3 Nephi 13:5-8

13:5-8 - Just a warning, or perhaps a promise, depending on how you look at it, this is going to be a heavily quoted post, so there won't be time for tons of my own personal ramblings. Sorry or you're welcome, depending. We are now taken to "The Lord's Prayer" or as JW calls it, the true order of prayer. I've always struggled with the concept of prayer, like, why do we pray if God already knows what we need. First we art instructed "when thou prayest thou shalt not do as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I saw unto you, they have their reward." Again I don't understand how anyone would equate praying on street corners or anything like that to anything positive, I guess that's because "street preachers" as we know them today are usually looked at like crazy people. I guess that would have to go as well, into praying at church meetings, and again, it all goes back to our motivation. There has to be several prayers rendered during church meetings, so someone has to do it, is our motivation so that people can hear how spiritual we are, or is it so that we can invite the Holy Ghost into the meeting and set a tone for learning and worship. I have never thought about it in that much detail before, maybe I should start. There's an excellent discourse on the Lord's Prayer in Jesus the Christ so we're going to rely pretty heavily on that. Talmage teaches, "In the same spirit did the Preacher denounce hypocritical prayers- the saying of prayers in place of praying." Interesting thought there, saying prayers is different then praying. I guess when I tell my kids "let's say prayers," I should really say, "let's pray." He continues, "There were many who sought places of public resort, in the synagogs and even on the street-corners, that they might be seen and heard of men when saying their prayers. They secured the publicity their sought; what more could they ask?" So if we aren't suppose to pray in public in attention seeking ways, then how should we do it? "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to they Father who is in secret; and they Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." James E. Talmage (JET from now on) says "He who would really pray- pray as nearly as possible as Christ prayed, pray in actual communion with God to whom the prayer is addressed- will seek privacy, seclusion, isolations; if opportunity permits he will retire to his chamber, and will shut the door, that none may intrude; there he may pray indeed, if the spirit of the prayer be in his heart; and this course was commended by the Lord. Wordy supplications, made up largely of iterations and repetitions such as the heathen use, thinking that their idol deities will be pleased with their much speaking, were forbidden." Privacy is a good word, I think, to describe the place where you can pray effectively, I pray in the car a lot and it's my "sanctuary," and my favorite place to pray, because it's quiet, I have nothing but time, and I can think clearly, I don't have the stress of the kids, I don't play the radio, I don't have anywhere to go or anything to do, my only objective is to get from point A to point B, and I usually have about an hour, so there's really nothing left for me to do except think and talk to God. The most profound explanation of prayer came from Elder H. Burke Peterson as quoted in the book "Putting on the Armor of God," saying, "As you feel the need to confide in the Lord or to improve the quality of your visits with him, may I suggest a process to follow: go where you can be alone, go where you can speak out loud to him. The bedroom, the bathroom, or the closet will do. (Or for me the car.) Now, picture him in your mind's eye. Think to whom you are speaking, control your thoughts- don't let them wander (a huge problem for me,) address him as your Father and your friend. Now tell him things you really feel to tell him- not trite phrases that have little meaning, but have a sincere, heartfelt conversation with him. Confide in him, thank him, ask him for forgiveness, plead with him, enjoy him, express your love to him, and then listen for his answers." I loved that, it has really shaped the way that I pray, because I get distracted, I will find myself staring off into nothing and be like "oh wait, I'm praying." It's hard when we do family prayers, because we're all just all over the place, so we're not even kneeling down, and I try to add personal things, like that we're grateful for whatever we did that day, like spending time together as a family, or spending time with our friends, or that school went well, etc. but I always include "please help us make good choices and be kind to others," and even though I say it every time, every time it's true. So I don't know if that's ok or not, but I really like that part and really feel it whenever I say it. I guess it's like building a friendship, like being pen pals, I guess that's a good way of thinking about it,  what we say when we pray is like our letter to Heavenly Father, and the scriptures are like his letter back, oh that's a good one. We can't build a relationship if we don't speak openly and freely about ourselves in a deeply personal manner, even though he already knows, when we say it, it's freeing to us. Kind of like when people say, "I just need to vent," well "venting" to another human being is flawed and problematic, but "venting" to God is liberating and allows us perhaps get a response that is instructive and comforting. He knows everything, so he'll know what counsel to give us and when to give it, but if we don't ask for it, then he won't force it on us, because that takes away our agency, and I've noticed a difference in what I learn while studying the scriptures and writing this blog when I pray either before or during, it's really quite dramatic. So what we say must be heartfelt, and we must be emotionally and spiritually "present" in the moments that we are praying, or our words will mean nothing, and then what's the point even? We are counseled "use not vain repetitions, as the heathen, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." I've always kind of had a beef with this verse because if the heathen thinks that their gods will be happy with them because they talk a lot in prayer, then they are living the religion that they know to the fullest that they can with their knowledge, but I guess that's not the point, the point is that the doctrine is wrong, not the people, makes sense. The IM teaches "Vain means 'empty; worthless; having no substance, value, or importance.' Our prayers are vain when we offer them out of habit, with little thought or feeling. 'The prophet Mormon warned that if anyone 'shall pray and not with real intent of heart... it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.' To make your prayers meaningful, you must pray with sincerity and 'with all the energy of heart...' Give serious thought to your attitude and to the words you use.' Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin cautioned regarding repetitions in prayer: 'Our prayers become hollow when we say similar words in similar ways over and over so often that the words become more of a recitation than a communication. This is what the Savior described as 'vain repetitions.'" Now that I'm thinking of lesson or phrase placement, I'm wondering why the Lord is saying, "don't pray like the heathen, who thinks that their gods like hearing a lot of talking. Don't be like them, because your father already knows what you need before you pray." I'm not exactly sure why this is placed there, but it seems like an odd response, I'm not exactly sure what would be appropriate here, but this seems out of place to me. I'm going to have to think about that, see if I can come up with anything. In something I was listening to that I can't find right now, it said something like, "it's interesting that so many religions insist on saying the Lord's prayer verbatim when in the verse preceding it the Lord specifically states, 'use not vain repetitions." Fair question. Some of the points that I've heard throughout my studying that has impacted me was something like, "could you imagine your benefactor waiting patiently for you to come home everyday and tell you all about what you've been doing, only to have you ignore him and go to bed? That's how Heavenly Father feels when we aren't engaged in sincere prayer." Or another one "imagine your Heavenly Father like someone who is waiting by the phone anxiously anticipating your call, but it never comes." I try to think about that whenever I pray or think about prayer, I try to remember that Heavenly Father desperately wants to hear from me, and has lots to tell me and counsel me on and bless me with, he's just waiting for the chance.