How important to remember we don't just pray to receive blessings (although that is important). It is just as important, and perhaps more so, that we pray to give thanks and to worship God. If the Lord never gave us one more blessing, we would still be indebted to him for all we have and are. I have often found that when I pray with sincere gratitude, my prayer becomes filled with the Lord's spirit.
Robert DoddJanuary 23, 2019
I love the comment by Jennifer Larsen. "God does not need us to pray to him. We need to pray to him." How true that is. And if I may ad to that when one does pray to remember always what is said in Psalm 46:10 and all we really need to remember when in prayer, and that is to "Be Still and know that I am God"
Ana BlakeJanuary 22, 2019
Jane, I have thought a lot about your comment. I don’t think that quote means that ALL blessings are conditional on ourasking for them—lots of people have a lot of blessings they never asked for. I have a strong physical heart but I don’t recall ever asking for it. I do think though that there are SOME blessings that will pass by us if we do not ask. Christ said if his disciples in Jerusalem did not ask about the nephites, he would not tell them. Apparently they did not ask because he did not tell them. Ether 12 is full of examples of blessings people were given because.they.asked. Peter asked to walk on the water to Christ. It does not appear that Christ was going to offer that in advance of the question. All of life is full of blessings we get because we looked and asked—knock and it shall be opened unto you, seek and ye shall find. The introduction to the doctrine and covenants states that the revelations were given in answer to prayer about issues that arose out of times of real need. I don’t think that entry on prayer in the Bible dictionary is meant to say God wont give us blessings unless we ask because he is trying to control us, rather, I think it is describing a natural law or cause and effect, namely that God responds to us. If we reach toward him, he reaches toward us. Yes, he is already reaching all the time but this is different. He is responding to our entreaties. If not, then why bother praying? If he is already going to give us whatever we need, why would we even need to bother putting any thought or effort into the relationship?
jeff jacobsJanuary 20, 2019
I believe no one has mentioned that God blesses all people with some blessings, lots of people with lots of blessings, and (believing)people with
possible blessings when they ask. We have to ask because these are not promised blessings but possible blessings. They are not needed or promised, like Gift of Holy Ghost, but available to those who have the faith to ask, like speaking in tongues, seeing angels, etc. May include health blessings, as well as others. I hope this brings some peace to you on the subject.
MontereyJanuary 19, 2019
My husband asked me this question as we stood over our two year old daughters bed at primary children’s hospital after she had drowned. He also asked me why we give priesthood blessings when it is just going to be God’s will anyway. I didn’t have an answer in that moment but it came to me in pieces over the next ten days. As I prayed and pondered, the first little piece was “All that is good is God’s will”. This gave me hope at the beginning of our trial when fear was strong and faith was struggling that our righteous desires mattered. The second piece of understanding was “As we honor God’s will, He honors ours.” This helped me realize that as I strived to sanctify myself and make myself worthy, I had power to influence the outcome. Next came the powerful idea that “One reason we pray and give priesthood blessings is God’s way of letting us help bring about His will”. This tutors us in becoming celestial beings.
About 24 hours after we arrived at Primary children’s, a sixteen year old boy was put in the bed next to our daughter. He had tried to commit suicide. I felt strongly that was not God’s will that that boy be there but then I watched over the next two days as the Lord turned that tragedy into an opportunity to grow and learn for the family. I think we show a lack of understanding when we assume everything that happens here is God’s will.
The next revelation I received was that this situation wasn’t just about my will and God’s will. It was also about our daughters will. I received the strong impression she was undecided about staying on earth or returning to her Heavenly home. She had earned the right to make that choice in her first estate and the reason she was undecided was because if she went home to Heavenly Father she would have to wait till after the resurrection to become a mother.
In the end we received the sure knowledge that she had chosen to return to Heavenly Father and finish her mission there. That sure knowledge and the powerful presence of the Holy Ghost gave us the strength to remove her from life support and take our part in bringing about the Lord’s will, our daughters will and our will to do all that the Father asked of us.
Maryann TaylorJanuary 19, 2019
In President Spencer W. Kimball's book, Faith Precedes the Miracle, he included a chapter entitled Tragedy or Destiny?
He sheds great light on the subject of prayers that are not always answered according to our desires.
ViolaJanuary 18, 2019
Thanks to Mariah and all those who commented. Your comments really helped answer the question for me. Thanks for your insights.
Mommy BJanuary 18, 2019
Thank you for your insightful thoughts on prayer, agency and the love of the Lord. It took me many decades to realize that my prayers are for me. The Lord knows my heart and knows what I feel, think, desire and will say even before I do, but prayer humbles me, reminds me from whence cometh my blessings and gives me opportunity to remember others and their afflictions. Praying in thanksgiving keeps me focused on blessings rather than hardships. Praying for understanding brings peace. Praying for others brings charity. Praying for strength brings perspective. Of course I know my faith and the love I have for others is a blessing beyond myself, but personal prayer brings the Spirit into my life and reminds me that I am not alone on this journey called mortality.
