Tuesday, April 29, 2014

How Can I Make My Prayers More Meaningful?

Get this week's lesson here.

I am SoOoOoOo excited for the lesson this week.
To introduce the topic I want to ask all of the young women to stand up and recite the YW theme again.  Have you ever noticed how everyone sounds like monotone zombies when they give the theme?  I'll ask them to truly think about the words as they're saying it so they are able to deeply ponder it.
Sometimes our prayers can go through that same repetition.  I'm guilty of falling into a rut and hurrying through my prayers without being in the right mind frame at times.  

Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to communicate with Him through prayer. When we pray, we should tell Heavenly Father what we feel in our hearts. We should not repeat meaningless words or phrases. Through sincere, heartfelt prayer, we can feel the nearness of our Heavenly Father.  

“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, the 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 your 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. … 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”
-Bishop H. Burke Peterson
I was browsing Pinterest for some prayer quote ideas I could use as handouts and as I was searching I thought to myself, "There are so many great pins!  I wish everyone could just make their own Pinterest board for my lesson this Sunday."  LIGHTBULB!  BRILLIANT JESS!
They can...


For part of my lesson I'm going to bring glue sticks and print out all the prayer quotes I can find.  Each of the girls can have their own "Prayer Board" and "Pin" the quotes that are most meaningful to them.  We can each go around and share the ones that stand out the most to each individual and explain why it's significant to them.


Seriously, if you search for "LDS prayer quotes" you will be pinning for hours without even realizing it.  I found SO MANY.
 

As a class, sing or read hymns about prayer (use the topical index at the end of the hymnbook to find an appropriate hymn). What do the young women learn about prayer from these hymns?

I love this suggestion.  If we ended up spending the entire time singing, I wouldn't mind a bit!

 For my soul adelighteth in the bsong of the cheart; yea, thedsong of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.
-D&C 25:12
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