Be humble and Be prayerful (President Hinkley) The Lord has said, Be thou humble; and the Lord thy

God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers. (D&C 112:10). What a tremendous promise is given in this statement. If we are without conceit and pride and arrogance, if we are humble and obedient, then the Lord will lead us by the hand and answer our prayers. What greater thing could we ask for? There is nothing to compare with this. The Savior, in the great Sermon on the Mount, declared, Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). I believe the meek and the humble are those who are teachable. They are willing to learn. They are willing to listen to the whisperings of the still, small voice for guidance in their lives. They place the wisdom of the Lord above their own wisdom. You need His help, and you know that you need His help. You cannot do it alone. You will come to realize that and recognize that more and more as the years pass. So live that in good conscience you can speak with the Lord. Get on your knees and thank Him for His goodness to you and express to Him the righteous desires of your hearts. The miracle of it all is that He hears. He responds. He answersnot always as we might wish He would answer, but there is no question in my mind that He answers. (Russell M. Nelson) Recently while visiting a nursing care facility, I spoke with a woman about her family. She told me that she had three sons, two of whom visit her regularly. What about your third son? I asked. I dont know where he is, she replied tearfully. I havent heard from him for years. I dont even know how many grandchildren I have. Why We Pray If such a mother yearns to hear from her sons, it is easy to see why a loving Father in Heaven wants to hear from His children. Through prayer, we can show our love for God. And He has made it so easy. We may pray to Him any time. No special equipment is needed. We dont even need to charge batteries or pay a monthly service fee. Some people pray only when confronted with personal problems. Others dont pray at all. A scripture makes this

observation: Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches, not to thank the Lord for them. Prophets have long told us to pray humbly and frequently. When to Pray When should we pray? The Lord said, Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good. Alma said, Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God. Personal Experience with Prayer Many of us have had experiences with the sweet power of prayer. One of mine was shared with a stake patriarch from southern Utah. I first met him in my medical office more than 40 years ago, during the early pioneering days of surgery of the heart. This saintly soul suffered much because of a failing heart. He pleaded for help, thinking that his condition resulted from a damaged but repairable valve in his heart. Extensive evaluation revealed that he had two faulty valves. While one could be helped surgically, the other could not. Thus, an operation was not advised. He received this news with deep disappointment. Subsequent visits ended with the same advice. Finally, in desperation, he spoke to me with considerable emotion: Dr. Nelson, I have prayed for help and have been directed to you. The Lord will not reveal to me how to repair that second valve, but He can reveal it to you. Your mind is so prepared. If you will operate upon me, the Lord will make it known to you what to do. Please perform the operation that I need, and pray for the help that you need. His great faith had a profound effect upon me. How could I turn him away again? Following a fervent prayer together, I agreed to try. In preparing for that fateful day, I prayed over and over again, but still did not know what to do for his leaking tricuspid valve. Even as the operation commenced, my assistant asked, What are you going to do for that? I said, I do not know. We began the

operation. After relieving the obstruction of the first valve, we exposed the second valve. We found it to be intact but so badly dilated that it could no longer function as it should. While examining this valve, a message was distinctly impressed upon my mind: Reduce the circumference of the ring. I announced that message to my assistant. The valve tissue will be sufficient if we can effectively reduce the ring toward its normal size. But how? We could not apply a belt as one would use to tighten the waist of oversized trousers. We could not squeeze with a strap as one would cinch a saddle on a horse. Then a picture came vividly to my mind, showing how stitches could be placedto make a pleat here and a tuck thereto accomplish the desired objective. I still remember that mental imagecomplete with dotted lines where sutures should be placed. The repair was completed as diagrammed in my mind. We tested the valve and found the leak to be reduced remarkably. My assistant said, Its a miracle. I responded, Its an answer to prayer. The patients recovery was rapid and his relief gratifying. Not only was he helped in a marvelous way, but surgical help for other people with similar problems had become a possibility. I take no credit. Praise goes to this faithful patriarch and to God, who answered our prayers. This faithful man lived for many more years and has since gone to his eternal glory. Inquire of the Lord When we pray, we should not presume to give counsel but should inquire of the Lord and hearken to His counsel. Joseph Smiths first prayer ushered in the Restoration of the gospel. In 1833, he received the Word of Wisdom after asking the Lord for counsel. The revelation on the priesthood received in 1978 by President Spencer W. Kimball came after intense inquiry. Inspiration regarding the construction of smaller temples came after the pondering of President Gordon B. Hinckley. President Packer (conference talk) - When Oliver Cowdery failed in an attempt to translate, the Lord told him: Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that

