Sweet Hour of Prayer

One of the things that impressed me most about The Chosen’s portrayal of Christ is its depiction of Christ leaving everyone else regularly to spend time in private personal prayer. It was one of the most important things that He did to maintain His ability to do everything else that He accomplished.

A year ago I wrote about Sincerity in Prayer. I expressed how wonderful it was to be back in the routine of daily prayer. My testimony of this principle continued to deepen throughout 2021.

This year I am resolved to do even better. While I pray in the mornings to guide my day and in the evenings to review it, I find that those prayers are never longer than a few minutes. There is always some this-or-that calling my attention preventing the opportunity for longer dialog.

So I have decided to add two new features to my prayerful relationship with Heavenly Father: 1) regular fasting and 2) a weekly hour of prayer. Both are on my calendar now as regular recurring events.

Fasting

Fasting is a regular habit for members of the Church of Jesus Christ. It’s the opportunity to suppress appetite in a show of willful domination over the natural man–a latter-day display of humility similar to the sackcloth and ashes of ancient Israel.

Members of the Church go without food and water for two consecutive meals in a 24-hour period and then contribute the money that would have been spent for that food to those in need (see Alma 34:28).

Elder L. Tom Perry taught: “The law of the fast has three great purposes. First, it provides assistance to the needy through the contribution of fast offerings, consisting of the value of meals from which we abstain. Second, a fast is beneficial to us physically. Third, it is to increase humility and spirituality on the part of each individual” (“The Law of the Fast,” Apr. 1986 general conference).

A Weekly Hour of Prayer

Since I am trying to more closely emulate behaviors I have learned about the Savior, I am also planning to remove myself from distractions once a week to have a full hour of prayer. I have scheduled it for each Tuesday evening.

I plan to use these prayers to:

• express comprehensive gratitude for the blessings in each area of my life
• seek blessings and guidance for how to be useful to each of my children, one-by-one
• seek blessings and guidance for how to be useful to other family members and friends as needed, one-by-one
• seek guidance for the choices I need to make in life: health, personal development, vision setting, operational direction, and understanding of doctrine
• listen to the feelings and thoughts that He might convey to my mind and heart

I have faith that these sessions will have a major positive impact on my life and on my ability to be a productive child to Him. I’ll report back and let you know how it is going in a year.

Meanwhile, enjoy these two hymns that each suggest an “hour of prayer.”