Leila's Sacrament Talk - Prayer

Sunday Jan 28th, Leila gave her talk in sacrament:

[Heavenly Father, are you really there?

And do you hear and answer ev’ry child’s prayer?

Some say that heaven is far away,

But I feel it close around me as I pray.

Kia Ora Brothers and Sisters, for those who don’t know me, my name is Leila Wihongi. I’m 18 years old and a Senior at TVHS. My parents are Jason and Candi Wihongi. It's my brother Jaxon's birthday today, so if you see him, wish him a Happy Birthday!

I’ve been asked to speak on ‘Prayer’ from the general conference talk given by our Prophet Russell M. Nelson in April 2003, called ‘Sweet Power of Prayer.’ He made some points; I will use them and add them in my own words. The first one is:

WHY WE PRAY:

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are taught to pray at a young age. You can’t get out of it. You have to give prayers starting in Nursery, like blessing the snack, and then in Primary and Young Women’s, you have to provide opening and closing prayers. At Primary age I didn't really think about why we pray, I just did it. But now that I'm older I know exactly why.  It’s because Heavenly Father loves me and wants to know how my day was or how I'm doing. Just like my Dad, I love talking to my Dad about controversial stuff cause that’s what he seems to like talking about all the time. It makes me happy to spend time with him. And that’s what it must be like with Heavenly Father, too. 

Pres. Nelson said - “Through prayer, we can show our love for God. And He has made it so easy. We may pray to Him any time.”

WHEN TO PRAY:

In D&C 90:24, the Lord said, “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.”

In our family, we pray together after we read our scriptures in the afternoon. We bless our food in English or Maori. I say my prayers morning and night by the side of my bed. But what I love the most is to know that I can pray to my Heavenly Father whenever I want to, at any time of my day, in my head- I know he is listening. 

Sometimes, I don’t realize that I am silently praying in the back of my mind every day until the Lord answers my prayers the moment I need it most. I remember wanting to quit my job because I was tired of it, and I already had a lot on my plate with school, callings, and extracurricular activities. I guess I prayed to Heavenly Father that I wouldn’t feel this way and to think of the benefits of working. On a day I felt the worst at work, my boss expressed their gratitude for what I was doing and told me that I was greatly appreciated and did a great job at what I did. I immediately felt it was my Heavenly Father speaking to me, telling me that I was doing great and that I was needed.

INQUIRE OF THE LORD:

In 1 Nephi 15:7-9 it says, “7 And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles. 8.And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? 9. And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.”

Nephi understood the teachings of the Lord because he turned to Heavenly Father and prayed that he might understand, knowing that he would receive an answer. It’s easy to be like Laman and Lemuel and think that the Lord won’t answer our prayers for reasons like, “It’s a silly thing to ask” or “I’m not worthy enough to receive an answer.” But I know from experience that Heavenly Father cares about me and understands exactly what I'm going through. I know I can turn to Him for anything, good or bad.

ANSWERS TO PRAYERS:                                                                                                                 Since it’s my brother Jaxon’s birthday today, I want to share how his birth was a miracle. During the pregnancy, my parents prayed every day that he would be healthy and that there would be no complications during delivery. From Jaxon’s baby scrapbook, my mum wrote, “Jaxon came a month early… Complications were [that] Jaxon’s heart rate would go down every time I had a contraction. He was born [at] 11:37 am, the doctor told us the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. But most shockingly to the Doctor, was when he took my placenta out, he had never seen something like this before in his years of delivering babies that the umbilical cord was in the wrong place on the placenta   surrounded by veins. And when my water broke the tear in the placenta avoided all those veins  - if not, he would have bled to death.” The Doctor was so fascinated by it that he asked my Mum if he could keep her placenta for research. Heavenly Father was able to answer my parent’s prayers and keep Jaxon healthy and safe when he was born.

Nelson - “We should pray in accord with the will of our Heavenly Father. He wants to test us, to strengthen us, and to help us achieve our full potential. When the Prophet Joseph Smith was held in Liberty Jail, he pled for relief. His prayers were answered with an explanation: ‘All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.’”

Testimony - I know that Heavenly Father will answer your prayers and that through prayer, we can gain personal revelation. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.