Moroni 7:48
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God.
I’ve read that verse over and over again, but the thing that got me most this time around was how important it is to pray with “all the energy of heart.”
So I challenged the kids to have an experience praying that way that week. FULL purpose of heart. Praying with their guts and spilling out their hearts to God. We talked about how easy it is to just go through the motions of prayer and not realize the power it has in our lives, and what a beautiful connection we can make when we pray with “all the energy of heart.”
I think those girls thought about that phrase for two seconds and skipped off into the day. We did discuss it again a couple times through the week, and perhaps prayers were more purposeful that week.
But I have carried it with me ever since.
And I hope to always carry it with me.
Because there is power in prayer.
Still one of my favorite quotes:
“…If we are to search for real light and eternal certainties, we have to pray as the ancients prayed. We are women now, not children, and we are expected to pray with maturity. The words most often used to describe urgent, prayerful labor are wrestle, plead, cry, and hunger. In some sense, prayer may be the hardest work we ever will engage in, and perhaps it should be.”
–Patricia Holland
I’m teaching in Young Women this afternoon at church and I get to teach about being spiritually converted. And I think such a huge part of that true conversion to God comes from prayer. Making that true connection with Heaven through the thick and the thin of life.
Just some thoughts about how powerful prayer can be on this Sunday morning.
Love this thought/suggestion. I remember when I was at EFY (so like 15 years ago?) my counselor gave each of us a penny and told us to put it in our shoes, and anytime we felt it in our shoe we were supposed to say a prayer. Prayed a TON that week, but it really showed me that there were always things I could pray for/about, and that I could do better in general with my prayers. I think tomorrow I will try to pray more earnestly and with all the energy of my heart! Thanks for this scripture to ponder today!