Friday night Julie and I went to see the show ground hog day. The story line is about a weatherman who continues to live the same day over and over until he finally gets it right. Well I feel somewhat like the weatherman in the show, the last time I spoke to you I was ask to speak on

the subject of prayer by the Stake Presidency; now here I am again speaking to you with the assignment of prayer, in hopes that I will get it right this time.

If you would allow me to take you back in time a little to when I was a little boy I was intrigued by how locks worked, as a matter of fact when I would come across a combination lock I would see if I could open it. I had gotten pretty good at feeling what was happening inside of the

lock and could feel as the mechanisms would all line up in series and allow the lock to pop open. It was really fun (almost like doing magic) to open someones locker that you knew at Central and just leave their locker open and then watch their locker partner get upset at them for leaving the locker opened. I had developed a technique for opening the locks and it went as follows: I would first turn the combination to the right and while turning I would pull up slightly on either the handle or the loop depending on what kind of lock it was. As I would pull up I could feel as one of the tumblers would line up and let the latch drop down just a little. I was able to do this because there is a consistent pattern to how a combination lock works.

How a combination lock works is very simple. First the elements are as follow: 1) the shackle or the piece that goes down inside of the lock is either open or closed, 2) inside, there is a piece that sits between the shackle and the tumblers, it is called the latch 3) even deeper we find the tumblers themselves which are turned with the combination dial on the front and when all the tumblers line up the latch is freed up to release the shackle 4) there are posts which are fastened to the tumblers and provide the movement of the tumblers as the combination dial is turned in the right direction 5) the combination dial itself, provides a consistent pattern to get the lock opened.

6) There are many different types of locks each has a different purpose.7) The tumblers don't move by themselves to the correct position but must be manipulated by the person wishing to open the lock 8) The lock is only opened by the correct sequence of events, turning it to the left first and< then right next to the correct number will not give the desired results, the lock will not open.

Just like the lock, Adam in the beginning, after he was driven from the Garden of Eden he was instructed by the Lord that his life would be different from when he was in the Garden of Eden. He Adam would now have shackles that he would have to break if he were to return to his father in heaven. He was instructed that he would have to learn those things that were important to return and the way to learn what those principles would come through communication one on one with our Father in Heaven. Adam was instructed that after being cast out of the Garden of Eden and the presence of God, Adam would in the future be able to communicate with our father in heaven through Prayer.

An angel declared to Adam, "Thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the son forevermore." (Moses 5:8.) This course is essential if men are to be saved; there is no salvation then without prayer.

How could a man set his heart on righteousness, so as to work out his salvation, without communing by prayer with him who is the author of righteousness?

Prayer was designed to keep the attention of men centered on God, on righteousness, and on their duties. Every thought, word, and act is influenced or governed by the nature and extent of one's communion through prayer with Deity.

Over and over again the revelations command: Watch and pray always, lest ye enter into temptation. (Matt. 26:41; Mark 13:33; 14:38; Luke 21:36; 22:40, 46; D&C 10:5.) "Ye must pray always, and not faint,"

 

 

Again like the lock:

There are tumblers and the shackles that bind us here on earth, and we to have a latch that sits between the shackles and the tumblers or savior Jesus Christ.

When we pray, we pray to our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. Nephi told his brethren. "Ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." (2 Ne. 32:9.)

"Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name; and whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you. Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed. And behold, ye shall meet together oft, and ye shall not forbid any man from coming unto you when ye shall meet together, but suffer them that they may come unto you, and forbid them not; but ye shall pray for them, and shall not cast them out; and if it so be that they come unto you oft, ye shall pray for them unto the Father, in my name."

Just as the latch can be responsible to open and close the lock, so is our Father in Heaven willing to provide for anything that we do. Amulek addressed the topic of what to pray for when he said: "Call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you; Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save. Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him. Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks. 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. But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness."(Alma 34:17-29.)

 

 

Again from the lock we find:

3) That when all the tumblers line up the lock frees up the shackles How do we free up the shackles.

The command, to Pray always, means a prayer should always be in the hearts of the faithful and that frequent secret prayers should be spoken. Perfect prayers are those which are inspired, in which the Spirit reveals the words which should be used. (3 Ne. 19:24.) "And if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done. But know this, it shall be given you what you shall ask." (D&C 50:29-30.)

