Prayer

“We counsel parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, 

family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities. However worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform”1.

Prayer is powerful! If you want a strong family, have family prayer both morning and night.  

How about making a Family Prayer Rock? First you have to go on a rock hunt to find just the right one.  Search for a smallish, smooth rock, wash and dry it thoroughly, then use the paint pens to decorate it.  Put it somewhere to help everyone remember to have family prayer.  Maybe it sits on the kitchen table at night to help you remember family prayer in the morning at breakfast.  And when you have your morning family prayer you can put it on the stove top, or somewhere you'll see it at dinner or before going to bed.  Decide as a family where the Family Prayer Rock will go.  You can look here and here and here to see how other people have decorated their prayer rocks.  

Have you read any scripture stories lately about families praying together? Can you draw or paint a picture of your favorite story? I always love when you send me photos of what you create!

When you pray with your family or by yourself, how do you feel? If you feel a warm, loving feeling inside, that is the Holy Ghost! Sometimes you have to work hard to feel the Holy Ghost, but Jesus asks us to do the work that it takes. The Holy Ghost gives us strength and power to do what is right, so it's important we do all we can to feel the Spirit. What does it mean to work hard during a prayer? One of my favorite scriptures stories is about Enos, in the Book of Mormon.  He said he wrestled in mighty prayer before God.  I know some of you have had wrestling matches with Grandpa, dad, a sibling, or a cousin - it can take a lot of energy to wrestle! When you read that story, what are some other words Enos uses to describe his efforts to pray? How can you put 'wrestling' effort into your prayers?

Your personal prayers are just as important as family prayer.  Heavenly Father is waiting for you to talk to Him so he can help you with the things you need.  Can you make a Personal Prayer Rock after making one for your family? Put it on your bed in the morning, that way when you get into bed a night you see the rock and remember to pray.  After your bedtime prayer, put your rock on the floor right where you'll step on it when you get out of bed in the morning! 

Heavenly Father has answered my prayers many, many times.  Usually I have a feeling or idea of what to do.  Often when I pray thoughtfully I have a warm feeling surround me, like a cozy blanket, which is the Holy Ghost.  


Here is a collection of links to resources about family prayer on the Church website.  I really liked:
 Mac the Prayer Cat, (but it's missing most of the last sentence, which is, "In answer, Mac curled up in the middle of our family circle and purred.")
Also:
The Lookout Girls
Arturo's Family Prayer Rebus Story (for younger children.)
What Daniel Forgot Rebus Story (for younger children.)

Unity Through Family Prayer is a family home evening lesson plan from the Family Home Evening Resource Book, and it has a lot of great ideas. 

"I know of nothing that will so much help to ease family tensions, that in a subtle way will bring about the respect for parents which leads to obedience, that will affect the spirit of repentance which will largely erase the blight of broken homes, than will praying together, confessing weaknesses together before the Lord, and invoking the blessings of the Lord upon the home and those who dwell there." (Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Blessings of Family Prayer," Ensign, February 1991.)

"With the influences of evil that surround our children, can we even imagine sending them out in the morning without kneeling and humbly asking together for the Lord’s protection? Or closing the day without kneeling together and acknowledging our accountability before Him and our thankfulness for His blessings? Brothers and sisters, we need to have family prayer." (Elder Neil L. Anderson, "Prophets and Spiritual Mole Crickets," Ensign, November 1999) See link under "Talks, Devotionals, and Articles" tab.


1 “Policies, Announcements, and Appointments,” Ensign, June 1999, 80

My textbook, (Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamations, Principles, Research Perspectives Edited by Alan J. Hawkins David C. Dollahite Thomas W. Draper,) focused on the impact of couples' prayers.  Of course the Lord knows the power of prayer for individuals, couples, and families, and so I shouldn't be surprised at the results of studies.  Maybe surprised is the wrong word; I am impressed, grateful, and humbled that we have living prophets who teach us how we can draw closer to God as individuals, couples, and families, and we aren't left to flounder - if we only choose to do as they counsel.  It's exciting to read research that supports what the prophets have long taught us.  Here are some of quotes that particularly impressed me:

"Drawing on the powers of heaven through prayer is a powerful resource available to couples that can make a good relationship better and can heal a faltering marriage" (Lambert, N.M.  "Sanctification and Cooperation: How Prayer Helps Strengthen Relationships in Good Times and Heal Relationships in Bad Times," Hawkins, Dollahite, Draper, 2016, p 196)

"When people perceive something as sacred, it changes the way they treat it. For example, workers who defined their work as a “calling” reported missing fewer days than those who defined it as a “job” or a “career” (Wrzesniewski, McCauley, Rozin, & Schwartz, 1997). Also, Mahoney and colleagues (2005) reported that those who viewed their bodies as sacred placed a higher priority on daily physical exercise." (Lambert, N.M.  "Sanctification and Cooperation: How Prayer Helps Strengthen Relationships in Good Times and Heal Relationships in Bad Times," Hawkins, Dollahite, Draper, 2016, p 196)

Findings "included participants’ statements of belief that prayer enhanced experiences of emotional validation; promoted accountability toward deity; de-escalated negative interactions, contempt, hostility, and emotional reactivity; enhanced relationship behavior; facilitated partner empathy; increased self-change focus; encouraged reconciliation and problem-solving; and promoted a sense of guidance from God (Butler, Stout, & Gardner, 2002)." Marks, L.D, Dollahite, D.C. Freema, J.J., "Faith in Family Life"  Hawkins, Dollahite, Draper, 2016, p 189)

"President Thomas S. Monson describes the counsel he received from his sealer at the marriage altar on his wedding day:
May I offer you newlyweds a formula which will ensure that any disagreement you may have will last no longer than one day? Every night kneel by the side of your bed. One night, Brother Monson, you offer the prayer, aloud, on bended knee. The next night you, Sister Monson, offer the prayer, aloud, on bended knee. I can then assure you that any misunderstanding that develops during the day will vanish as you pray. You simply can’t pray together and retain any but the best of feelings toward one another (Monson, 2001, p. 4)"(Lambert, N.M.  "Sanctification and Cooperation: How Prayer Helps Strengthen Relationships in Good Times and Heal Relationships in Bad Times," p 196)