Can You Hear Me Now?

Prayer.
The one connection that's a sure guarantee. The one signal that's never lost. The instant message that the receiver already knew was coming but might not respond to right away.

Kneeling.
Showing love and respect. Submission.

Salutation.
Addressing a being that is glorious beyond description yet out of all the titles you could give Him, He wants you to simply call Him father.

Gratitude.
The realization that all the blessings you have come from above. Knowing someone loves you and wants to give you so many wonderful things.

Asking.
Truly desiring and wanting to know what He does and what He would have us do.

Closing.
Recognizing the Saviors hand and knowing that it is because of Him that it is even possible to return to our Father in Heaven.

Kneeling.
Showing love and respect. Submission.

Prayer.
The one connection that's a sure guarantee. The one signal that's never lost. The instant message that the receiver already knew was coming but might not respond to right away.


Preach My Gospel teaches:

God commands us to pray to Him. You can pray at any time and in any setting. The Lord has taught us to kneel and pray in the morning and in the evening, as individuals and with our families. Our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. Through daily prayer we receive divine guidance and blessings. We should always pray sincerely. We should also pray with "real intent," which means we are committed to act on the answer that we receive.

We pray with faith to our Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ (Moses 5:8). Because He is our Father and we are His children, He will answer our prayers. We begin our prayers by addressing our Father in Heaven. We end our prayers by saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

In prayer we speak openly and honestly with our loving Father in Heaven. We express gratitude and thanksgiving for our blessings. We may acknowledge our love for Him. We also ask for help, protection, and direction according to our needs.

As we pray with faith, sincerity, and real intent, we will see Go's influence in our lives. He will guide us in our daily lives and help us make good decisions. He will bless us with feelings of comfort and peace. He will warn us of danger and strengthen us to resist temptation. He will forgive our sins. We will feel closer to Him. We must learn to recognize His influence in our lives. We must learn to listen to the still, small voice of the Spirit. We can recognize when the Holy Ghost is teaching us the truth. Our minds will be filled with inspiring and uplifting thoughts. We will be enlightened, or given new knowledge. Our hearts will have feelings of peace, joy, and love. We will want to do good and be helpful to others. These feelings are hard to describe but can be recognized as we experience them.


Talking about our desires, my Institute teacher jokingly commented on the statement, "My prayers never seem to get past the ceiling," with, "...Maybe you need to pray outside!"

I know the feeling of my prayers bouncing back at me. What I learned from a friend was that I needed to be open to all possible answers. Only until I did that was I able to feel peace. Not that I didn't think I was being heard, I just felt like no answer was coming. Only until I had real intent and was willing to act on that answer did I get a confirmation.

Prayer works. The line is always free. There's full coverage and no hidden fees. The answer will always be yes when you ask, "Can you hear me now?"

Denim Thief

I'm so glad people like this exist. :)

ksl.com - Police: Denim thief left wallet in dressing room

It's not that I'm glad he stole something. Quite the opposite. It's sometimes nice to know that you're not the only one to do something on the not-so-smart side of things.

The end.

Keys

I love it when the General Authorities give us keys. It's in that precise moment that that I want to shout out, "Right on!" I think they are little treasures (the keys that is). Think of what a key is. A key guards, gives safety, opens the way, and gives the bearer the option to open or close. That's power! Now here are what these keys meant to me. They could mean something completely different to you.

In April, President Monson gave us this key, "Prayer is the key that opens the day and guards the night." I know from personal experience that forgetting to open the day seems like I'm trying to see every detail in a forest with a night light! Sometimes you trip over a branch you didn't see or get whacked by an unseen palm leave. I know for sure that when I close the day properly, my mind is at peace and I worry so much about things that go bump in the night.

The rest come from this October's Conference

President Packer recently gave us this one, "Life-giving power is the very key to the Plan." Think about that for a second! If we abuse that key, it can become twisted and unusable. Our way along the Plan of Salvation gets barred because we chose to do that. Thank goodness that we are able to receive a shiny new one if we walk along the road of repentance.

President Uchtdorf said that they fundamentals are the keys to open heaven. I imagine that this is a huge key ring belonging to a large door. Each fundamental will open a part of the door until the whole thing is flung open. I imagine it will take some time but if we're working on it, it will open.

President Monson said that to give thanks unlocks the doors of heaven. He also said that, "to live with gratitude in our hearts is to touch heaven."

Elder Ballard stated, "fervent prayer is key in overcoming."

It occurred to me that while keys are important, there are many things involved to get it into the lock. It takes effort to get to the lock. Silly as it sounds, you must actually lift your hand and put it in. For what good is a key if it sits in a lock without being turned? While fervent prayer is key to overcoming, we must also fill our lives with good. Not just fervently pray then get up and go our merry way. We must actively keep those keys shiny and in working condition.

Oh, Life

You know, I think the ability to laugh at one's self is a priceless quality to have. Kind of like my experience at the DMV the other day. I was the ONLY person there! It was completely dead. A lady took my picture and then I stood waiting for 10 minutes while this lady typed away at her computer. I signed a few things then she printed out my temporary paper license. I grabbed it and walked out to the car. When I glanced down at it, I saw myself half WINKING back at me. That's right folks. ONE of my eyes was half closed. I kept asking myself HOW this could happen. Why didn't the lady say anything to me? NO ONE else was there. NO ONE. The lady didn't even ask if I wanted to look at it. You know, maybe it's my own fault for not asking. I don't know. I can't change it now. All I can do is laugh because it looks so ridiculous. I was trying SO hard to look good for it too! Anyways, another fun story. I was at a school today being a lunch supervisor for an elementary school. Kids would raise their hands and I would help them open their cardboard milk containers (remember those? uck!) or tell someone to stop being annoying or help the kid who lost his tooth. This one cute 1st grader raised her hand so I went over to her. She looked at me shyly and said, "I just realized something! You're beautiful!". Wow I felt great about that. Only to 20 minutes later to have another girl raise her hand and shyly tell me, "You look like my grandma!". I still haven't figured out what I should take from that. I only know that it's pretty funny. I can't stop laughing! She was so sweet about it when she said it too. Oh, life.