Jesus spoke the greatest prayers ever uttered, prayers so much beyond the interpretative power of mere words that they were not recorded. "He himself also knelt upon the earth," the record says, "and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him. And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father; And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father." (3 Ne. 17:15-17.)

 

 

The experiences with the lock also indicates that in order...

4) To get the tumblers into the proper position we must turn the dial moving the respective posts and tumblers into their proper position.

In an effort to get the respective posts in their proper place regarding prayer we as saints are expected to conform to a prescribed standard of divine excellence. "We should Understand the proprieties in prayer, and shun the improprieties." (Improvement Era, vol. 50, pp. 214, 245.) The following are some suggestion to consider in improving our prayers:

1) They are to be addressed our Father in Heaven, and no-one else not our Heavenly Mother or any other creature;

2) They should always be made in the name of Jesus Christ as he is our mediator with the Father.

3) They should be reverential and worshipful in nature

4) We should use the language of prayer (the pronouns thee and thine, for instance, never you and your)

5) We should offer them with sincerity of heart, with real intent and purpose,

6) We should have broken hearts and contrite spirits

7) We should close our prayers with the word Amen.

8) We should as a token of reverence and respect, when occasion permits, pray from a kneeling position. There is a quote that I like that goes: "You are never higher than when you are on your knees".

9) Certain proprieties attend the offering of all prayers. Public prayers, in particular, should be short and ordinarily should contain no expressions except those which are pertinent to the needs and circumstances surrounding the particular meeting then involved. They are not sermons or occasions to disclose the oratorical or linguistic abilities of the one acting as mouth.

10) We should avoid the common practice in Church, conference sessions, sacrament meetings, and the like, by taking entirely too much time and praying about too many matters not directly involved in the particular meeting.

11) In the opening of meetings one should consider the situation and ask the Lord to bless us according to what the meeting is.

12) In closing the meeting we offer a benediction which should be a final short statement of blessing and comfort. "In dismissing, we should ask the blessings of the Lord upon the congregation, and what has been said, and commit ourselves to the care of the Lord.

It is not necessary to offer long and tedious prayers, either at opening or closing.Not only is it not pleasing to the Lord for us to use excess of words, but also it is not pleasing to the Latter-day Saints. Two minutes will open any kind of meeting, and a half minute should be sufficient to close it.

13) We should remember the injunction of the Savior, that we should not do as the heathen does, that is indulge in vain repetition, or feel that we are to be heard because of our much speaking.

"Prayers should be offered under the direction and inspiration of the Almighty. Every elder in Israel, should learn to subject himself to the Spirit of the Lord, in all his prayers, and in all the ordinances of the gospel.

14) There is no prayer so great and important that it is necessary to use more than once the name of the son of God and of the Father.

15) We should avoid praying to be seen or heard of men, but let your prayers be unto the Lord. If you pray to open a meeting, one propriety is to speak loud enough for all to hear. And the same when the sacrament is administered.

16) Individuals or groups of Latter-day Saints when eating in public places, if conditions are sufficiently quiet and reverential, may with propriety offer a blessing on the food. If circumstances are such that it does not seem appropriate so to do, however, the food is eaten with a thankful heart, and it is considered that the private prayers of the individuals concerned have already asked for all of the blessings needed for that particular day.

 

 

5) The lock always requires one to complete a consistent right combination, so it is with prayer, prayer requires a consistent right combination that includes faith and living a righteous life...

In an effort to not ever forget a combination many of us will write down the proper combination that worked for us the last time we operated the lock. Un-like the combination lock we are instructed by the Lord to not use written prayers except in the following circumstances.

There are a few approved formal written prayers in the Church. These include:

1) Dedicatory prayers offered when temples are presented to the Lord&emdash;the prayer of dedication for the Kirtland Temple being given by direct revelation (D&C 109).

2) The sacramental prayers which are always spoken exactly as found in the revelation.

(D&C 20:77-79.)

Formal, written prayers which are commonly read by ministers, and those recited by lay church members in doing penance or seeking grace, are devoid of the true spirit of prayer and should be shunned. Because usually they are spoken without real intent; and their use keeps men from searching their own hearts in an attempt to pray in faith according to an approved pattern so that actual blessings may be gained from Deity.

