The Power of Prayer

God is real. Like, He really exists. That statement that I just wrote is bold, but nevertheless its true. How do I know that? Simple. I talk to Him. It’s the same thing, as the person you are talking is real – because you can talk to them. God exists because we can talk to him. And…He can also talk to us. How does this sound as an intro to the topic of today? 

In the Gospel Principles book we read: “Prayer is one of the greatest blessings we have while we are here on earth. Through prayer we can communicate with our Heavenly Father and seek His guidance daily.”First of all, prayer is a great blessing. We know we are distant physically, and sometimes spirituallyfrom God. Its comforting to know that we are allowed to talk to Him. Our Father in Heaven wants to hear from us, as much as He wants us to hear from Him. In my faith, we pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ. We believe this is the way, the Savior taught when He was on the earth. 

“Ye must always pray unto the Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:19).

Prayer is a personal communication anybody can have with God. There are no scripts about how one should pray. We can pray at anytime and in any place. Usually we start our day and finish it with a prayer. I know that the Lord’s Prayer is becoming somehow a scripted prayer for many beliviers. Personally, I believe that is the content, and not the context, of how a prayer should be said. We need to use our personal, sincere and heartfelt way of praying, while adressing Him with respect. I am not here to talk about what a prayer is. I am going to share some experiences where I have felt the power of prayer in my life.

When I started to pray sincerely to my Heavenly Father for the first time, my life changed forever. Knowing that I am able to talk to Him and express my feelings through prayer its an remarkable thing. God wants to hear from me! As I draw to prayer, I dont try to think much of what I am going to say, rather I focus on being honest, sincere and full of thanks. There are times when I ask things from Him. That is absolutely fine. In the scriptures we are told:

“And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.” – 3 Nephi 18:20. 

When I am troubled, stressed, confused, tired and hopeless, I choose to pray. Prayer makes everything better. God knows us throughts and desires, and He wants to hear us talk to him in order to bless us with what we need.

I remember when I was at school, learning was very hard for me. I was told to pray before I opened the book, and to study hard. It worked. Not only I was able to learn fast and efficienly, but I developed a love for learning, which is the foundation of my education path. When I was experiencing physical pain, I remembered praying so hard to receive some comfort. Not only I was comforted and later healed by the priesthood blessing, but I got strengthened to endure my trials and pains in life. During my mission experience, I had to rely on prayer a lot. I needed inspiration as to know what to do and how to serve other people. Not only I received the inspiration I needed, but also I become confident and aware of the relevations I was receiving. Prayer does not only complish our desires, like the lamp on the Aladddin story, but it strengthens us.

The most important thing we can do is to pray for others. I had times when I prayed for my friends and family, but other times I prayed for others as well. The more we pray for others, the more good we are doing to them. There is nothing more sweet to hear than when somebody tells you that he has prayed for you.

“Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of  those who are around you.”

Alma 34:27

I had an experience that strenthgen my testimony about prayer. My power at home was off. I had to use the computer in order to participate in my Pathway Online Gathering. I was sad. Nevetheless, decided to say a prayer, asking God to perform a miracle for me in restoring power back on. After only a few minutes, power came on. I was so amazed and shocked at this miracle. Immediately, started my Pathway Online Gathering. I was happy to be able to attend that virtual meeting. But then, suddenly, the power went off again. I tried to pray again, this time thanking God for the miracle he performed earlier, and asking Him to restore back the power, so that I could continue my virtual meeting. And the power went on, right after I closed my prayer with “Amen.”

Now I know what you are thinking. Maybe this was a coincidence, or something that happens randomly. Maybe God had nothing to do with the power going off and on. One thing I know for sure: God hears our prayers and He answers them, in His own way and in His own time. Sometimes He will not answer them or maybe He does but we are not capable to understand the answer. However, the simple truth lies that our prayers are heard by our Heavenly Father. No matter what I am going through life, better or worse, I will remember to pray. And if I need something, He will always be there to hear me out and answers to my needs. Our Father in Heaven loves us and the evidence of this I find it on the power of prayer.