Prayer: Have you seen results?

[KingintheNorth]

The missionaries I'm chatting with always ask me to pray. I admit, I don't find it very appealing. I've always been a man of action, and my mantra has been "God helps those who help themselves." Perhaps you could share with me a time where you prayed to God and got results?

Thank you.

[Wingnut]

...and my mantra has been "God helps those who help themselves."

I agree with this thinking. My mantra is "Pray like it all depends on the Lord, then work like it all depends on you."

[skippy740]

Of your three threads in this sub-forum, I'm responding here because it's more important to build on faith and prayer than to find out about temples and other doctrines/practices.

I recommend the following reading material:

Alma 32 

Doctrine and Covenants 9 

[pam]

Also keep in mind that we don't pray to God ONLY when we need help. We should be praying to also express our gratitude. He wants to hear from us at all times, not just when we are in need.

[Guest]

Here's what Prayer is all about:

Prayer is a way for us to align our will to that of God's will. This is not a way for us to expect God to bend His will to what we want. Therefore, when we pray sincerely and humbly, it is so that we may understand what His will for us is and how it benefits us so that we can want THAT. When our will is aligned with God's that's when we realize our prayers have been answered.

[KingintheNorth]

I've read something like You need to have faith in God and Jesus to have your prayers recieved. But I have little to none. It seems like a Catch 22. I need faith to pray, but I can't pray without faith.

[jerome1232]

Clearly there is a grain of faith in God in your heart if you are attempting to pray.

[Guest]

I've read something like You need to have faith in God and Jesus to have your prayers recieved. But I have little to none. It seems like a Catch 22. I need faith to pray, but I can't pray without faith.

It's a standard process. When you run a scientific experiment to know what is true, you first have to come up with hypotheses - a statement of what you believe - do research to make sure you understand what you're experimenting on, then run an experiment to see if what you believe stands up to testing.

This is the same thing with prayer. Your first step is to find out what prayer is, then put some faith on it, then test it.

Edited June 20, 2013 by anatess

[NeuroTypical]

I forget which middle-eastern culture came up with this saying, but:

Pray to God, but row away from the rocks.

That said, I have personally witnessed a miracle while giving a blessing to my wife.

[EarlJibbs]

Although we do need faith while we are praying, we also need the faith after prayer and get to work. Which is what you have indicated.

As far as examples, I have one I can share and I believe that although it is simplistic, you will get the idea.

My daughter needed to find something for a trip we were taking. Myself and her tore the house apart looking. Both of us frustrated sat down discouraged. My wife said to us "did you pray"? We did not. I was upset at this time and didn’t feel like praying. I asked my daughter to say the prayer (she is 9). My daughter said a quick prayer short and simple and we went back to work. I go downstairs and like a homing pigeon I go directly to where it is. So at this point I have two options. 1- I can say to myself that it was probably just the break and some luck that allowed me to find it. A lot of times if we relax a minute, and then re-focus we can solve problems. Or 2 - I can look at it knowing that my daughter just offered a sincere prayer and God answered it. We certainly weren’t finding it on our own and I know that I looked in this area before and I didn’t see it.

I went with #2. By doing so, it strengthened my faith in a loving Heavenly Father. Now I do not profess a 60 second response to every prayer. I have many other things that are in my prayers for years.

[KingintheNorth]

You know I'm willing to pray, and give it a shot. I like the church and its morals. But I'd feel so much better having a spiritual experience about it. But even as I pray, in the back of my mind I'm thinking "oh this will never work" or "Jesus Christ probably doesn't exist" just small whispers like that. Again its a catch 22.

[Dr T]

Hi Kinginthenorth. I hear what you are saying with that manta implies but I want you to know it does not say that in the Bible. I'm also not LDS.

[Dr T]

Many people needed "proof" or to see miracles in scripture. I believe relying solely on a spiritual experience such as the "burning in the bosom" can be something besides God or God telling you something else. I hope you find what you are looking for and pray you look in the right places. Good luck to you sir.