McConkie - The Soul's Sincere Desire - October 2016

Sister Carol F. McConkie, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency speaks during the October 2016 General Conference.  She speaks about prayer and the need for communication between us and our Heavenly Father.  She provides some basic undersatanding of prayer and how we can make our prayers more meaningful.

• Prayer is essential to developing faith. When the Lord comes again, will He find a people who know how to pray in faith and who are prepared to receive salvation?
• In faith we pray, we listen, and we obey, that we might learn to become one with the Father and the Son.
• A prayer of faith opens the way to receive glorious heaven-sent blessings.

She speaks about how we can learn from the example of Joseph Smith when we pray.

• If we expect to receive, we must ask, seek, and knock. In his search for truth, Joseph Smith read from the scriptures, “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.” In answer to his prayer of faith, the heavens were opened. God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, descended in glory and spoke to Joseph Smith, ushering in the dispensation of the fulness of times. For us, miraculous healing, powerful protection, divine knowledge, liberating forgiveness, and precious peace are among the answers that come when we offer up a “soul’s sincere desire” in faith.

Making our prayers sincere and using that time to have a conversation about the desires of our heart will put our desires inline with heavenly direction.  We need to us examples from the scriptures to understand how Christ prayed to the Father and do was He did.

• Sincere prayers offered in the holy name of Jesus Christ are an expression of our devoted love, our eternal gratitude, and our steadfast desire to pray as He prayed, to do as He did, and to become as He is.

Faith is an essential part of prayer.  Without faith, we cannot put our will in line with God's.

• When we pray with faith, the Holy Ghost can guide our thoughts so that our words harmonize with the will of God.

Sister McConkie shares a quote from President Eyring about having our prayers answered and what might help us hear the answers to our prayers.

• President Eyring shared: “I have had prayers answered. Those answers were most clear when what I wanted was silenced by an overpowering need to know what God wanted. It is then that the answer from a loving Heavenly Father can be spoken to the mind by the still, small voice and can be written on the heart.”

Finally she concludes with this advice on making our prayers more meaningful.

• Whether we pray privately, with our families, at church, in the temple, or wherever we are; whether we pray with broken hearts and contrite spirits seeking forgiveness, heavenly wisdom, or simply the strength to endure, we pray always with full hearts, drawn out unto God continually for our welfare and the welfare of those around us. Sincere desires offered in a spirit of gratitude for abundant blessings and gratitude for the lessons of life instill in our hearts steadfast faith in Christ, a “brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.”

• Prayer is a gift from God. We need never feel lost or alone. I testify that every moment of precious prayer can be holy time spent with our Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Prayer is essential to building a relationship with our Heavenly Father.  It gives us a chance to tell Him the desires of our hearts and provides a chance for us to demonstrate our humility when we listen for answers back to us.  It is a blessing to know that we can share our desires with Heaven and that Heaven will listen and reply back.  Our ultimate goal is to put our lives inline with what God wants us to be.  Learning what that is, and how we change our lives to match the messages we receive will enable us to be on the right path and be guided by God.  I would hope that each of us will look for ways to make our prayers more meaningful with our Heavenly Father.  Doing so will help us put our desires inline with what he wants most for us.