Do we over-use or under-use Prayer?

[skalenfehl]

You know what? My house was once immaculate. And yes a house of order is a house of God, but we are not expected to be perfect. We are to be perfected in the Lord, but we aren't perfect. My house is currently messy, I'm behind on tons of laundry. There's a pile of dishes waiting to be done, my garage is a disaster, the weeds are getting taller and here I am sitting in front of the computer playing.

My point is, the house will never be perfect. So what if we're behind on laundry or chores? Chores never, ever go away. But our spirituality can. The Lord won't care so much if our homes pass the white glove test, but He does care that we put Him first. Just take a deep breath and don't worry about the next load of dishes. They'll get done and guess what? It will be time to do them again. In the eternities, the dishes won't ever have mattered. Only our relationship with the Lord and our family will have mattered. Best wishes.

[Hemidakota]

Seriously Skalenfehl, I dont think I have 2 minutes to myself. I will have in the evenings but it may feel one more thing I need to do before I get to close my eyes as at the moment I have around 2 to 3 hours of housework and preperation to do everynight after the children go to bed but then of course praying on my knees may mean that I wont fall asleep during my prayers anymore. But in the daytime from the moment my eyes are forced awake I am never alone or left to do what I want. I'm in constant demand. Even in the bathroom I have children or a baby with me. I suppose it is one thing I just need to puzzle out for myself and everything in its time I would imagine.

Thanks for your words of wisdom.

I need to start on my road of getting closer to Father and I'm sure ways will be revealed to me. I just need a good kick up the rear to get me started.

Tootsie

This is why our culture 'up bringing' as men, should be always be that helping hand for our beloved companions. IMHO, I could not fill my closest and choices friend [wife] shoes on a daily basis. I had serve in the Marines and been in battle. I had face death several times in my life. I have heard, seen, and been given much in this probation but nothing compares to her demanding daily grind. I do look up to her as a comfort and indeed a blessing to my life.

Just 'believe' in yourself as you communicate to Heavenly Father. However, don't be surprise, when someone does answer.

[Hemidakota]

morning, lunch, and bedtime 3 times. 3 knocks at the veil?

Or just coincidence?

Here are some resemblance of what we do know from past writings concerning the veil knocking:

In early times the initiate, having fulfilled all requirements, was introduced by "the Old One" to the Doorkeeper of Osiris, called the Inspector of Records (Briefordner, Schriftsammler, so Kees, Ging. Tb. Stud., pp. 19, 23f). When the King enters the sanctuary for the first time, at the completion of the Temple, he performs an act exactly resembling what is done at the door of the church at Easter in the Eastern Orthodox rites, namely, he knocks three times on the door with his white mace, enters, illuminates the shrine with sacred fire, and performs a series of lustrations and circumambulations (Moret, Royaut, pp. 138-40).

(Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, p.250)

Then we have something about the Cathoic Church that most are not aware of that is done by the papacy:

The ceremonial entry into the church and to the altar in the sanctuary is also acted out in the ritual of the opening of the Holy Door, the Porta Santa at St. Peter in Rome and other carefully selected churches. This rite is executed only every twenty-five years and represents the entry of the children of God into the presence of the Lord. Medieval medals struck for the occasion often show Christ on one side of the portal and the pope or the people on the other. The pope knocks three times with a golden hammer, upon which the door is opened by the masons and he may enter through it and proceed to the sanctuary. The remainder of the clergy and the people then follow after him. A prayer said by Pope Clement VIII during the rite in 1600 demonstrates clearly that the ceremony does indeed portray entry into the temple of God: "Open unto me the gates of Justice, when I am entered I will praise my Lord. I will enter, O Lord, into Thy House. I will adore Three in Thy fear in Thy temple." (The Catholic Liturgy and the Mormon Temple by Marcus Von Wellnitz Fn, BYU Studies, vol. 21 (1981), )

[Hemidakota]

"3" seems to be a prevalent number.

Something to ponder over. Remember, Daniel prayed three times a day towards the Temple, while serving in exhile in Babylon.

Richard Rust wrote a paper for FARM but in hay days [i think it was 1994] had done some research in some striking parallels and uses of repetition within the Book of Mormon. You will found that number seems to pop up everway in the BOM. However, something that surprise me is his wisdom in capturing these things as the knocking at the veil to our approach to Deity:

An important part of Mormon's method is using repetition, parallels, and contrasts to teach, emphasize, and confirm. He clearly knows the ancient principle that repetition can help alert and convince people. That is especially true of threefold repetition. When we knock at a door, we usually do it three times. A typical cheer is repeated three times, with the last cheer being the most emphatic. When we persist in trying something, the third try often produces the desired result. Jesus gives three ascending injunctions to the Nephite people gathered at the temple in Bountiful: "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you"

( 3 Ne. 14:7 ). They are to speak, then move, then use vigorous action-each operation more intense than the last. On the first level, they are given what they ask for; on the second, they do the finding; on the third and most effectual level, they both receive (thedoor is opened to them) and act (implicitly,they go through the doorway). In the Old Testament, it is not until the third time Samuel tellsabout hearing a voice that Eli finally perceives it is the Lord's ( 1 Sam. 3:8 ). It is on the third time that the Nephites at the temple in Bountiful finally understand the heavenly voice ( 3 Ne. 11:5 ).

(Richard Dilworth Rust, Feasting on the Word: The Literary Testimony of the Book of Mormon , p.22)

[skalenfehl]

Third time's a charm, eh?

[Hemidakota]

"in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established" (Ether 5:4)

Joseph Smith and the Angel Moroni - rehersing the same material - how many time? lol

He commenced, and again related the very same things which he had done at his first visit. . . . By this time, so deep were the impressions made on my mind, that sleep had fled from my eyes, and I lay overwhelmed in astonishment at what I had both seen and heard. But what was my surprise when again I beheld the same messenger at my bedside, and heard him rehearse or repeat over again to me the same things as before. (JS-H 1:45-46)

Even Jesus the Christ gives three ascending injunctions to the Nephite people gathered at the temple in Bountiful:

"Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (3 Ne. 14:7).

[Hemidakota]

"in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established" (Ether 5:4)

Joseph Smith and the Angel Moroni - rehersing the same material - how many time? lol

He commenced, and again related the very same things which he had done at his first visit. . . . By this time, so deep were the impressions made on my mind, that sleep had fled from my eyes, and I lay overwhelmed in astonishment at what I had both seen and heard. But what was my surprise when again I beheld the same messenger at my bedside, and heard him rehearse or repeat over again to me the same things as before. (JS-H 1:45-46)

Even Jesus the Christ gives three ascending injunctions to the Nephite people gathered at the temple in Bountiful:

"Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (3 Ne. 14:7).