Gratitude Creates Rich Prayers

Having been driven by violent mobs from Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, and their prophet murdered, the Saints were fleeing to the Rocky Mountains where they could once again start over. Brigham Young, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had been sustained as the leader of the people. In preparing the people to begin an orderly exodus west to their intended new homeland, President Young received a revelation about how to organize the thousands of faithful Latter-day Saints who followed him. Within that revelation is the following admonition:

If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
--Doctrine and Covenants 136:28

Prayer takes many forms and is inspired in many ways. While some prayers (perhaps most) are petitions for blessings or requests for knowledge, others can be genuine expressions of gratitude for the blessings and knowledge we already have. 

God's blessings flow to us continually. He showers us daily, hourly, even moment by moment with gifts and grace, most of which we take for granted or assume as our entitlement if we notice then at all: Life, breath, agency, animation, the immutable laws of nature and physics, sunshine, water, raw materials and finished goods, the opportunities to work and serve, people to love and who love us, and spiritual gifts of faith, repentance, forgiveness, hope, testimony, assurance, knowledge, power, and the crowning gift of redemption through Christ and His atonement leading us to eternal life. 

When we awaken from time to time from our stupor of entitlement and recognize the abundance of God's continuous and bounteous gifts, He likes to hear from us. No one likes to be taken for granted. We all enjoy moments of recognition and appreciation. We want to rejoice together. 

Our Father likewise wants to rejoice with us. He gives us everything for our happiness and progression. We are His joy and His glory. When we recognize and share in His joy, He reflects it ten-fold in our lives. 

Our relationship with Him is enriched and deepened through gratitude. We see Him for the loving, generous Parent He is, and we become better children. 

Gratitude is an essential element of our prayer life and our relationship with God. We must cultivate it, nurture it, and express it often. The more gratitude we feel, the more blessings we will recognize and the richer our prayers will be.

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.

Sweet Incense of Prayer

In the Apostle John's highly symbolic Revelation, he received a series of visions. He recorded one of the visions as follows:

And when he [an angel] had taken the book [from the Lamb of God], the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
--Revelation 5:8

A central feature of the original temple worship of the ancient Hebrews was the altar of incense on which sweet-smelling sage, wood, and oils were burned. The rising smoke represented the prayers of the people ascending to heaven (see Exodus 30:1).

My prayer should be like the smoke of incense, constantly and gently rising up unto God. When it burns within me, it lifts me and permeates the very atmosphere around me. My prayers can mingle with the incense of others until it becomes a beautiful cloud of gratitude and yearning, of hope and peace. It is the very air of God's kingdom. If I want to know what it feels like to live in the presence of God, I should surround myself with prayer.

Open the Door to Closeness

The Apostle Paul counseled the saints in Colosse:

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
--Colossians 3:17

Gratitude is a key element of prayer. It is not just common courtesy. It opens my eyes to all I have already received, reminding me of all God has already done for me, strengthening my faith and increasing my patience. 

The instruction in this verse is to give thanks by Christ, meaning giving thanks from His perspective. In other words, what would Jesus be thankful for in my situation? I learn to see things the way the Savior sees them, which draws me closer to my Father in heaven and to my Savior. 

One of the most important results of prayer is to draw closer to God, and gratitude is the door I open to gain that closeness.