A Child's Prayer

Dear Reader,

Heavenly Father answers prayers. I have seen it so many times and I still forget what that statement means. Today, I want to share five stories with you that illustrate how Heavenly Father is always listening.

When I was young lad, I lost one of my favorite toys. At this point in my life I honestly have no idea what toy it was, but I loved it immensely. It was simple thing, but as I was tearing my room apart looking for it, my mom asked me if I had prayed to ask Heavenly Father for help. I was a stubborn child and didn't want to ask for help, so I kept searching before I finally gave in and knelt next to my bed. The prayer probably wasn't very long, but it was enough to let Heavenly Father show me His love. I kid you not, the toy was next to my knee when I opened my eyes.

A similar thing happened to a young boy that I taught as a full-time missionary in Chile. His name was Matias and he loved to play ping pong. Actually, that was one of the reason my companion and I were able to bond so much with their family. Matias and his dad would play ping pong with us at their house and when they would come to the church for ward activities.
One day, Matias lost his ping pong paddle. We didn't know this when we went to teach their family that day, but we taught them about prayer. I shared my story about my toy. The time we went to visit, Matias' mom asked him, "Matias, why don't you tell the elders about what happened this week." He then proceeded to tell us about his experience that was almost identical to mine. His lost paddle had appeared after he knelt down to pray for help. It is an experience that neither of us will ever forget.

This third experience with answered prayers actually happened before I left for Chile, but I didn't hear about it until I got back two years later. A friend of mine had been having a hard time with her testimony. A few days before I left, we were having a conversation about how her life felt dull and she couldn't keep up with school and the Gospel. I asked her if she believed that Heavenly Father loved her. 
Not until after the mission did she share her struggle that night we talked. She shared that she couldn't answer in the affirmative that night and that really bothered her. I learned that after talking that night, she decided to listen to some Mormon Tabernacle Choir to calm down a bit.  She went to turning on "My Heavenly Father Loves Me." She accidentally chose "A Child's Prayer," the song that inspired today's post. She felt calmer by the time it ended, then went to turn off the music, but left it for one more song because "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" came on next.  She said, "My prayer was answered then and there, almost immediately.  I felt strongly that Heavenly Father was watching out for me." That was a deeper experience of how I learned that prayer gives Heavenly Father the opportunity to share his love for us. 

Recently, I have had a couple more experiences with how Heavenly Father answers our prayers. Lauren and I try to make it a habit to pray often, as directed in Alma 37. Recently we lost one set of our keys. Of course it was the set that had our mail key on it. After searching for several days and praying for a couple, we finally found them. The answer to our prayer wasn't answered as immediately as mine or Matias', but it was still answered with love from our Heavenly Father. Upon finding the keys, we immediately knelt in prayer to thank Heavenly Father. 

The last story I want to share with you is about an answer to one of Lauren's prayers. While in the temple a couple weeks ago, I had a thought hit me. It was an impression to ask Lauren a question. I had no idea why I would be asking her a question like that, but it turns out it was the answer to something she had been praying about personally for a couple weeks. I was astounded that we were thinking the same thing and I knew it was because Heavenly Father loves her and He loves me. He wanted to put similar thoughts in both our minds. 
Heavenly Father loves us.  I know Heavenly Father loves me.  I know His plan is the best plan.  I know He will prepare a way for the righteous.  He will ask hard things of me, things I don't want to do, but if I do them and endure them he'll bless me, and I'll grow stronger.