Tips for Improving Prayers

I promise I'll get back to General Conference eventually. I even tried to lead into it with that blog post about breakfast and the Sacrament, thinking and hoping that I'd have time to link my thoughts together on Saturday or Sunday. But as it turned out, I didn't have time to do that, and now I think I've missed my moment. Besides, I have something else on my mind right now.

My prayers, at least my personal prayers, have improved recently, and I'd like to consider how and why. For one thing, I'm praying more honestly now than I was previously. I used to start almost all of my prayers with "We/I thank Thee for this day," and gratitude is certainly a good attitude to have, especially when praying, but I had repeated the phrase so often that it had become meaningless to me. It was just part of the script. It was the line that I said after saying "Dear Heavenly Father." It became a vain repetition.

To correct that, I've started using variations of that phrase, or even that phrase again, but I say it one word at a time now, and I think about whether I actually mean what I'm saying. It may still be a repetition, or something close to it, but the words aren't vain when I really mean them.

I've also started seeing God and I as a partnership, rather than allowing myself to be totally dependent on Him. When I pray for Him to help me be righteous and resist temptation, I acknowledge, at least internally, that it's my responsibility, too. In fact, it's my responsibility more than it is His, and I'm owning up to that. I just want His help, and all the help I really need (unless I'm weaker than I think) is a warning when I face temptation and don't realize it. Satan is very subtle. So subtle sometimes that I don't even notice that he's pulling my strings. As long as God points those moments out to me, and I pray for strength immediately during those moments, I don't have as much trouble pulling free. Hmm, I guess I am relying on God's strength, too, as well as His wisdom. Oh, well. It's more wise than relying on mine.

Another way my prayers have improved is by saying them more frequently. Not only am I praying any time I face temptation, I'm also praying earnestly at all the times that I'm supposed to, or at least more than I was before. I used to not really pray for my food, but now I use food as a reminder to pray, not just to ask God to bless the food, but to express other thoughts as well. I'm starting to think that maybe the reason we're asked to ask God to bless our food doesn't have so much to do with the dangers of eating unblessed food as it does with the benefits of praying at least as frequently as we eat. Theoretically, we should be praying all the time, but that's practically impossible. Developing the habit of praying just before we eat something ensures that we'll be praying at least several times per day, and that means we'll be connecting with God more frequently, and that means more blessings for us.

I'm glad my prayers are better now than they had been and I hope I keep up these good habits I've learned. I'm grateful that my prayers have been made more meaningful and frequent, and I hope that they stay that way.