Jennifer LarsenJanuary 18, 2019
Mariah, I am SO GRATEFUL for you! You blow me away every time you write. You are inspired and I'm always inspired by you. Thank you so much! Like you, I too thought and pondered over the question of the commenter on Darla's article the other day. One thought I wanted to say then and still feel to say now is: God doesn't need us to pray to him. WE need to pray to him. Not so all of our prayers will be answered (although, they will - even if it appears to be contrary to our desire at first) but so that we can have the blessing of being able to recognize that the outcome came from God as a result of our asking and faith in him. Also, as has been said many times, God will not violate the law of agency. Which includes the agency and promises we exercised and made before our mortal existence here. Maybe we promised to be taken from this earth "early" so that his purposes could be fulfilled. Maybe we promised to suffer in the flesh and NOT be relieved from them so that we could be "Miraculously healed" by the fasting and prayers of others so that they could grow in faith. We don't know all the reasons why things happen they way they do, but we need to learn to accept what is, and exercise faith to keep trying. I was immensely touched when you shared that your husband said he wanted to hear what was important to you when you prayed. God wants to hear it too. Just like I, as a parent, want to hear what is important to my children. Also, words have power. When we hear ourselves express our desires aloud, we are being the creators God organized us to be. Again, thank you so much for writing this response article. You lifted my life today!
CarolineJanuary 18, 2019
I’m on vacation right now and have sped read both articles, and the comments, on prayer and bookmarked then for further study. I’m certain of one thing I want to share — for me prayer is more of an expression of gratitude for the countless blessings I receive moment by moment. (That requires thanking Him moment by moment in my heart). When I actually kneel down for a “formal” prayer I have complete trust that the people I pray for will be blessed in much better ways than I could possibly imagine, and I turn it over to Him. I agree with the commenter who asked why we consider dying to be the worst possible outcome. Eternal perspective ( as much as possible with our mortal weakness) , and truly believing in “Thy will be done” fills our souls with such love for our Father and His Son that we can really remove worry and fear from our lives because of our love for Them .
Comments | Return to Story
MaryannJanuary 29, 2019
How important to remember we don't just pray to receive blessings (although that is important). It is just as important, and perhaps more so, that we pray to give thanks and to worship God. If the Lord never gave us one more blessing, we would still be indebted to him for all we have and are. I have often found that when I pray with sincere gratitude, my prayer becomes filled with the Lord's spirit.
Robert DoddJanuary 23, 2019
I love the comment by Jennifer Larsen. "God does not need us to pray to him. We need to pray to him." How true that is. And if I may ad to that when one does pray to remember always what is said in Psalm 46:10 and all we really need to remember when in prayer, and that is to "Be Still and know that I am God"
Ana BlakeJanuary 22, 2019
Jane, I have thought a lot about your comment. I don’t think that quote means that ALL blessings are conditional on ourasking for them—lots of people have a lot of blessings they never asked for. I have a strong physical heart but I don’t recall ever asking for it. I do think though that there are SOME blessings that will pass by us if we do not ask. Christ said if his disciples in Jerusalem did not ask about the nephites, he would not tell them. Apparently they did not ask because he did not tell them. Ether 12 is full of examples of blessings people were given because.they.asked. Peter asked to walk on the water to Christ. It does not appear that Christ was going to offer that in advance of the question. All of life is full of blessings we get because we looked and asked—knock and it shall be opened unto you, seek and ye shall find. The introduction to the doctrine and covenants states that the revelations were given in answer to prayer about issues that arose out of times of real need. I don’t think that entry on prayer in the Bible dictionary is meant to say God wont give us blessings unless we ask because he is trying to control us, rather, I think it is describing a natural law or cause and effect, namely that God responds to us. If we reach toward him, he reaches toward us. Yes, he is already reaching all the time but this is different. He is responding to our entreaties. If not, then why bother praying? If he is already going to give us whatever we need, why would we even need to bother putting any thought or effort into the relationship?
jeff jacobsJanuary 20, 2019
I believe no one has mentioned that God blesses all people with some blessings, lots of people with lots of blessings, and (believing)people with possible blessings when they ask. We have to ask because these are not promised blessings but possible blessings. They are not needed or promised, like Gift of Holy Ghost, but available to those who have the faith to ask, like speaking in tongues, seeing angels, etc. May include health blessings, as well as others. I hope this brings some peace to you on the subject.
