“Does Someone Hear Me?” Friend, Mar. 2014, 18–19
Does Someone Hear Me?
The author lives in Utah, USA.
Lucas had prayed many times, but did he have a testimony of prayer?
“I kneel to pray ev’ry day. I speak to Heav’nly Father. He hears and answers me when I pray in faith” (Children’s Songbook, 14).
I was worried. My Primary teacher had asked me to give a talk the next week in sharing time. “You could bear your testimony about prayer,” she had said. We had just talked about prayer in our class.
I had prayed many times. I always said my own prayers, and I often prayed during family prayer. I had prayed for blessings on the food many times too, and I had prayed in Primary before. But now I wasn’t sure I had a testimony of prayer or if I understood how prayer could help me. Does someone really hear me when I pray? I wondered.
I went to the kitchen, where my mother was getting dinner ready.
“Mama,” I said, “how can I bear my testimony of prayer when I’m not sure I have a testimony of it?”
Mama put her arm around me. “Why don’t you give a lesson about prayer in family home evening tomorrow, and we’ll talk about it together,” she said.
My mother helped me find stories and conference talks about prayer. Then I began to prepare for family home evening and for my Primary talk. I thought about it all day—at home, at school, and at soccer practice.
When I gave the lesson that night, Mama and Papa told me how prayer had helped them. I gave my Primary talk the next Sunday too, but I didn’t feel much different. I still wondered if I had a testimony of prayer. I prayed about my doubts, but the answer didn’t come right away.
One day my father came home after looking for work all day with no success. He was very sad. He had been out of work for many weeks. I ran to him and hugged him, as I always did.
“Don’t be sad, Papa,” I said. Then suddenly I felt something in my heart. “We need to pray,” I said.
“Right now?” Papa asked.
“Yes, right now,” I said. “I believe Heavenly Father will hear us.”
We knelt together and prayed, asking Heavenly Father to comfort us.
After the prayer we read the scriptures, as we did each night, and then sat together and talked. I noticed that little by little our sadness was replaced with the happiness we always had in our home. I felt different—as though we were safe and protected, and I knew that everything would be all right. It was a wonderful feeling.
Mama noticed it too. “Can you feel it, Lucas?” she asked quietly. “The Holy Ghost is comforting us, helping us know that we are not alone.”
“Yes, I feel it,” I said. I knew that Heavenly Father heard our prayer.
It was a night that I will never forget. Now I have my own testimony of the power of prayer.
How Should I Pray?
When we pray, we are talking to Heavenly Father, so we begin by saying, “Dear Heavenly Father.” We thank Him for our blessings. Then we ask Him for the things we need. We always close by saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”
We can pray anytime, anywhere, about anything. We don’t have to be kneeling or be in church. We can pray about something small or large.
We can pray out loud or silently, alone or with other people.
We use special words that show respect for Heavenly Father. We say Thee and Thou instead of you, and Thy and Thine instead of your and yours.
We always speak reverently, showing respect to Heavenly Father.