Prayer Brings Blessings
I have recently been praying for the world more than usual. And in my personal study I came across a Conference talk that triggered a memory that I want to share about the power of prayer, and the blessings it brings in my life. Not only that, but the blessings prayer will bring to your life.
The talk was given by Elder Jeffery R Holland in 1999. And it’s called “An High Priest of Good Things to Come.“ In it Elder Holland talked about the blessings the Lord wants to give us. And he spoke about not giving up when things get hard.
He concluded his talk with this phrase “Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.”
I love that promise! I remember many times praying with all my heart for things that mattered very much to me. And even though some blessings have taken a long time to come, they have come.
My first answered prayer
My earliest experience with answered prayers was when I was 5 years old. We had been learning about prayer in Sunday School. And my teacher told me that anything we asked for the Lord would give it to us. (I probably ignored the “in His time” part.)
I decided to ‘experiment upon the word’ and went home and knelt by my bed. I still remember my favorite pink blanket on the bed. My request was small and very easy to fulfill. I asked the Lord for a pack of gum. I opened my eyes, expecting it to appear on the bed in front of me.
It didn’t appear. I prayed again, thinking maybe I had done it wrong. Still no gum appeared on my bed. So I prayed many nights in a row, waiting patiently on the Lord.
In time I forgot about those prayers. But then when I was in high school my dad, a food scientist, invented a new kind of gum. It was called Ice Breakers and had a new technology in it where the flavor was encapsulated in little tiny capsules and spread throughout the gum base. As you chewed it the flavor activated.
He had us kids be taste testers as he adjusted the formula. And of course, there were many, many packs of gum in our home as he perfected his invention. Only a few years ago I realized that in that process, every pack of gum I prayed for was delivered- many times over. It was a small and simple prayer, but the Lord indeed answered it!
My most important answered prayer
I also remember when I desperately prayed to be a mother. I had a suspicion that motherhood wouldn’t come easily for me. I have no idea what put that thought in my head. But when one of my Young Women’s leaders shared that she had prayed nightly for years to get to be a mother, I started doing the same thing that very night. I wearied the Lord with my pleas, I’m sure.
When my husband and I got married I was elated when we got pregnant a year into our marriage. Sadly, that baby was not meant for this Earth, and we lost him only a few weeks into the pregnancy.
We lost two more, and waited 6 years, before the Lord granted His miracle. But even though that was a painful time, the miracles and sweet spirit that surrounded us has been pivotal in forming my testimony. I would never trade it away for an easy time at motherhood.
My cousin’s daughter recently suffered a miscarriage and hearing her pain brought back the feelings of those days. It is easy to look back and see the blessings that were waiting. But during that trial, faith was hard to come by. I let hurt and anger win for far too long. That is one thing I would change if I could. Letting myself give in to despair was not good for my soul. And if you’re in a similar place, I really loved the words Elder Holland shared when he said;
I say: Cling to your faith. Hold on to your hope….Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed.
Finding strength through others
I recently saw a YouTube clip with Alexa Pena Vega where she shared the heartache of losing her daughter Indy moments before she was born. Her experience touched my soul. What has stayed with me was an experience she shared as she processed the loss in therapy and saw in a vision how many angels were in the room with her. And how they were all crying with her, sharing in the sorrow and heartache of that awful time. She said she “felt so seen” by the Savior. It touched my heart knowing how much God works to show His children how much He loves us and supports us, even in our worst moments.
You are not alone
I encourage you to cultivate a relationship with Jesus Christ and with God in prayer. You matter to them- you are a child of God! And all the heartache and struggle you face, you do not face alone. All of your experiences will work together for your good, and God is cheering for you and wanting your success.
It is hard to see it the moment trials happen. But God sees far into the future; He knows who you are, who you have always been, and who you can become. And He seeks for your good.
He walks with us in our challenges and celebrates with us in our victories. Prayer is the powerful tool that lets us connect with Him, and find strength, no matter what we are facing.
I promise you that there are good days ahead. The stories I have shared are many years in the past, and they took time to process. Grant yourself Grace, to let yourself heal. And in the process look for the good, look for God, because He is there.
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