pray regularly and faithfully—though somewhat mechanically. I had experienced mighty prayer only intermittently. It came to me one day like a quiet thunderbolt: I need to pray more often. I need to get on my knees more often. This mortal life, to stay on track, requires constant revelation. Better than “talking to” him is “communing with” him. The pressures of life can be almost overbearing, and we need direction, we need to hear the voice of the Lord speaking to us.
It is interesting that, in a way I have always felt uncomfortable spending too much time on my knees, just talking, because I am a person who believes in being “up and doing.” But I have learned that I have to be more humble and remember my own nothingness. With all my “up and doing,” very little will happen without him. He can make things happen in an instant, if his servant will always avoid being “high and lifted up” and stay down in the depths of humility.
Two questions to ask are: “Who can I help”? and “How can I help them”? Asking those questions and diligently responding to heaven’s answers to those questions will help you secure a permanent relationship with your Father, the Savior, and the Holy Spirit.
Our first grandson started walking at ten months. During the first few days we saw him toddling down the hall, he was able to keep his balance only by holding his two arms straight up in the air. As I watched him with loving delight, I saw in his motion a beautiful gospel lesson: we too, must symbolically keep our arms pointing upward in order to maintain our balance in this precarious earth life far from our heavenly home. To avoid a nasty fall, we need to keep our arms toward heaven and open up our conversations—in mighty prayer—with a loving Father who will take our hand and keep us safe. ~D. Kelly Ogden, 8 Mighty Changes God Wants for You (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004), p. 28-33
