Because He Prayed in Faith

As we teach our children or others to pray, we often give them a list of what should be included in a prayer that might look something like this: address our Father in Heaven, use proper respectful language, give thanks for blessings, ask for things you need, and close in the name of Jesus Christ. Those are of course all important and a part of prayer. But that list lacks the most important thing that we need to include in our prayers: faith. We see in numerous places in the scriptures that what the Lord expects of us in our prayers, and the kind or prayers that He answers in the most powerful ways, are those that are given in faith. For example, we often pray for the Spirit to be with us, and rightfully so. The Lord very clearly told us what it takes for this prayer to be answered: “And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 42:14). As we pray with faith He will grant unto us His Spirit. Likewise, we often pray for those who are sick or afflicted; James told, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (James 5:14-15). Even in a priesthood blessing, we need to pray in faith that the Lord indeed can raise up and heal those who are afflicted. Faith in the Lord is the most important ingredient in our prayers.    

                In Alma 31 we see two examples of prayer, one without faith and one with faith. The Zoramite prayer included these words: “Thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God. And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen.” It was filled with pride and explicitly rejected Jesus Christ. That they had no real faith in God is evidenced in what the did after they prayed: “Now, after the people had all offered up thanks after this manner, they returned to their homes, never speaking of their God again until they had assembled themselves together again to the holy stand, to offer up thanks after their manner.” Their prayer led to no action and the fact that they never spoke of God again shows that they did not really have any faith in Him. In contrast, Alma poured out his heart to God with full confidence that the Lord would answer his prayer. He pleaded, “O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people…. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ. Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.” He humbly petitioned with Lord with faith in Jesus Christ and total trust that He would grant his righteous desires to help the Zoramites. He further evidenced his faith by going out among them after this to preach the word, and Mormon related what happened: “And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith” (Alma 31:17-18, 23, 31, 34-35, 38). They were blessed and strengthened in their missionary efforts because Alma had prayed in faith.

                  So, as we consider our prayers, we should not worry that perhaps we did not mention everyone or everything we need, or that we did not give gratitude for everything we should have, or that we did not properly follow all the steps that are required; rather, we should simply ask ourselves this question: did I pray with faith in God? If we truly believe that He hears us, and our actions give evidence of that faith, we will see His hand in our lives to answer our fervent petitions.