If we dont write down the combination how can we insure that the lock then will always

 

 

The answer is that we can't, some of our prayers are not answered because:

We do not pray long enought to express real desire; We do not really need what we are asking for; we do not have or exercise enought faith; we are not worthy; we are praying for things that cannot be (Not allow Christ to be Hung on Cross); we are not willing to make a sacrifice; or simply we are asking the Lord to do what you could do with a little effort. (we may just ask the Lord to have us pass a test when we should be asking for his help that we might remember what we have studied)

Which brings us again to the lock, like the lock...

7) The tumbler don't move by themselves. Lord supplemented the prayer by explaining the imperative necessity of earnestness and enduring persistency in praying.

There must be a conscious real need for prayer, and real trust in God, to make prayer effective; and in mercy the Father sometimes delays the granting that the asking may be more fervent. But in the words of Jesus: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

 

 

Once again we return to the combination lock and find:

6) Just as there are many different types of locks each has a different purpose, there are also many different types of prayer.

It is common to classify prayers as public and private or secret. Family prayers and those offered as blessings on the food at mealtime would be considered private prayers. Those spoken at formal gatherings, and in which one person acts as mouth for the congregation, are public prayers.

1) An opening prayer in a formal meeting is sometimes called the invocation (because the blessings of the Lord upon that particular meeting are being sought or invoked).

2) The closing prayer is often referred to as the benediction or blessings offered at the end of the meeting.

3) One's own secret prayers can be as long as the individual cares to make them; Enos, for instance, took occasion to pray all day and on into the night. (Enos 4.) President Kimball said that it does not nessarily mean non-stop but many short and fervent prayers.

4) "Family prayers should be attended to in every household'

 

 

8) The lock is only opened by the correct sequence of events if you turn it left first and then right next to the correct number the lock will not open He who would really pray&emdash;pray as nearly as possible as Christ prayed, pray in actual communion with God to whom the prayer is addressed&emdash;he will seek privacy, seclusion, isolation; if opportunity permits he will retire to his chamber, and will shut the door, that none may intrude; there he may pray indeed.

Prayer is for our uplifting and expressions of gratitude to our Father in Heaven. God without our prayers would still continue to be God; but we without prayer cannot be admitted to the kingdom of God. So did Christ instruct: "your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."

Then Christ gave, a model prayer, saying: "After this manner therefore pray ye:

"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." In this we acknowledge the relation we bear to our Heavenly Father, and while reverencing His great and holy Name, we avail ourselves of the inestimable privilege of approaching Him.

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." The kingdom of God is to be a kingdom of order, in which toleration and the recognition of individual rights shall prevail.

One who really prays that this kingdom come will strive to hasten its coming by living according to the law of God. His effort will be to keep himself in harmony with the order of the kingdom, to subject the flesh to the spirit, and to learn to love the things that God loves.

"Give us this day our daily bread." Food is indispensable to life. As we need it we should ask for it. True, the Father knows our need before we ask, but by asking we acknowledge Him as the Giver, and are made humble, grateful, contrite, and reliant by the request.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." He who can thus pray with full intent and unmixed purpose merits forgiveness. In this specification of personal supplication we are taught to expect only as we deserve.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil": The one purpose of providing bodies for the preexistent spirits of the race, and of advancing them to the mortal state, was to "prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them." The plan of mortality involved the certainty of temptation. The intent of the supplication appears to be that we be preserved from temptation beyond our weak powers to withstand.

"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever." Herein we acknowledge the supremacy of the Being whom we addressed at the beginning as Father.

"Amen." The Lord' s Prayer is closed with a solemn "Amen," set as a seal to the document of the supplication, attesting its genuineness as the true expression of the suppliant's soul; gathering within the compass of a word the meaning of all that has been uttered or thought. So let it be is the literal signification of Amen.

 

 

In closing I pray that we may remember the how the lock works,

That we determine whether the shackle on the lock is either open or closed

That we like the lock have a someone that sets between the shackles of life and the tumblers our brother Jesus Christ.

That like the tumblers themselves the shackles of life are released when our lives line up to the standards that the Lord has prescribed for us.

That we may remember that like the combination dial itself there is a consistent pattern to follow in order to unlock the powers of Heaven.

That the tumblers of the lock don't move by themselves, and sometime the powers of Heaven are the same way.

That the lock is only opened by the correct sequence of events so to is that the power of prayer is unlocked by living righteously and exercising faith.

 

 

That we may unlock the powers of Heaven through prayer. Is my Prayer in the name of Jesus

Christ ....Amen