Giving Voice to My Prayers

Joseph Smith had completed the translation of the Book of Mormon, with Oliver Cowdery acting as scribe. The manuscript was ready for publication. Joseph had located a printing establishment in the nearby town of Palmyra, New York, under the proprietorship of E. B. Grandin. The printer was dubious about the project. If the book did not sell, Grandin would not make a profit. And so, he asked Joseph to put up the cost of the printing as surety. Grandin would have his money for the job regardless of the sales potential of Joseph's "gold bible." 

Joseph turned to Martin Harris. Contemplating mortgaging his farm (over his wife's vehement protests) to raise the money, Martin wanted assurance that Joseph's request was a commandment from God. Joseph received the revelation now known as Section 19 in the Doctrine and Covenants as God's reply. Martin got more than he bargained for, but it is a marvelous gift to the Church of Jesus Christ. The revelation speaks of the power of Christ, the requirement for all people to repent, Christ's suffering that accompanied the Atonement, a commandment to preach the gospel to the world, and a specific directive to Martin Harris to stop coveting his own property and provide Joseph with the money for the printer.

Among the general commandments given to Martin and applicable to all is this verse about prayer:

And again, I command thee that thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.
--Doctrine and Covenants 19:28

Prayers in all forms and in all places are not only acceptable to the Lord but are a commandment. Praying with others is as much a part of our prayer life as praying alone. Leading others in prayer is a form of sharing our faith. Our prayers may be instructive to those who hear us when we are sincere, humble and honest, practicing no hypocrisy. Those who are weak in prayer may be strengthened by our prayers.  

The combination I struggle with is private vocal prayer. I am satisfied that God hears the prayers in my heart, which I speak aloud in my head but not with my mouth. I live in my head, and that is where my prayers resonate. I have not been able to get comfortable with sending them out into the still air around me. Yet, I have been told that additional power is to be found in speaking private prayers out loud. 

I can only assume God wants us to speak aloud for good reason. Perhaps I just need to take this principle on faith and watch for the fruits. This may be one more piece to the puzzle of why I feel like I have not fully given my whole heart to God. Perhaps the piece I have never been able to let go of is vocal prayer.

Conqueror

The exact timing of the first part of Section 10 of the Doctrine and Covenants is sketchy, but it was during the period of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith had loaned the first 119 manuscript pages of the translation to Martin Harris to show his wife and try to win her support. Martin subsequently

lost the manuscript. Joseph was inconsolable over the loss, not only because he had let the sacred writings out of his hands, but because the Lord had warned him twice not to let Martin have the pages. When it was evident that the one and only copy of the manuscript would not be recovered, Joseph inquired of the Lord what he should do. 

In response, Joseph received this revelation from God. The young prophet had an important lesson to learn about men and about Satan through this experience. A part of this heaven-sent lesson included this commandment about prayer:

Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.
--Doctrine and Covenants 10:5

Because Satan is unrelenting in his attacks upon us, we must we constant in our defenses. Prayer is the link that holds the whole armor of God together for us. 

When I fail to pray, for whatever reason, I give the devil an opening, an unprotected place where he can slip in a thin blade of temptation, a barb of jealousy, a dart of greed, an arrow of anger. Constant prayer cinches up my armor and closes any gaps. 

The devil hates to hear me pray because he knows I am prepared to meet him, and I am forcing him into a corner. He has no problem overcoming me alone with the natural man ever at work from the inside on my defenses. It is quite another thing, however, when he has to face me and the Lord. I cannot conquer Satan by myself, but with God's help—His enabling grace—we can together defeat the adversary and come off conqueror.

Prayer's Preparation

Oliver Cowdery wanted to do more than simply take dictation from Joseph Smith as the prophet translated from the gold plates. Oliver wanted to be the one to translate and let Joseph be the scribe. Christ gave Oliver the opportunity to try. The results of his attempts disappointed Oliver. Joseph inquired of the Lord for Oliver what had gone wrong. The answer, in part, follows:

Behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
--Doctrine and Covenants 9:8

The usual interpretation of this verse is that Oliver didn't go about the translation process correctly. He should have studied the engravings on the plates, come to a decision about what he thought they meant, and then pray and ask God if his translation was correct.

While I don't dispute this rendition, I think the Lord was also talking about something more generally applicable regarding prayer. In the preceding verse, God said:

Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
--Doctrine and Covenants 9:7

In other words, Oliver had made no preparations to translate other than to simply ask God for permission. Joseph Smith had prepared himself for four years since he first learned that the plates existed. He was tutored by a heavenly messenger. And Oliver thought he could just jump in and start translating?

Further, Oliver hadn't really thought about his request. Verse 8 says that he should have studied his request out in his mind, counted the cost, and determined if this was really a good idea before taking it to the Lord for confirmation. Had he prepared better to make his request, the Holy Ghost could have revealed to him whether his desired course of action was in harmony with God's will.

Effective prayer requires preparation. We must do our homework. God has given us agency, intelligence, judgment, and the Light of Christ. One of our purposes in mortality is to learn to use these faculties. 

If the Lord handed us everything with no effort on our part, we would not develop the capabilities He wants us to have. When we have expended our efforts, He will tell us when we have it right or nudge us in a better direction if we have it wrong. We will know we have it right by the unmistakable feeling of assurance and peace that comes in answer to prayer.

Be Careful What You Ask For

Shortly after beginning his service as scribe to Joseph Smith in the work of translating the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery wanted to take a turn at translation. He asked Joseph to inquire of the Lord, and the following is part of the answer he received:

Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith. Trifle not with these things; do not ask for that which you ought not.
--Doctrine and Covenants 8:10

Oliver surely thought his request was righteous. He wanted to be a greater help to Joseph and to be even more directly engaged in the work. I suspect, however, that a bit of pride may have also been a motivation for Oliver's wanting to translate. He was an educated man, a school teacher. He may have thought that his command of the English language would enable him to provide more beautiful and fitting language in the translation than the nearly illiterate farm boy Joseph could produce. 

Part of Christ's answer to Oliver was this warning. Make sure you are coming from a place of faith and not pride. And be careful what you ask for. 

So, how do I know what to ask for, and what not to ask for? I start by praying to know what to pray for. The Holy Ghost can reveal to me the prayers I should pray.

I do not (or should not) pray to change God's mind. Rather, I pray to align my mind with His. He has blessings He wants to give me, but He gives only in accordance with my agency and desires. If I can learn what God plans to give me, and ask for that thing, He will gladly grant it to my profit. 

If I am stubborn and self-willed and ask for what I want with my short-sighted and imperfect perspective, God may still answer my petition, but to my deficit instead of to my profit. Mercifully, He usually dismisses my wayward pleas with a gentle No.