God Hears

The prophet Nephi foresaw the destruction that awaited his people. The picture was bleak indeed. In many ways, what Nephi saw in his people's future parallels the challenges we will face in the "last days." Nevertheless, Nephi offered a ray of hope to the faithful followers of Christ, even amidst the trials to come:

After my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have dwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea, after the Lord God shall have camped against them round about, and shall have laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not, yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the prayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten.

--2 Nephi 26:15

Despite everything that may seem to go wrong in my life, and though I feel abandoned and alone, if I stay faithful, my prayers shall be heard. My Father never ignores me. Although He might seem unreachable in the midst of my toughest trials, I remind myself that during a test in school, the teacher remains silent. But that doesn't mean the teacher is unaware of me or of the challenges of the test. God helps in times of trouble. Of that I am sure, of that I testify.

Persistently Consistent

The Apostle Paul exhorted the faithful followers of Christ in these words:  

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
--Romans 12:12

The phrase "continuing instant in prayer" means to be constantly persistent in our prayers. A prayer binge followed by silent indifference or prolonged distraction is a formula for failure with God. Sometimes our trials persist so that our prayers persist. Persistent prayers lead to persistent hope, which produces persistent joy. 

When I pray persistently and consistently, I can rejoice in hope and patiently endure tribulations. The three are related and dependent. Tribulation teaches practical patience, and prayer adds to my patience. I pray for the gift of patience, not only in my trials but in all good things. The answer to my prayers is hope, and once I have hope, I can rejoice, even in tribulations. 

Persistence is not the same as vain repetition. Vain repetition comes from thoughtlessly reciting words that may have had meaning once but are now hollow. We may have felt good about a particular prayer the first time, so we repeat it over and over again hoping it will make us feel good again. It is not prayer to God but a therapeutic exercise directed at ourselves. 

Persistent prayer may be repetitive, but it is filled with faith, hope, and expectation. It is an expression of my trust and patience in a God who knows best and whose timing is best from an eternal perspective, especially when my mortal perspective is temporally myopic. I constantly let God know I wait in faith and trust in His divine wisdom. Trials come and go, and in their wake they leave enlivened hope, increased joy, solid patience, and ever blossoming prayer.

Lesson in Patience

In the previous chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gave a warning about His Second Coming and the desperate times that would accompany that great event. Now He begins the next set of instructions to His disciples with these words:

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
--Luke 18:1

The parable that followed this pronouncement about praying always concerns a bereft widow and an unjust judge. Though the town judge initially paid no attention to the importuning widow, because she continued to pester him, the judge finally acceded to her request for help. Jesus concludes this parable with the promise the God will hear us, "though he bear long with" us, meaning that we may have to be patient until the Lord sees fit to answer us in His own due time.

Returning to Jesus's introduction to the parable, to "not faint" is to not lose heart. God hears all prayers, but He answers in His own due time. When answers don't come quickly or easily, we may think God isn't listening or He doesn't care. Such is not the case. God always hears, always cares, and always answers. His answers, however, are always calculated for our maximum benefit. Despite what we may want, God knows what we truly need. He gives us what we need, which may not be what we want. Sometimes the most important thing we need, amidst all our wants, is a lesson in patience.

For most of my life, I have been quite adept at instructing God in how He should run His universe and the timing of the blessings I think I need in my life and in the lives of others. I tell Him who to heal and when to heal them, who to strengthen and how He should strengthen them, whose burdens He should lift and how He should lift them. I have approached God like my personal vending machine of blessings, dropped in my coins of prayer and faith, pushed the buttons, and expected instant gratification. 

Has God heard all my selfish, self-centered, impatient prayers? Absolutely. Does He love me? Positively. Does He want me to have a good life? Most assuredly. But He is also wise enough to withhold the blessings I want and dispense the blessings I need. He is patient enough to let me learn His purposes despite my frantic desires to have Him right every wrong and heal every illness and remove every burden. 

