Monday, January 4, 2016

put a little special effort into your prayers this week

[The most exciting thing that happened this week is that we] got to visit a couple who is uninterested, but likes socializing and listens to our lessons so long as they don't know that they're lessons. (Don't get me wrong--we don't water down the doctrine or give them weak commitments, but...it's interesting.) Last time we saw her, we committed Y-shimai to pray every day for that week and she agreed. Today, we dropped by and she said, "Sorry, we're just leaving, but thank you for teaching me the prayer thing. I had a really bad headache the other day, and then I remembered what you said about prayer. So I prayed and it just went away!"

BOOM BABY. That was very exciting. I actually couldn't believe that she had 1.) followed up on herself, 2.) remembered the event and remembered to tell us and 3.) understood its direct correlation to prayer.

Well, that's it for today. Our lessons, thank heavens, haven't been down, but they have largely not been with people we usually teach. But, if we learned anything this week, it's that prayer works.

Love you all and I'd like to challenge you to put a little special effort into your prayers this week. God hears them. He is the Creator of the universe and our beloved Father. He wants to speak to us. He wants to give us blessings. The bible dictionary says that "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." (Italics added)

I love the Bible Dictionary and I love all of you. Prayer works. The Gospel is true. God loves his children.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,

Sanzu shimai

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