Change the Night to Day

To my son, 

                When I was in the MTC as a missionary, I had the opportunity to play the piano in a musical number with another Elder who was played the violin. We played the hymn Did You Think to Pray? In front of all the other missionaries there, and I wrote in my journal about the experience, “My prayers were definitely answered.” I think by that I simply meant that I didn’t mess it up too bad and we made it through the song. I love what this hymn teaches us about prayer. Some of the words are these: 

Ere you left your room this morning,

Did you think to pray?

In the name of Christ, our Savior,

Did you sue for loving favor

As a shield today?

 Oh, how praying rests the weary!

Prayer will change the night to day.

So, when life gets dark and dreary,

Don’t forget to pray. 

I know that there is indeed power in prayer and that our Heavenly Father hears our prayers and will answer them, just as He helped me that day. Recently we went over to the neighbors’ house and when we came home your older sister realized that she lost her phone. She went back to look for it, but she couldn’t find it. We searched in the house as well, and then as it was getting late we said our family prayer. She prayed that she would be able to find her phone, and a few seconds after the prayer was over your three-year-old sister held up the phone and announced that she had found it. After the prayer she apparently stuck her hand in the couch and it just happened to be right there under the cushions. Though it was a small thing, it was another testimony that God does hear and answer our prayers when we humbly ask Him for help.

                I want to encourage you to pray to your Father in Heaven every day. Remember these words of Alma to his son, “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day” (Alma 37:37). This means that we should pray at night, talking with the Lord about all that has happened to us that day. Then in the morning we can likewise pray to Him, giving thanks and asking for His help in all our activities. When we do that, it is like giving our lives more light—changing night to day. Our circumstances don’t necessarily change, but we become more able to see clearly and navigate our challenges. Life without prayer is like living permanently in the dark of night, but when we pray it is like coming into the light of day. Nephi put it this way: “Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.” When he said we should “ask” and “knock” he meant that we should pray requesting the aid of our Father in Heaven. If we do not do that, it is like we are in the dark; but prayer will bring us into the light. I love this invitation that Nephi also gave: “But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul” (2 Nephi 32:4, 9). I hope that you and I will remember each day to sincerely pray to God and He will bless all things to work towards our welfare. 

Love,

Dad