I has taken me many years, but I have stopped, for the most part, trying to instruct God in how I want Him to fix the world and have instead offered to listen to what He wants for me, to bear up the burdens He wants me to carry, to deal with the obstacles He allows to obstruct my easy path, to serve those on whom He has chosen to allow afflictions to linger, and to wait patiently with an eye of faith for the things I truly need. God's goodness is not in a comfortable life with no drama, no problems, and no stress, but in permitting all the trials that will enable me to come to the Savior with a broken heart and contrite spirit. My purpose in this earthly life is not to be comfortable on a calm sea, but to the strong in the midst of the storms that blow my vessel towards the promised land of salvation and exaltation.

Not a Vending Machine

To set the context, Jesus spoke the words quoted below immediately before He gave what we now call the Lord's Prayer: 

Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
-- Matthew 6:8

If God already knows what we need, why did Jesus teach his disciples to pray? Why did Jesus retire often to quiet places to pray? Why does the call to pray permeate the scriptures? What is the point of prayer if God already knows what we need and what we are praying about? 

Prayer is not for God but for us. Make no mistake, I truly believe He knows what we need. We, however, need to remember where our blessings come from. We must not take grace for granted. God is not a vending machine. He wants us to talk to Him, build a relationship with Him, trust Him, and listen to Him. And so, He allows situations and trials to arise in our lives to bring us to Him with our needs and desires, from which we learn humility and gratitude. When we draw closer to our Father, the price is worth it.

Open the Universe

Jesus taught this amazing principle and promise about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount:

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
--Matthew 7:7-8

With this promise echoing in my mind, I know everything of God's is available to me. It's up to me, though, to take the first step. I must ask, seek, and knock. I must learn how to approach the Father, trust Him, listen to Him, have faith in Him, and accept His will. 

Sounds easy, right? Well, it's not so easy when God doesn't seem approachable in the middle of a hard day or a sleepless night, when worry is overpowering and pain is unrelenting. It can be hard to trust a Father who allows suffering and sorrow, who apparently wants to polish me with 100-grit sandpaper. His voice, if He is speaking at all, can hardly penetrate my thick skull and ears tuned more to the world's shouts for attention than to the gossamer whispers of the Holy Spirit. Faith - the anchor of the soul - threatens to break loose in the storms that spring up like winter gales and beat on me with no care for my stamina or energy. And the divine Will runs so counter to my earthly logic that it boggles me.  

As the pounding and pummeling of life continues, driving me to my knees when standing gets too hard, I think of the joke, "The beatings will continue until morale improves." I wonder, is that what God is doing to me? Is He beating me until I finally learn to believe His promise?

I believe He hears every prayer, even my casual, mundane daily invocations. But while I may be satisfied with vain repetitions, He is not. He wants more from me, and so He gives me more - more trials, more challenges, more troubles, more afflictions, more pain, more suffering - more of everything that strips me of my expectations of life and leaves me raw and vulnerable and, dare I say, humble. And when I finally cry in genuine need, in total despair - in honest prayer - He answers. He sends the Comforter. He gives strength where there was none. He fans an ember of hope that was all but dead. Another day dawns, and life goes on. And I'm still here.

If I can ever quit trying to do things my way and let Him do things His way, the universe will open to me.

Essential

The kingdom of Judah was in dire trouble in the days of the prophet Joel. Severe drought and a plague of locusts threatened to wipe the people out. As the Lord's mouthpiece in this time of emergency, Joel delivered the message of repentance and assured the people of God's blessing. He summarized his call to repentance with these comforting words:

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

-Joel 2:32

Prayer is essential to deliverance from sin for salvation. Prayer reminds us of our constant reliance on God and our Savior. It draws us to the source of our deliverance and refreshes our hope of rescue. On those days when we feel buried by our trials, it reminds us of both our Advocate and our true Judge. And on those days when we think we have the world by the tail, it reminds us from whom our blessings come and the source of our comfort.