12-14-11 “He did deliver me from bondage” p.150-

12-14-11    “He did deliver me from bondage” p.150-

p.153  Talking about a false idea she had of prayer, Colleen said,

“I thought you just did this prayer thing—and then you got up and stumbled on, as confused and lost as before, hoping an answer would eventually come along and hit you over the head.”

I studied a talk before called “Prayer” by Chauncey C Riddle a while ago.  http://lds.org/ensign/1975/03/prayer?lang=eng&query=prayer+chauncey+riddle

I say study because it’s really deep.  I had to work hard to ‘get’ just part of it.  I have read it several times and I find it very appropriate to discuss here.  

I think that our intensity of prayer is all part of the ‘ebb and flow’ process of learning and growing.  It’s always good to re-check where we’re at and see how we can do better.  After reading Colleen’s quote I wondered if I have not been doing this lately.  It reminded me of a time when I used to take a pen and paper with me to pray and I’d write down the answers I heard.  I don’t think I have been that intense recently.  I think I have been more waiting for the answers to ‘konk me over the head’.  It seems lately I’ve been doing more of the ‘stumbling around’ kind of dance.  This is definitely a timely reminder for me. 

“Today, though, I have come to realize that prayer and meditation (or pondering) are two sides of the same coin…  whether we use a form of traditional meditation or do something to focus our attention and thoughts, such as studying the scriptures or writing in our journals, we are actually opening a channel of communication involving all three members of the Godhead…” 

That’s it!  I knew writing was important to me, but I never knew it was ‘a form of meditation’ where I ‘open a channel of communication to all three members of the Godhead”!  Wow!  That is cool!!!  It seems like the prayer with a pen and paper is more direct, but in forgetting to do that lately the answers have not been so obvious to me; “more like a whisper”.  (Hilary Weeks song)  When I was fasting last Sunday, it seems I wanted clear answers.  Maybe this is what I need to do to make the answers more obvious and clear.

p.154 Coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him

Oh, this reminds me!  I had the coolest thought the other day that I haven’t written down yet.  I was doing the dishes and thinking about the way God works in my life.  It is reflected in the quote by Benson where he says that ‘Man’s answer is to take the men out of the slums.  God’s answer is to take the slums out of men.  God works from the inside out.’  Then I had the visual of the ‘bull’s eye’ dart board go through my mind representing the three different sphere’s of stewardship I have in my life: to change me, to serve my family, and help my community.  Then the thought went through my mind again “God works from the inside out.  The natural man works from the outside in.”  Oh, how dangerously tempting it is for us to work from the outside in!  It’s easier to tell others how they need to change and it’s easier to imbalance my life trying to ‘save the world’ before I have changed myself of served my family.  The reason why this is so important to me is that God has told me that my greatest impact in life will be THROUGH my stewardship as a Mother.  For me the bull’s eye becomes a “and” instead of a weights and balance scale of either / or.  I don’t know the whole of it, but I know that I must work from the inside out, or my life will amount to little or nothing.