A Place for Quiet, Calm Prayers

Amulek concluded his teachings to the Zoramites about prayer with this injunction:

Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.
--Alma 34:27

Amulek makes a distinction between crying to the Lord and offering constant, silent prayer. To cry is to beg and beseech with strong emotion. I face times when I must be fully engaged in prayer, when a sedate and pleasant prayer will not do. When my heart is broken and my limits are stretched and the depth of my soul heaves very close to the surface, a cry to God is the most direct route to aid and comfort in desperate moments. 

I cannot constantly be wrought up, however. When the crisis has passed and peace has come, I still have to function in the world. In the routine of daily life, quiet, calm prayers of gratitude are also acceptable to the Lord. Like Teviah in Fiddler on the Roof, I find myself speaking to God throughout the day. A "thank you" here and a "please help" there keep the lines of communication open between me and my Heavenly Father, with Jesus and the Holy Ghost always listening in on the party line.

Nothing Too Small

The two missionaries, Alma and Amulek, first taught the apostate Zoramites about Christ, and then they turned their attention to the people's perverted method of prayer. Rather than repeat a rote and mean-spirited public prayer once a week, they taught the Zoramites to pray sincerely and often. Speaking of the topics appropriate for a sincere prayer, Amulek taught:

Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening. Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies. Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
--Alma 34:21-25

Amulek's great discourse on prayer teaches that there is nothing too small, temporal, or mundane that we cannot pray about it and seek the Lord's blessing. When I think I have a problem too small to bother God about, I think of these verses. He is willing to help me in every aspect of my life. 

Does God want me to be hopelessly dependent? Ultimately, no. In the interim, however, while I am mired in mortality, Christ pleads with me to come unto Him, lean on Him, share His yoke, drink of His living water, let His light guide my feet, follow His example, learn of Him, and listen to His words. I am, in truth, in this life, hopelessly dependent on Christ. I can admit my true condition and take Him as my partner, or I can deny it and struggle through life alone. My mortal struggles don't change, but whether I face them alone or not is entirely up to me. 

Mighty Prayer

One of my great prayer heroes is the prophet Enos in the Book of Mormon. Enos was a good man raised by a good father. As he grew up in a righteous home, Enos surely said his daily prayers, read the scriptures, and attended worship services. Yet, he felt he was missing something in his life. He wanted to be more than an "active" believer, he wanted to be truly converted. And so, he turned to prayer. But not the simple, standard, run-of-the-mill prayer he was used to.

And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
--Enos 1:4

God heard Enos's mighty prayer and answered it in a direct and inspiring way.

Mighty prayer is powerful prayer. Mighty prayer taps into the power of God to change me in profound ways—ways that I could never accomplish on my own under my own power. 

In mighty prayer, I turn myself, my problems, my weaknesses and my failures over to God. I reach up to put my puny hand in His mighty hand. I stop trying to do it myself, run my own life, achieve my own goals. I admit that I are powerless to accomplish the impossible things God expects of me. 

In mighty prayer I hold nothing back, make no excuses, blame no one but myself. If I can put everything on the altar, including and especially the natural man with all his pride and selfishness and stubbornness and rebellion, and beg and beseech God in genuine sincerity to take it all away and do with me what He will, I am offering a mighty prayer. 

I do not just whip out a mighty prayer in five minutes before I fall asleep at the end of the day or in a brief, rote recital of repetitious 'thanks' and 'pleases' before I rush out the door in the morning. Though God wants to hear from me daily and is pleased with my efforts to communicate with Him, He yearns for mighty prayer to open the door to His real power. 

He is a mighty God who wants to use His might in my behalf. Mighty prayer is the key to unlock God's power in my life. If I want to change, mighty prayer is the mechanism to engage the power I need. God will change me if I cry to Him in mighty prayer.