Spiritually Self Reliant

"Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all they thoughts be directed unto the Lord, yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.  Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."  Alma 37:36-37

A talk given yesterday at Sacrament Meeting explained how we could become more spiritually self reliant through prayer.  References used were from 2008 Conference addresses, particularly one by Elder Bednar on the topic of prayer.  The speaker suggested that we are counseled by the Lord to pray always, expressing gratefulness for our blessings.  She asked us to create a virtual prayer day to experience how we might be able to pray all day (not on our knees, but in our hearts).

Since all things are created spiritually before they are created temporally, the speaker suggested we begin our day by creating the kind of day we will have with our prayer first thing in the morning.  We would tell Heavenly Father the things we plan to do that day, ask for help for any of our personal faults that could get in the way (anger, impatience, jealousy, depression, etc.) of treating others how we would like to be treated.  We would ask for the blessings needed for people we would interact with that day.  As we pray for blessings, we would also ask to be aware of the blessings we receive throughout the day. 

By setting up our day to be spiritually in tune, we will be able to recognize the things God is doing for us every day.  We will feel the effects of our prayers on our daily life and be able to thank Him specifically for those blessings we notice He is bestowing upon us, our family, friends, and others in the world for whom we are concerned.  Our hearts will be full of gratitude for small and large miracles as we are more fully able to recognize them.

I think I've posted this already, but it bears repeating because as we become spiritually self reliant, we will be stronger in our day-to-day challenges.

The Oak Tree

      by Johnny Ray Ryder

A mighty wind blew night and day

It stole the oak tree's leaves away

Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark

Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground

While other trees fell all around

The weary wind gave up and spoke,

How can you still be standing, Oak?

The oak tree said, I know that you

Can break each branch of mine in two

Carry every leaf away

Shake my limbs and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth

Growing stronger since my birth

You'll never touch them, for you see

They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn't sure

Of just how much I could endure

But now I've found, with thanks to you,

I'm stronger than I ever knew.