December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

26
“ W
hy does the
world think to
make me deny what
I have actually seen?
For I had seen a
vision; I knew it, and
I knew that God knew
it, and I could not
deny it.”
members. The Lord had not given me a stone; He gave me
bread. I discovered a few years after returning home that I
had French ancestors. I find myself expressing gratitude
often to my Father in Heaven for allowing me the wonderful
opportunity of serving the French people and experiencing
as much joy in my French heritage as I do in my Danish.
If the answers to our pleadings do not come when we
feel we most need them, let us remember that young
Joseph Smith did not see the pillar of light until after
“exerting all [his] powers to call upon God” and only “at
the very moment when [he] was ready to sink into despair
and abandon [himself] to destruction” (Joseph Smith—
History 1:16). This was on the occasion when he prayed
vocally for the first time in his life (see Joseph Smith—
History 1:14). The Lord surely hears all our prayers, the
silent and the spoken, but there is a concentration of
purpose that often accompanies vocal prayer. I have
discovered in my own life that those times when I most
deeply express my feelings and thoughts, I find myself,
without consciously thinking about it, praying vocally.
While trying to come to a “certain conclusion,” the boy
Joseph had searched the scriptures for answers. Though
he did not find in them the specific answer he sought, he
received guidance on how to get that answer. It seems that
there are two parts to private prayer: speaking and listening.
Sometimes the answers come even as we pray, but
more often they come according to the Lord’s own time,
place, and circumstance. Quite frequently they come
through the scriptures. Most often when we pray, we
expect to speak while God listens. When we read the
scriptures, God speaks and we are invited to listen.
A few years ago a young woman in our ward who had
recently graduated from high school was invited to go to
Russia to teach English to young children. Communication