After We Pray

1
After We Pray

• www.kevinhinckley.com

2
The picture Elders send home to their parents
3
Then theres the one they send to their friends.
4
Elder Holland

• I wish to encourage every one of you today
  regarding opposition that so often comes after
  enlightened decisions have been made, after
  moments of revelation and conviction have given
  us a peace and assurance we
  thought we would
  never lose.
• March 1999 BYU Devotional

5
Helaman to Captain Moroni

• And now why they did not send more
  strength unto us, we knew not therefore we
  were grieved and also filled with fear....
• Therefore we did pour out our souls in
  prayer to God, that he would strengthen
  us and deliver us out of the hands of our
  enemies....
• Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God
  did
• 1- visit us with assurances that he would
  deliver us

1- immediately deliver us and make our enemies
miserable so that we knew that life was fair and
that bad and mean people always get whats
coming to them as soon as possible
6
Pauls Admonition

• Call to remembrance the former days, in which,
  after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great
  fight of afflictions"
• Cast not away therefore your confidence, which
  hath great recompense of reward.
• For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have
  done the will of God, ye might receive the
  promise..
• . . . If any man or woman draw back, my soul
  shall have no joy in him or her. . . .
• . . . We are not of them who draw back unto
  perdition. Hebrews 103536, 3839

Important Note
Often our post- prayer afflictions Are
self-inflicted
And Sometimes the result of friendly fire
7
Helaman to Captain Moroni

• And now why they did not send more
  strength unto us, we knew not therefore we
  were grieved and also filled with fear....
• Therefore we did pour out our souls in
  prayer to God, that he would strengthen
  us and deliver us out of the hands of our
  enemies....
• Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God
  did
• 1- visit us with assurances that he would
  deliver us
• 2- yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our
  souls,

8
Oliver Cowdery

• DC 6 15 Behold, thou knowest that thou
  hast inquired of me and I did enlighten thy
  mind and now I tell thee these things that
  thou mayest know that thou hast been
  enlightened by the Spirit of truth
• 22 Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire
  a further witness, cast your mind upon the night
  that you cried unto me in your heart, that you
  might know concerning the truth of these things.
  
• 23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning
  the matter? What greater witness can you have
  than from God?

9
Helaman to Captain Moroni

• And now why they did not send more
  strength unto us, we knew not therefore we
  were grieved and also filled with fear....
• Therefore we did pour out our souls in
  prayer to God, that he would strengthen
  us and deliver us out of the hands of our
  enemies....
• Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God
  did
• 1- visit us with assurances that he would
  deliver us
• 2- yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our
  souls,
• 3- and did grant unto us great faith,

10
Gaining Faith

• And when he came to his disciples, he saw a
  great multitude about them, and the scribes
  questioning with them.
• And straightway all the people, when they
  beheld him, were greatly amazed and, running
  to him saluted him.
• And he asked the scribes, What question ye
  with them?
• And one of the multitude answered and said,
  Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which
  hath a dumb spirit
• And he asked his father, How long is it ago since
  this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
• . but if thou canst do any thing, have
  compassion on us, and help us.
• Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all
  things are possible to him that believeth.
• And straightway the father of the child cried
  out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe help
  thou mine unbelief.
• But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him
  up and he arose.

11
Two men were healed here

• The son
• From a dumb spirit he could not cast out on his
  own.
• The father
• From a doubting spirit he could not heal on his
  own.

12
President Eyring

• I remember a story told to me long ago, far
  from here, by a sad voice She was tired.
  Tired of being single. Tired of trying to be
  a faithful Latter-day Saint. Not so much
  tired of being kind and virtuous as tired of
  nothing good seeming to come of it. She'd not had
  a date in months.
• She saw no prospect of even becoming friends
  with, let alone marrying, a man who shared her
  faith and ideals. In frustration she found
  herself deciding something. She decided that
  afternoon, consciously, that years of good works
  and restraint had produced little and promised no
  more. She said to herself almost aloud, "Oh,
  what's the use?"
• The phone rang. It was a man's voice, a man she
  knew. He lived in the same apartment building.
  He'd asked her out before. She'd refused because
  she was sure he'd expect her to compromise her
  standards she'd preserved at great effort. But,
  almost as if directed by a scriptwriter, he
  called at that instant.
• She didn't say, "Yes." She said, "I'll think
  about it." She thought about it. He called again.
  And finally, she repeated to herself, "Oh, what's
  the use?" She went. She found she had been right
  about his intentions.
• And in a choice about time and about waiting or
  not waiting, her life changed. So, she will never
  know what might have been ahead on the path she
  decided wasn't worth the price she knew quickly
  the other one was uphill, and a hard climb.
• Law of Increasing Returns, BYU Speeches,
  March, 1982

13
Helaman to Captain Moroni

• And now why they did not send more
  strength unto us, we knew not therefore we
  were grieved and also filled with fear....
• Therefore we did pour out our souls in
  prayer to God, that he would strengthen
  us and deliver us out of the hands of our
  enemies....
• Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God
  did
• 1- visit us with assurances that he would
  deliver us
• 2- yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our
  souls,
• 3- and did grant unto us great faith,
• 4- and did cause us that we should hope for our
  deliverance in him.

14
Common Belief

• Question to a client
• How will you know your prayers have been
  answered?
• Ill get what I asked for, or
• Ill know I because things will just go better.

15
The Apostle Peter

• And Jesus constrained his disciples to
  get into a ship, andhe went up into a
  mountain, apart, to pray.
• And the ship was tossed with the
  waves for the wind was contrary.
• And in the fourth watch of the night,
  Jesus went unto them, walking on the
  sea.
• And when the disciples saw him walking
  on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It
  is a spirit and they cried out for fear.
• But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be
  of good cheer it is I be not afraid.
• And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be
  thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
• And he said, Come.
• And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he
  walked on the water
• But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was
  afraid and, beginning to sink, he cried, saying,
  Lord, save me.
• And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand,
  and caught him
• And when they were come into the ship, the wind
  ceased. (Matt 14)

16
President Eyring

• If you wanted to give this idea a name,
  you could call it "the law of increasing
  returns." The simple fact is that there is a God
  who wants us to have faith in him. He knows that
  to strengthen faith we must use it.
• And so he gives us the chance to use it by
  letting some of the spiritual rewards we want
  most be delayed. Instead of first effort yielding
  returns, with a steady decline, it's the reverse.
  
• First efforts, and even second efforts, seem to
  yield little. And then the rewards begin, perhaps
  much later, to grow and grow.
• Most of us need encouragement to work and wait
  for rewards
• Law of Increasing Returns, BYU Speeches,
  March, 1982

17
One mans experience

• One man explained I awoke early one morning to
  feel a very real presence in my bedroom. Although
  I could not identify who was there nor hear with
  my natural ears, I knew that I was supposed to
  learn something important. Clear words entered my
  mind. They told me "Something terrible is
  happening. Tell your daughter that it must stop
  or she will suffer unmeasurable sorrow.
• I asked, "Will she know what it is about?
• "Yes.
• "Is it too late?
• "It is not too late.
• The message was relayed to the daughter, who
  called her father later that week to tell him not
  to worry. She had received a priesthood blessing
  and was visiting with her Church leaders. Some
  time later she told her father that she had been
  contemplating terminating her activity in the
  Church.
• She had become so disillusioned by
  disappointments and seemingly unfulfilled
  promises that her life was filled with confusion
  and numbness. Her trials were far from over, but
  by then she had the support of Church leaders,
  family members, and, most important, the Holy
  Ghost.
• TODD A. BRITSCH, Sept 1997 BYU Devotional