Pray Always!

I never imagine myself writing anything spiritual or personal on the Blogger, but I have been thinking as of late, Why don't I pray? I know I have been very awful at it and when I do pray, it is short and quick. I just wanted to share how a simple lesson in Institute made me realize I needed to pray.

First, the teacher asked me, how often do I call my parents? I answered to myself, not very often or never. Then the teacher asked, who would you call for help? I then thought of a few people. Then the teacher asked, who will always be there for you? I know this question, but we are not talking about God yet. So, I remember an experience when I was devastated and heart-broken, I remember not thinking right and just would not stop crying. I had a hard night that night and I called my Mom. My Mom, answered the phone call and knew something was wrong. I love her for this, she drove 8 hours through the early morning so she could be with me. When the teacher asked me those questions, I thought of my Mom.

Now the teacher uses Heavenly Father to tie the lesson in, we read in the Book of Enos in the Book of Mormon. Enos, as we all know, prayed all day to his father in heaven. While hunting and his soul hungered, Enos cried unto the Lord in a mighty prayer. The Lord listened and forgave Enos.
How do we pray? I have not been the best at praying, I know I can do so much better, but there are ways we can offer a sincere prayer. The five A's is what the teacher said, those 5 A's are:

1. Alone. We must pray alone and use that time to offer a prayer.
2. Aloud. This is what struck me the most, I have never thought to pray aloud to the lord, the teacher said, if we pray silently we tend to lose focus or get distracted. See Doctrine and Cov. 19:28
3. Always. Pray always, when Enos was praying he was praying all day. The lord in 3rd Nephi 18:15-21, tells us that we must pray always, lest we be tempted by the devil. The Devil is smart and knows us very well. In 2nephi 26:22 "he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord." Always pray so we must also resist the work of the Devil.
4. Abide. Another word for Abide is to wait. Wait to listen after we pray. Elder Boyd K. Packer had an experience were he was praying and while visitig a Mission, an Elder excused himself and apologized to the President. Elder Packer told the young Missionary, I was not praying, I was listening.
5. Answers. I love this part of the A's, The lord promises us answeres if we are sincere, here are some examples of how the lord manifests unto us. In Doctrine and Cov. 85: 6, we to be "still, a small voice which whispereth through and pierceth all things." Then we go to D&C 8:2, he will give us 2 witnesses that these things are true, in your "mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost..."

Like I have said before, I never write anything spiritual, but for the first time I have and I wanted to share this to any of those who are wanting to pray but can't or have trouble recognizing the spirit. I know one thing, God loves us to pray. He wants to know how we are doing and just like any conversation with our parents, he will listen to us and help us if he needs too. I love my father-in-heaven, he is a stud! Just like my earthly parents, God loves us. God Bless and Pray Always!