Prayer does work and when done properly it works very well. The workings of prayer are rather simple, but despite this simplicity, so many fail to understand how prayer works and many find that prayer works only sometimes if at all. The scriptures tell us that we are to pray often and diligently. This is not an idle direction from God neither is it contingent on personal preference. A person who prays rightly and often will find that his/her state of mind and heart will abide in the first commandment. Their faith will receive support and direction.
All faith that is not focused into proper works is a dead faith, but rather than getting into the doctrinal support and reason for proper and frequent prayer, I wish to write here a personal aspect of proper prayer.
Prayer has worked well for me, despite experiences where it appeared at times that what help I had asked for seemed to never come.
My frustration and at times discouragement, was by retrospect, a test of faith or that I have failed in some measure to conduct myself properly. I found that God will test my willingness to endure and remain faithful despite the circumstances at hand.
It is not beyond God to allow us to suffer circumstances without any answers to prayers. This is because the experience of adversity or affliction was more important than answering a prayer and in God’s eyes would serve our faith better. This I realized after many times of giving up on prayer and choosing the road that put aside any consideration of calling upon God. When I did put aside prayer what occurred was more displeasurable than enduring a lack of answers. Evil began to gain a foothold and when I began to experience the arrival of evil, that is when I returned to faithful prayer. I soon realized that to remove oneself from a faithful position with God, which includes many times of unanswered prayers, that I became a target for evil and that was not pleasant.
If you have forgone prayer and have not experienced the incoming of evil, then this is a sure sign that something was wrong with your prayer in the first place.
When a true open connection and relationship with God is developed, then severing that connection is surely felt and experienced. With any withdrawal of prayer to God, this opens the door to evil.
My experiences were no different than anyone else’s. I wondered many times if I was in the right place or right church or that God had abandoned me, or that this Church is not for me. All of this and more, because of how prayer seemed not work out or because of any reason I believed justified the cessation of prayer. Therefore, if you experience frustrations or disappointments with prayer, take note that even the most faithful have suffered the same thing and such is a common experience.
I read some accounts from ex-members who quit the Church claiming that our beliefs and doctrine that prayers would be answered were false. They used this to denounce this Church while they joined another church. The question that stood out for me was “What have they carried with them as a result of this belief of theirs?
What they carried with them, into the other Christian church, was the same problem, – their prayers are not answered and this is where the serious contradiction occurs. In order that they receive support that their disappointment with LDS doctrine and failed prayer is justified, their new beliefs and new church must deny that prayer works at all and communication with God is not possible. While at the same time proclaim the Bible is the only place for God’s word. The same Bible that says we must pray fervently.
Quite a contradiction isn’t it? This hypocrisy that fills their heart, they must now sustain, because it is the fuel that keeps them out and against the LDS Church. Now they must deny the Biblical scriptures that proclaim prayer is necessary and part of exercising faith to God … ( see Matt 26:41 / James 5:13, 16 / Acts 10:2 / 1 Thes 5:17 / Romans 8:26 / Eph 6:28 / Jude 1:20 ).
This fall into hypocrisy came when a person become contentious toward God and went on to satisfy their angers or frustrations, rather than endure and be patient, continuing with diligent prayer. They blindly allowed hypocrisy to be their doctrine, just to ensure there is a denial of the Mormon doctrine that God confirms this LDS Church is true as claimed by Moroni (Moroni 10:4).
What does such an example of the disgruntled ex-Mormon show us?
It shows us that Satan can lead us to false perceptions and false beliefs because of our frustrations and disappointments about prayer. When any denial of prayer occurs, no matter where you are in life, that says Satan wins and you lose. It does not matter if this denial of prayer is used against this Church or is used to deny all beliefs about God, it allows Satan to win. IF at any time that a person claims God blesses them, this confirms that prayer works, even if these others cannot truly say what blessings they received. At any time a person proclaims God guides them, helps them, or that the Holy Ghost is in them, they confirm that the doctrine about prayer is true, be it in the Bible or Book of Mormon.
When I came to realize this truth against the backdrop of false Anti-Mormon claims, I saw that any problem I perceived about prayer is about me and was not about the doctrine in the scriptures. This told me that I had to seriously look at myself and what am I doing. Either I failed to listen to God or I allowed something to blind me to God’s answers, or something that I am doing that God would not respond to and would not answer. In other words I took responsibility for my own sowing because my reaping was not good.
Generally, without having to get into too much detail with overly long web pages, I had to return to the basics of prayer, and the basics are this;
Be sincere, honest, contrite of heart and mind, exercise patience and accept that God’s will to answer prayers will occur “his” good timing.
With this faithful measure comes faithful results and God operates by faith, not by expectation, demands or selfish ideas that he must do this or that. It is the falling from the basics that leads people into spiritual troubles, upsets and confusions, opening the inner door to evil influences. For any belief or doctrine that says prayer is not needed or prayers are not answered, is an evil doctrine. The moment you accept or believe these evil doctrines or pleasures, prayer will definitely not work for you at all because you have then denied God and his instruction in the scriptures.
With the basics of prayer is “enduring“. This says that God will not answer to your liking and timing, if he chooses to answer at all, but when he answers, it will always be the best one and at the right time. Avoid feelings or ideas to abide in any selfish (unfaithful) state which always expects all prayers are answered whilst showing ill regard to what is prayed for and how it is prayed.
When I say to you that my prayers have been answered, I speak from experience. If someone counters saying that Satan must be answering me, is a person who acts as a hypocrite and liar, because if Satan is believed the one answering then does Satan have more power than God? – and if Satan is the only one answering but God does not, then we are all certainly doomed.
The moment hypocrisy tries to fill the voids about prayer, run fast from such things and pray – fervently to the Father in heaven in the name of Jesus Christ, just as Jesus did in the Bible.
Avoid all contention about doctrines and churches, and do not partake in any fights with other Christians. Let the contention makers live with their contention so you can seek a peaceful place to pray. Use your journal to record your prayers. In fact writing about your prayer first, when possible, will help you center your focus and thoughts on making your prayer concise and clear, then ponder it in your mind and when ready, pray to heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. This along with practicing the basics is a strong prayer and it will get answered. Be willing to accept an answer that will come unexpectedly and above all things, be patient. Sometimes God does test our faith and resolve.
I then ask you this, is what I say about prayer only for Mormon’s? – Nay it is not, for if you belong to another Christian church and follow the basics about prayer, which is also in the Bible, to seek diligently to God in all honesty sincerity and contriteness, making good prayers, putting aside all thoughts against Mormons and focus on just your own personal path to God, he will answer you in his own way. In this I promise you this is true.
If you believe it is not true, but you believe your faith is important, then go back and review your own attitude, beliefs and practices, because something is amiss and it is not with the word and promises of God, for these promises are not mine, but God’s.
Amen
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