The Prayers of Thy Father

In his recent general conference talk, President Eyring told this story: “Years ago I received a phone call from a distraught mother. She told me that her daughter had moved far from home. She sensed from the little contact she had with her daughter that something was terribly wrong. She pleaded with me to help. I found out who the daughter’s home teacher was. You can tell by that name that it was a long time ago. I called him. He was young. Yet he told me that he and his companion both had been awakened in the night with not only concern for the daughter but with inspiration that she was about to make choices that would bring sadness and misery. With only that inspiration of the Spirit, they went to see her. At first she did not want to tell them about her situation. Under inspiration, they pleaded with her to repent and choose the path the Lord had for her. She realized then, I believe by the Spirit, that the only way they could have known what they knew about her life was from God. A mother turned her loving concerns over to Heavenly Father and the Savior. The Holy Ghost had been sent to those home teachers because they were willing to serve the Lord.” This highlights the power of prayer by a mother. Clearly this mother was praying desperately for her daughter, and the Lord answered that prayer in a magnificent way by sending an unmistakable message to her home teachers who were able to make a profound difference. Perhaps one of the messages from this story is that as parents we should not underestimate the power we have in pleading with our Father in Heaven for our children. He can and will send help that we sometimes are unable to give ourselves to the ones we love most.

                Perhaps the most famous scriptural story that illustrates this is that of Alma who prayed earnestly for his wayward son Alma. When the angel came to the rebellious man, his words included these: “Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith” (Mosiah 27:14). It is amazing to think that the angel was sent primarily because this father prayed him there for his son. Because Alma (the Elder) had so much faith as he pleaded for help for his son, the Lord answered it in a powerful way. Another story which illustrates the same thing occurred at the end of Zion’s Camp when Joseph and Hyrum Smith both contracted cholera. Lucy Mack Smith recorded the account, quoting her two sons this way: “The disease instantly fastened itself upon us, and in a few minutes we were in awful distress. We made mute signals to each other and left the house for the purpose of going into some secluded place to join in prayer that God would deliver us from this awful influence. But before we could get a sufficient distance to be secure from interruption, we were scarcely able to stand upon our feet and we were greatly alarmed, fearing that we should die in this western wilderness so far from our families, without even the privilege of blessing our children or of giving them one word of parting counsel. Hyrum cried out, ‘Joseph, what shall we do? Must we be cut off from the face of the earth by this horrid curse?’ ‘Let us,’ said [Joseph], ‘get down upon our knees and pray to God to remove the cramp and other distress and restore us to health, that we may return to our families.’ We did so but without receiving any benefit, but still grew worse.… We soon came to the resolution of appealing again to God for mercy and not to rise from our knees until one or the other got a testimony that we should be healed.… We prayed some time, first one and then the other, and soon perceived that the cramp began to loose its hold. And in a short time afterwards, Hyrum sprang to his feet and exclaimed, ‘Joseph, we shall return, for I have seen an open vision in which I saw Mother on her knees under an apple tree praying for us, and she is even now asking in tears for God to spare our lives that she may behold us again in the flesh. And the Spirit testifies to me that her prayers and ours shall be heard.’ And from that moment we were healed and went on our way rejoicing.” I love that story because it shows the power of prayer of a faithful mother. Joseph summarized, “Oh, my Mother, how often have your prayers been a means of assisting us when the shadows of death encompassed us.” We should strive to have that same kind of influence on the lives of our children through our prayers for them.

                President Eyring summarized this story and his message with these words: “I testify that the Lord has kept His promise. The Holy Ghost is being sent to the faithful covenant members of the Church of Jesus Christ. Now, your experiences will be unique, and the Spirit will guide in the way best suited to your faith and capacity to receive revelation for you and for those you love and serve. I pray with all my heart that your confidence will grow. I bear my witness that God the Father lives. He loves you. He hears your every prayer.” As parents especially we must trust that help will be sent as we pray for our children, and like Moses our motto as it relates to them should be this: “I will not cease to call upon God, I have other things to inquire of him” (Moses 1:18).