Effective Prayer

by Robert Rosskopf

A common complaint among those who have grown up in the LDS church, is that they don't have a testimony for themselves. They have prayed, but their prayers haven't been answered.

Moroni tells us how to receive a knowledge of the truth, and he also tells us why we might fail to have our prayers answered.

"3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
(Moroni 10)

A prayer may fail to evoke an answer, or the person giving the prayer may not be sensitive to the testimony of the spirit if 1) they don't ponder the mercies of God, 2) they don't study, 3) they don't address God in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, 4) they aren't sincere, 5) they don't have real intent, or 6) they don't have faith in Christ. We can also learn from Enos:

"3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart."
(Enos 1)

Notice again, that like Moroni, he was pondering the mercies of God.

"4 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.
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed."

Although it doesn't say so explicitly, Enos was obviously sincere and had real intent. In addition, he had faith and patience. This wasn't a hurried prayer squeezed into a buzy life. He spent much of the day and on into the night pouring out his soul to God. This is what faith looks like.

Joseph Smith also can teach us about prayer, as he describes the events leading up to and including his first vision.

"...I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
12 Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible."

Notice, once again, that Joseph was pondering the mercies of God, specifically that God would answer prayers.

"14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt... After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God."

Notice that he chose a time and place where he could pour out his heart in solitude and without time constraint. This is faith. He prayed from the heart - this is sincerity. He wanted to know which church to join - this is real intent.

I took the Book of Mormon challenge, and read the Book of Mormon. I was willing to go to church and keep the commandments, so I had real intent. I really wanted to know whether the church was true, and whether the Book of Mormon was true, so I was sincere. My faith wasn't very strong, but I did choose a time and place where I could pour out my heart to God in solitude. I can't say that angels attended me, or that I had a marvelous vision (wouldn't that be something!), but I can say that when I stood up from my prayer (like Joseph, I was kneeling), I knew without any doubt that the Book of Mormon was true. I don't know how I knew. It wasn't a rationalized response. I just knew. That answer changed my life dramatically. Suddenly I wanted to learn everything I could about the church.