All Energy of Heart

After the great prophet and historian Mormon was killed following the destruction of his people, his son Moroni inherited the responsibility to finish the record of his father and protect the writings. As Moroni completed his own contributions to his father's book, he included a record of a sermon Mormon had preached before his death. It's amazing that, in the midst of a war, commanding an army faced with annihilation, and surrounded by his own people falling deeper into apostasy and wickedness, Mormon  maintained the spiritual sensitivity to preach a powerful sermon to the few who still followed the Christ. 

Near the close of that sermon on the Christian principles of charity, Mormon exhorted his hearers to pray: 

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; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
--Moroni 7:48

To pray with all energy of heart is to pray like nothing else matters. We hold back nothing, put it all on the table, be all in. If we could pray just one prayer, ask for just one blessing, receive just one boon from the hand of the Lord, what would it be? 

Mormon encourages me and all of us to pray for charity. From God's perspective, that is the best gift in mortality, for it encompasses everything else good in life and fits me for soul-changing service. 

The trick is to let the Spirit work on me until I want what God wants. When my desires align with His desires, the energy of my heart will be single with God's mind. Such a prayer will surely penetrate the Lord's heart.