Cry unto the Lord

On Dictionary.com Prayer is defined as , “ …Spiritual communication with God”. I think this is a very good description of what prayer is. Through prayer we can communicate with God, We can talk with him, share the desires of our heart as Joseph Smith did when he had the experience in the Sacred Grove.  Prayer is not different than when we would talk to another person in the aspect that we are talking with someone, but that someone is our Father in Heaven.  We can talk to him as we would to someone else, however it is important to use pronouns that are respectful, such as those found in the scriptures like, Thee, Thou, and Thy.  When I pray and communicate with God I feel closer to him, and I can feel of his Spirit. It is very enlighting to my mind and I can feel a peace that I can not feel anywhere else.

One thing that has really changed my prayers is praying outloud, or vocally. Again, this is something that Joseph Smith did in the Grove and in Joseph Smith History ( a History that Joseph Himself wrote about the events in his life) he tells us that when he prayed in the Grove that was his first time he prayed vocally, “So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally” (JS-H verse 14). Praying vocally has improved my prayers in a couple of ways. 1) It has kept me focused in my prayers. When I pray in my head my mind wonders and I cant focus on what I am praying about. 2) It makes my prayers more sincere, It makes me slow down and think about what has happened during the day, and helps me asks for things which will help me improve the next day. 3) I am actually talking with him, I am talking as if I would talk to you guys! I know that God is  real personage, who has a body of Flesh and Bone, and he hears our prayers, So why not talk to him?! My personal prayers have been so much better when I pray out loud!!!

There is a great scripture in the Book of Mormon that expresses how our prayers should be, it is in the Book of Alma in chapter 34:

  18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.

  19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.

  20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.

  21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-              day, and evening.

  22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.

  23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

  24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

  25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

  26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.

  27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.

Notice how many times that Alma uses the term “Cry” in these verses!