you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings (D&C 9:79). That principle is illustrated by the story of a little girl. She was upset with her brother, who built a trap to catch sparrows. Unable to get help, she said to herself, Well, Ill pray about it. After her prayer, the little girl told her mother, I know he is not going to catch any sparrows in his trap because I prayed about it. Im positive he wont catch any sparrows! Her mother said, How can you be so sure? She said, After I prayed about it, I went out and kicked that old trap all to pieces!Pray even if you are young and wayward like the prophet Alma or have a closed mind like Amulek, who knew concerning these things, yet . . . would not know (Alma 10:6). Learn to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees. Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil. And I have learned to conclude all my prayers with Thy will be done (Matthew 6:10; see also Luke 11:2; 3 Nephi 13:10). Do not expect to be free entirely from trouble and disappointment and pain and discouragement, for these are the things that we were sent to earth to endure. Someone wrote: With thoughtless and impatient hands We tangle up the plans The Lord hath wrought. And when we cry in pain He saith, Be quiet, man, while I untie the knot.11 Answers to Prayers Not all of our prayers will be answered as we might wish. Occasionally the answer will be no. We should not be surprised. Loving mortal parents do not say yes to every request of their children. We should pray in accord with the will of our Heavenly Father. He wants to test us, to strengthen us, and to help us achieve our full potential. When the Prophet Joseph Smith was

held in Liberty Jail, he pled for relief. His prayers were answered with an explanation: All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. It was the Lord himself who taught us by His own example how to find peace when the answers we receive are not what we asked for. On the eve of His crucifixion, with soul exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, Jesus knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed to the Father, saying, O my Father, if it be possible *and he acknowledged all things are possible unto thee+, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Matt. 26:3839; see also Mark 14:36.) We can only try to imagine the anguish the Savior felt when we read in the Gospels that He was sore amazed and very heavy (Mark 14:33), that He fell on his face and prayed not once, but a second time, and then a third (Matt. 26:39, 42, 44). Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42.) We cannot imagine the anguish of a loving Father, who, knowing what had to be done, accepted His Beloved Sons willingness to suffer for all mankind. In this agony Christ was not left alone. As if the Father were saying, I cannot take it from you, but I can and will send you strength and peace, there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. (Luke 22:43.) If we, like the Savior, have the faith to put our trust in our Father in Heaven, to submit to His will, the true spirit of peace will come as a witness and strength that He has heard and answered our prayers. If we resist the inspiration of God and turn from His promptings, we are left to our own confusion and lack of peace. Sometimes, when our prayers are not answered as we desire, we may feel the Lord has rejected us or that our prayer was in vain. We may begin to doubt our worthiness before God, or even the reality and power of prayer. That is when we must continue to pray with patience and faith and to listen for that peace. Elder Richard L. Evans wrote. Prayer is not a matter of asking only. It should not be always as the beggars upturned hand. Often the purpose of prayer is to give us strength to do what needs to be done, wisdom to see the way to solve our own problems, and ability to do our best in our tasks. We need to pray for strength to endure, for faith and fortitude to face what sometimes must be faced.

(Rex Pinegar) Our Father in Heaven has promised us peace in times of trial and has provided a way for us to come to Him in our need. He has given us the privilege and power of prayer. He has told us to pray always and has promised He will pour out His Spirit upon us. (D&C 19:38.) Thankfully, we can call upon Him anytime, anywhere. We can speak to Him in the quiet thoughts of our mind and from the deepest feelings of our heart. Our Heavenly Father has told us He knows our thoughts and the intents of our hearts. (D&C 6:16.) President Marion G. Romney taught, Sometimes the Lord puts thoughts in our minds in answer to prayers. *He+ gives us peace in our minds. The peace God speaks to our minds will let us know when decisions we have made are right, when our course is true. It can come as personal inspiration and guidance to assist us in our daily lifein our homes, in our work. It can provide us with courage and hope to meet the challenges of life. The miracle of prayer, to me, is that in the private, quiet chambers of our mind and heart, God both hears and answers prayers. Perhaps the greatest test of our faith and the most difficult part of prayer may be to recognize the answer that comes to us in a thought or a feeling, and then to accept or to act on the answer God chooses to give. Consistency in prayer, along with searching the scriptures and following the counsel of living prophets, keeps us in tune with the Lord and enables us to interpret the promptings of the Spirit more easily. The Lord has said; Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. (D&C 19:23.) When sore trials came upon you, Did you think to pray? Oh, how praying rests the weary! Prayer will change the night to day. So, when life gets dark and dreary, Dont forget to pray. (Hymns, 1985, no. 140.)