Quick Quotes on Prayer
 

" If you seek His help, be sure your life is clean, your motives are worthy, and you're willing to do what He asks--for He will answer your prayers. He is your loving Father; you are His beloved child. He loves you perfectly and wants to help you." -Richard G. Scott (Ensign, November 1989, p. 32.)

"Many of the good people of the world pray. But the trouble with many of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the telephone and ordering groceries---we place our order and hand up. We need to meditate, contemplate, think of what we are praying about and for, and then speak to the Lord as one person speaks to another. . . . Believe in the power of prayer. It is real, it is wonderful, it is tremendous" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something, p. 116).

"Prayer is not a matter of getting what we want the most.  Prayer is a matter of giving ourselves to God and learning his laws, so that he can do through us what he wants the most."   -Agnes Sanford in 'The Healing Touch of God."  From Christianity Today web site (Competition, Winter 1997)
 

"We may pray to Him any time. No special equipment is needed. We don't even need to charge batteries or pay a monthly service fee."  -Elder Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, May 2003, 7

"The trouble with most of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the telephone and ordering groceries--we place our order and hang up.  We need to meditate, contemplate, think of what we are praying about and for and then speak to the Lord as one man speaketh to another.  "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord."  (Isaiah 1:18).  That is the invitation.  Believe in the power of prayer--it is real, it is wonderful, it is tremendous." -Gordon B. Hinckley
 

"As you feel the need to confide in the Lord or to improve the quality of your visits with Him - - to pray, if you please - - may I suggest a process to follow:  Go where you can be alone, go where you can think, go where you can kneel, go where you can speak out loud to Him.  The bedroom, that bathroom, or the closet will do.  Now, picture Him in your mind's eye.  Think to whom you are speaking, control your thoughts--don't let them wander, address Him as your Father and friend.  Now tell Him things you really feel to tell Him--not trite phrases that have little meaning, but have a sincere, heartfelt conversation with Him.  Confide in Him, ask Him for forgiveness, plead with Him, enjoy Him, thank Him, express your love to Him, and then listen for His answers.  Listening is an essential part of praying.  Answers from the Lord come quietly--ever so quietly.  In fact, few hear His answers audibly with their ears.  We must be listening so carefully or we will never recognize them.  Most answers from the Lord are felt as thoughts in our mind.  They come to those who are prepared and who are patient."  -H. Burke Peterson, Conference Report from October 1973.

"Answers from the Lord come quietly--ever so quietly.  In fact, few hear His answers audibly with their ears.  We must be listening so carefully or we will never recognize them.  Most answers from the Lord are felt in our heart as a warm comfortable expression, or they may come as thoughts to our mind.  They come to those who are prepared and who are patient." -H. Burke Peterson

"Listening is an essential part of praying.  Answers from the Lord come quietly-every so quietly.  In fact, few hear his answers audibly with their ears.  We must be listening carefully or we will never recognize them."  -H. Burke Peterson, Conference Report

"We learn to pray by praying. One can devote countless hours to examining the experiences of others, but nothing penetrates the human heart as does a personal, fervent prayer and its heaven-sent response." -Thomas S. Monson, "Teaching Our Children," Ensign, Oct. 2004, 4
 

"Petitioning in prayer has taught me, again and again, that the vault of heaven with all its blessings is to be opened only by a combination lock.  One tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness, the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is, in God's judgment - not ours- right for us.  Sometimes, we pound on the vault door for something that we want very much and wonder why the door does not open.  We would be very spoiled children if that vault door opened any more easily than it does; I can tell, looking back, that God does truly love me by inventorying the petitions he has refused to grant me.  Our rejected petitions tell us much about ourselves, but also much about our flawless Father." -Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Insights, New Era, April 1978, p. 6
 

"I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase 'the tender mercies of the Lord.' Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord's tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits 'his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men' (D&C 46:15)."  -David A. Bednar, "The Tender Mercies of the Lord," Ensign, May 2005, 99)

Prayer has never been a mail-order business for me - a place where I place my order and I get what I want. It is a communication with God so that I may understand His will and act upon it. The utmost demonstration that prayer works is the sublime sense of peace.  (Author Unknown)

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matthew 7:7-11).  Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship.  Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other.  The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them.  Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them.  Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings."  -Author Unknown