Prayer

[Petty3]

How do you have the faith to know that your prayers are heard?  If you haven't prayed in a long time how do you start praying?  How can you believe you'll be answered?

[SilentOne]

32 minutes ago, Petty3 said:

How do you have the faith to know that your prayers are heard?

Experience of past answers combined with the knowledge that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and my trust in Him.

34 minutes ago, Petty3 said:

If you haven't prayed in a long time how do you start praying?

Dear Heavenly Father. Then just say what you want or need to say. Thank Him for things that have gone well in your life and anything or anybody that has helped in your trials. Ask questions you need or want answers to. Ask for whatever help you need. Talk about whatever is going on in your life and your thoughts on whatever you are asking about, and why you want or think you need what you are asking for.

36 minutes ago, Petty3 said:

How can you believe you'll be answered?

See my answers to your first question.

If possible, find a quiet place where you can be free from distractions for a while. Stay and listen after the prayer. You might want to have something available to write any impressions/thoughts/feelings you receive during or after the prayer. And remember that sometimes the answer is "no" or "not now". Try to be prepared for that possibility.

[Anddenex]

39 minutes ago, Petty3 said:

How do you have the faith to know that your prayers are heard?  If you haven't prayed in a long time how do you start praying?  How can you believe you'll be answered?

Hi Petty3, these are my thoughts and my thoughts alone:

1) Our Father in heaven hears all our prayers. He hears our private, our whispered, our silent, and public prayers.

2) We begin again the same way we were originally taught. If you are able, find a quiet place. Kneel. And then begin with something to this nature -- Heavenly Father, hello; Father in heaven; -- and then speak from your heart with sincerity.

3) Faith is the first principle of the gospel (Alma 32: 21 - end of chapter). Exercise even a particle of faith.

4) Question not asked; answers are received according to the Lord's timetable (which we don't know), so we need to be able to listen and be observant as to when they do come, even if the answer is a "No." How they are answered, when they are answered, why some come sooner and others a lot later -- I don't know. I am just grateful for the times I have recognized the answer.

[CV75]

8 hours ago, Petty3 said:

How do you have the faith to know that your prayers are heard?  If you haven't prayed in a long time how do you start praying?  How can you believe you'll be answered?

Pray until you have a desire to believe, and if you believe already but weakly, pray for greater faith. See Alma 32! If you ahve a question ("How can I / what do i need to do to have greater faith in prayer?") ask it.

[Lost Boy]

For $19.95 I will pray for you so you don't need to worry.  Three prayers for $49.95.  That is a 20% savings. 

But really, the first thing to do is find a private place, kneel down and start talking to our heavenly father. Don't worry about faith. For now just assume that he is listening. 

The door shall be open to those who knock.  Just do it. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by Lost Boy

[lostinwater]

10 hours ago, Petty3 said:

How do you have the faith to know that your prayers are heard?  If you haven't prayed in a long time how do you start praying?  How can you believe you'll be answered?

A very hard question.  

i know that just telling one's self that prayers are answered even when they don't feel like they are doesn't have a lot of utility.

i think having many/most of your prayers being questions you know the answer to helps.  Otherwise, you have almost no point of reference.  There are some prayers i always get answered.  i've had some experiences that make me terrified of the dark - or anything spiritually dark - i'm physically unable to watch a horror movie.  When i ask for a divine presence to come and protect me, i always feel like that one is answered immediately.  Probably everyone has something like that.

And then i guess i'd just be flexible with answers.  My guess is a lot of the prayers we pray don't make sense.  To God they are like "tell me how many liters of water are in my kilometer" or "let me know the best way to sweeten my tea with salt".  Very difficult to "answer" those prayers with the traditional way.  God might have to answer those prayers with feelings rather than action or answers that make sense.  Music is often how God speaks to me.  Words don't really convey meaning in the same way.  

And i'd definitely give God some airtime in our prayers, also.  He has to have time to communicate with us, not just us to ask questions.

But as others have said, you just start.  Attempt to communicate in the deepest way you know how.  The intent is, at least in my opinion, way more important than the method.  If you're really trying, you're succeeding.  And for what it's worth, very few are good at it - at least i'm not.  

So, welcome to the confusing, frustrating, and occasionally satisfying prayer club!  i think we are planning a get-together in heaven where we ask for the reason why so many of prayers felt like they got ignored  .

[Guest]

56 minutes ago, Lost Boy said:

For $19.95 I will pray for you so you don't need to worry.  Three prayers for $49.95.  That is a 20% savings. 

That's a 15% savings.  

...And you call yourself an engineer... pfbbftt.

[Lost Boy]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

That's a 15% savings.  

...And you call yourself an engineer... pfbbftt.

i rounded..   engineer hat back on.

[Maureen]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

That's a 15% savings.  

...And you call yourself an engineer... pfbbftt.

You better be careful or @SpiritDragon is going to get after you for using such language. 😏

M.

[zil]

2 hours ago, lostinwater said:

how many liters of water are in my kilometer

Thank goodness we're using metric.  Now then.  1L of water is 1000cc (cm³).  And we have 100,000cm in a kilometer.  So, now we just need to un-cube those centimeters.  Let's see...  No, wait, this is a trick question!  You didn't say anything about flattening out our liter into 1 or even 2 dimensions.  Hmm.  So, if we lined up those cubic centimeters of water (aren't they cute?), we'd have 100,000 cc in a nice little 1cm wide x 1cm tall x 1 kilometer long line.  Thus giving us 100 liters of water.

So there's your answer, there are 100 liters of water in your kilometer.  Congratulations!  If you only drink 2 liters / day, that's a 50-day water supply.

Edited May 24, 2018 by zil

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Lost Boy said:

i rounded..   engineer hat back on.

I'll be sure never to hire you as part of my accounting department.

[lostinwater]

45 minutes ago, zil said:

Thank goodness we're using metric.  Now then.  1L of water is 1000cc (cm³).  And we have 100,000cm in a kilometer.  So, now we just need to un-cube those centimeters.  Let's see...  No, wait, this is a trick question!  You didn't say anything about flattening out our liter into 1 or even 2 dimensions.  Hmm.  So, if we lined up those cubic centimeters of water (aren't they cute?), we'd have 100,000 cc in a nice little 1cm wide x 1cm tall x 1 kilometer long line.  Thus giving us 100 liters of water.

So there's your answer, there are 100 liters of water in your kilometer.  Congratulations!  If you only drink 2 liters / day, that's a 50-days water supply.

Drat!  You can answer the unanswerable!  Doesn't fit my narrative.    

i should have just quoted CS Lewis, rather than trying to put my own spin on it.    

“Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are in a mile? Is yellow square or round? Probably half the questions we ask - half our great theological and metaphysical problems - are like that.”

- CS Lewis, A Grief Observed

[zil]

8 minutes ago, lostinwater said:

How many hours are in a mile?

Depends how fast you're going.

[Traveler]

12 hours ago, Petty3 said:

How do you have the faith to know that your prayers are heard?  If you haven't prayed in a long time how do you start praying?  How can you believe you'll be answered?

 

I do not believe prayers are necessary for G-d to hear us – I believe prayers are necessary for us to be able to hear him.  But it is not just prayer.  Hearing answers is like tuning into a radio station – if we are tuned into un-G-dly things we cannot hear him any more than tuning into talk radio allows us to listen to classical music.

 

The Traveler 

[Lost Boy]

2 hours ago, Carborendum said:

I'll be sure never to hire you as part of my accounting department.

Thank you.