Prayer CPR!

I'm not sure how long ago it was, but I heard a statement that really stuck with me. When talking about how he can tell if a person is doing well spiritually he asks, "How are your prayers?" This can be interpreted in many different ways, but these are the ways that I thought of. Are you praying frequently, or at all? Are you sincere in your prayers, or do you just say them to check it off the list? Are you building a relationship with a Heavenly Father that loves you and wants have a relationship with you?

The first question was an easy one for me. I'm a missionary and if I don't say TONS of prayers a day, then it probably wasn't a good day. So I am definitely saying my prayers. But that second question I wasn't doing so well with, maybe in part because I was saying so many prayers. And the third question helped me to realized that I didn't really feel anything, even when I was sincere in my thanks and desires. Since that time I have really worked on doing "CPR" for my personal prayers.

Consistency
Peculiarity
Revelation

Consistency- The first part to helping your prayers out is to pray! Just like we would like to hear from the people we love often, our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us all the time.

Peculiarity- Some of the most sincere prayers I have heard have been from people who prayed out loud for the first time. They say things that you wouldn't normally hear in a prayer, but they are 100% sincere. In high school I would come home and my mom would ask me about my day. We would talk about it, and even though I did mostly the same thing every day, we always had new things to talk about. We would laugh about some things, and seriously discuss others. In our prayers, we should look for the things that are different from our "normal routine," and then be specific about the things we say.

Revelation- Our prayers aren't complete if we aren't receiving answers back. Going back to my conversations with my mom, I didn't just list all the things that happened to me that day. I would bring something up and we would discuss it. We can do the exact same thing with Heavenly Father. When we bring something up we are sincere about, ponder on it, and receive our answer from Heavenly Father, it strengthens that relationship. We can more fully feel the love he has for us.

These are some easy ways for me to remember what my prayers should be like. I would encourage you to adapt and change them so that they work for you. There is nothing better than kneeling down at night and sincerely asking questions and getting answers. I know Heavenly Father does answer our prayers

Repent and Be Happy!

There is a statement about Repentance in Preach My Gospel that I really like. It says, " It (repentance) is a positive experience that brings joy and peace" (PMG Pg 8). When I first read this I didn't really understand. Repentance isn't always easy, and I sure don't feel peace and joy when I have done something wrong. Why is it that when we try to become a better person, more of what God wants us to be, we have more peace?

The only way that I can think of that explains it this: when you have done something wrong that you don't want someone to figure out. You know it is wrong and you worry what will happen. When we have sinned, we know that it was wrong, and when we are punished for it, we know it won't be pleasant. But when Heavenly Father helps us to feel that he knows what we did, and he still has forgiven us because we repented, it brings the same kind of peace as when someone on earth did the same, but to a greater degree. We then know that he is pleased with us, and we can be happy with who we are. I know that the closer we are to God, the happier we will be, and repentance is what brings us closer to Him!

How Should We Serve?

In Mosiah 2:17 we read, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." I have always read this often quoted verse and thought, "I better serve people, because if I don't serve God then I'm going to be in trouble!" There is a much better way that I can look at this.

Does God really need our help? If he wanted to do something by himself, couldn't he just do it? I heard some people talking about giving their children chores. Usually when you ask a child to do something, it takes quite a bit of reminding, and then when they finally do it, it usually needs to be done again anyways. It would take a lot less time and effort on both sides if the parent would just do it. So why shouldn't parents just do the chore themselves? Because what is more important is what is being taught. Our Heavenly Father is trying to teach us something important.

I remember the endless service projects that my dad would wake me up at six in the morning to do. Rarely if ever was I excited to go do something for someone. What made it even worse is it wasn't usually convenient for me either. I would go with my dad, but I would be complaining the whole way. In the end it wasn't always a bad experience, but I didn't usually come away with the warm fuzzy feeling that people generally talk about. I knew it was what I was supposed to do, but I sure didn't understand why!

Since that time I have come to love many people through serving them. I have learned that when we serve willingly we find what our Heavenly Father has intended us to learn, a love of all mankind. I know that when we serve others willingly we can gain Charity not only become the children that our Father wants us to be, but also be happier than we would ever be otherwise!

Be of Good Cheer

Being on a mission in Montana means the you are going to be cold. This past month to month and a half temperatures have been low (somewhere between -30 and 10 degrees). The snowstorms have come one right after another. It sometimes seemed like winter will never end. The past week has been very interesting. Early in the week things got to be pretty warm, and for the first time in a long time, I thought the winter might actually end sometime. Then yesterday it got really warm (32 degrees) and that got us really excited. After that first day of warmth it got much colder that night, and this morning we got another 6 inches of snow.

Sometimes life is the same way. We are burdened with something that may seem like it will be there forever. Then when we catch a glimpse of what things could be, and it goes away it is easy to get discouraged. The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ however tells us to "be of good cheer!" Despite how cold things are now, spring will come and the warmth will be back. No matter how badly off we feel we are, if we keep our focus on Christ, things will get better!

Happiness - The John Tanner Story

Where does happiness come from? We can get many different answers from different sources. The world tells us that when we act on our immediate desires we gain happiness. This gives us pleasure, which can be a temporary substitute for lasting happiness. True happiness comes from following the plan that God has created for us. Who would know better than our Father what will make us happy?

The other day I watched a video about a man named John Tanner. He was a self-made wealthy man who was converted to the LDS faith in the early years of the church. The missionaries taught him, and he had a desire to be baptized. He couldn't however, because of a diseased leg that crippled him. The missionaries asked him if he had the faith to be healed. He did and the Lord healed him. He was baptized that evening.

Throughout the rest of his life he was called upon to help the church with its financial struggles. He willingly did so and over the course of his life gave 50,000 dollars to the church (we did the math and it came out to be around 2 million dollars in our money today). This cost him and his family a great deal. They had become poor and actually had to beg for food to survive. At the end of the film, he was called on a mission. Before he left he forgave the church all the debt they owed him. He then left his family to serve the Lord.

My feelings during this movie centered mostly on the great sacrifice of this man. To give all your money, and then watch your children go hungry would be a huge trial. I wondered at the great devotion and faith of this man. Then a thought hit me. Brother Tanner must have been happier during this trial of his life than at any time before. He knew the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he lived it! He accepted the Lords will for him, and did all he could to serve.

This emphasized the point that money does not bring happiness, living the gospel brings happiness. In 2 Nephi 2:27 it says, "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." The happiness from liberty and eternal life doesn't have to be just a future blessing. As we are obedient to the commandments now, we receive the blessings now.

The choices we make determine our happiness. Let us all choose to follow the Lord, choose to feel of his love, and choose to be happy at all times and in all places. As we do so, we will more fully become the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.