Moroni 7:48
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
#1 ) pray unto the Father
We address our prayers to our heavenly Father, that is to whom we are praying; not Jesus Christ, or any other heavenly being.
We the proper format is to first thank him for all the blessing that we have been given... I suppose that this is probably one of the greatest weaknesses that we have as a people. The lord has said in
D&C 59:21
21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.
Our Heavenly Father wants us to Ask. As a matter of fact he almost pleads for us to ask. No less than 16 times in the scriptures he says in almost these exact words as are found in:
3 Nephi 27:29
29 Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
You see he really is our father and just like us as earthly parents we would do anything that we can for our children. When they get hurt or are sick we hurt too. So it is with our father in heaven our problems are his problems.
Alma 34:
19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.
20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.
22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.
23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.
25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
27 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.
#2 ) with all the energy of heart,
Enos 1:2
2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.
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.
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.
#3 ) that ye may be filled with this love,
Have you ever noticed what is the first thing that happens to people in the scriptures after they are really converted for example:
Enos 1:2
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?
8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.
9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.
#4 ) which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers
of his son, Jesus Christ;
a)
Now for the sake of time I would like to combine together #5,#6,#7
#5 ) that ye may become the sons of God;
#6 ) that when he shall appear we shall be like him,
#7 ) for we shall see him as he is;
When we want to become like someone what do we do? As each of us have heros that we pattern our lives after. The little boy that wants to be so much like his father that he follows the father around all day long emulating every move that his father makes. In order to emulate or become more like someone then we must first know them.
John 17:3
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
If I may I would like to share with you an example of what it really means to know Christ.
A man passed away and was resurrected and was waiting in a waiting room to be interviewed. Another man was ahead of him. the door opened, the man entered, the door closed. The man left outside the door could bearly hear the conversation that was occurring inside the interview room. The interviewer began: I want you to tell me what you know about Jesus Christ.
The response went something like this... well he was born of a virgin in bethlehem; he lived 33 years, spending the last three in his ministry organizing his church, choosing his apostles to direct it, giving the gospel to direct our lives.
The interviewer said Yes Yes all of this is true; but I want you to tell me what you know about Jesus Christ.
Well he was tortured and crucified on a cross to pay for our sins that we may have eternal life. Three days later he was resurrected that we might return to our father in heaven.
Yes, Yes that is true but can you tell me anything else that you know about Jesus Christ. the man was a little perplexed , again began : well he restored his gospel
in its fullness to the earth through his prophet Joseph Smith, reorganized his church, gave us temples wherein we might do work to save our dead. He gave us family prayer and family home evening were we might unite our families. He gave us the priesthood to heal the sick and personal ordinances for our salvation and exaltation.
The interviewer again stopped him and said: All of what you have said to me is true . The man was then invited to leave the room. After he left, the door opened and the other man from the lobby entered the room. As he approached the interviewer he fell upon his knees and cried, "My Lord, My God."
You can easily see that there was a true difference between the two men and their individual relationship with the savior. You see one really knew the savior. Through revelations to the prophet Joseph Smith that are found in the Doctrine and Covenants 67:10 we are promised how we too can know the savior.
D&C 67: 10
And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am--not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.
Who is this privilage and promise for?
All those who have been ordained to the ministry.
And whom is ordained to the ministry? Each and every one of us.
What must we do?
#1 strip ourselves from jealousies
#2 strip ourselves of fear
Remember my first play from scrimmage in a game at BYU. I was afraid, I was as prepared as I could be but there is aways the unknown. Not trusting in myself and the preparations that I had made to be there was my first mistake. As the ball was snapped all the players started to move. I was covering a wide reciever as was my responsibility. About a second or so into the play fear took over instict and so as not to get burnt by the reciever I just reached out and grabbed him a little. Well as my luck would have it the referree was close enough to see and threw the flag.
As the game progressed I learned to rely that I had prepare for this moment and then the learning began to take place Line upon line, play upon play until I was able to finally make some of the yardage back by sacking the Quarterback for a loss on a sweep around my end.
#3 Humble ourselfes
Never more humble than when we are on our knees.
Now in all humility I give you two stories from my life that are testimonies to me that the Lord does hear and answer our prayers from the heart.
And as Moroni said that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.
Close in the name of Jesus Christ. Why do we ask in the name of Jesus christ? Because just as the banker asks for a cosigner on a loan that we cannot pay for in full by ourselves so all the blessings that we get from our heavenly Father we get by asking for them through our saviour of this world. Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact we do not get any blessing that do not come through Jesus Christ.