We ought to always have
a prayer in our heart. But there is something about
saying the words--and for me, saying them out loud.
There are many lessons that
come out of the Sacred Grove experience-- not the
least is the opposition that Joseph faced before
the great, revelatory moment of the Father and the Son. Joseph said that he
exerted all his power, took everything that he had. So, there's a pretty good lesson
in that for all of us about muscular prayer--urgent,
determined prayer--to fight through, whether it's the
adversary's opposition or the cares of the day or
the distractions of our mind. I think one of
the lessons that I get from that is
the reminder to me personally that I
need to say the words. Prayer is an expression
of the heart, and we can pray silently. We ought to pray silently. We ought to always have
a prayer in our heart. But there is something about
saying the words--and for me, saying them out loud. And so, I'm reminded to not get
by on the cheap, if you will, about prayer. We need to carve
out time--good time, high-priority time--when
we can say the words. Kneel where possible,
be vocal, be out loud, and really have
that communication. Individuals who might wait
for their evening prayer until 11:30, and
they're exhausted, and the day has taken
its toll, and we get a kind of a
half-hearted prayer out before we tumble into bed. I'd say move that prayer up
when we're alert and attentive and can think about
it and be powerful. This ought to be
high-priority expression. Just managing our life a
little better, I think, can lead to that kind of vocal
communication with the Lord.