MontereyJanuary 19, 2019
My husband asked me this question as we stood over our two year old daughters bed at primary children’s hospital after she had drowned. He also asked me why we give priesthood blessings when it is just going to be God’s will anyway. I didn’t have an answer in that moment but it came to me in pieces over the next ten days. As I prayed and pondered, the first little piece was “All that is good is God’s will”. This gave me hope at the beginning of our trial when fear was strong and faith was struggling that our righteous desires mattered. The second piece of understanding was “As we honor God’s will, He honors ours.” This helped me realize that as I strived to sanctify myself and make myself worthy, I had power to influence the outcome. Next came the powerful idea that “One reason we pray and give priesthood blessings is God’s way of letting us help bring about His will”. This tutors us in becoming celestial beings. About 24 hours after we arrived at Primary children’s, a sixteen year old boy was put in the bed next to our daughter. He had tried to commit suicide. I felt strongly that was not God’s will that that boy be there but then I watched over the next two days as the Lord turned that tragedy into an opportunity to grow and learn for the family. I think we show a lack of understanding when we assume everything that happens here is God’s will. The next revelation I received was that this situation wasn’t just about my will and God’s will. It was also about our daughters will. I received the strong impression she was undecided about staying on earth or returning to her Heavenly home. She had earned the right to make that choice in her first estate and the reason she was undecided was because if she went home to Heavenly Father she would have to wait till after the resurrection to become a mother. In the end we received the sure knowledge that she had chosen to return to Heavenly Father and finish her mission there. That sure knowledge and the powerful presence of the Holy Ghost gave us the strength to remove her from life support and take our part in bringing about the Lord’s will, our daughters will and our will to do all that the Father asked of us.
Maryann TaylorJanuary 19, 2019
In President Spencer W. Kimball's book, Faith Precedes the Miracle, he included a chapter entitled Tragedy or Destiny? He sheds great light on the subject of prayers that are not always answered according to our desires.
ViolaJanuary 18, 2019
Thanks to Mariah and all those who commented. Your comments really helped answer the question for me. Thanks for your insights.
Mommy BJanuary 18, 2019
Thank you for your insightful thoughts on prayer, agency and the love of the Lord. It took me many decades to realize that my prayers are for me. The Lord knows my heart and knows what I feel, think, desire and will say even before I do, but prayer humbles me, reminds me from whence cometh my blessings and gives me opportunity to remember others and their afflictions. Praying in thanksgiving keeps me focused on blessings rather than hardships. Praying for understanding brings peace. Praying for others brings charity. Praying for strength brings perspective. Of course I know my faith and the love I have for others is a blessing beyond myself, but personal prayer brings the Spirit into my life and reminds me that I am not alone on this journey called mortality.
Jennifer LarsenJanuary 18, 2019
Mariah, I am SO GRATEFUL for you! You blow me away every time you write. You are inspired and I'm always inspired by you. Thank you so much! Like you, I too thought and pondered over the question of the commenter on Darla's article the other day. One thought I wanted to say then and still feel to say now is: God doesn't need us to pray to him. WE need to pray to him. Not so all of our prayers will be answered (although, they will - even if it appears to be contrary to our desire at first) but so that we can have the blessing of being able to recognize that the outcome came from God as a result of our asking and faith in him. Also, as has been said many times, God will not violate the law of agency. Which includes the agency and promises we exercised and made before our mortal existence here. Maybe we promised to be taken from this earth "early" so that his purposes could be fulfilled. Maybe we promised to suffer in the flesh and NOT be relieved from them so that we could be "Miraculously healed" by the fasting and prayers of others so that they could grow in faith. We don't know all the reasons why things happen they way they do, but we need to learn to accept what is, and exercise faith to keep trying. I was immensely touched when you shared that your husband said he wanted to hear what was important to you when you prayed. God wants to hear it too. Just like I, as a parent, want to hear what is important to my children. Also, words have power. When we hear ourselves express our desires aloud, we are being the creators God organized us to be. Again, thank you so much for writing this response article. You lifted my life today!
CarolineJanuary 18, 2019
I’m on vacation right now and have sped read both articles, and the comments, on prayer and bookmarked then for further study. I’m certain of one thing I want to share — for me prayer is more of an expression of gratitude for the countless blessings I receive moment by moment. (That requires thanking Him moment by moment in my heart). When I actually kneel down for a “formal” prayer I have complete trust that the people I pray for will be blessed in much better ways than I could possibly imagine, and I turn it over to Him. I agree with the commenter who asked why we consider dying to be the worst possible outcome. Eternal perspective ( as much as possible with our mortal weakness) , and truly believing in “Thy will be done” fills our souls with such love for our Father and His Son that we can really remove worry and fear from our lives because of our love for Them .
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