ELDER QUORUM LESSON – NOVEMBER 22, 2020
By Ron GreenI
would like to start out by wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving and pray that
you and your families are all healthy and well.
We
live in challenging times and have that great source of prayer to help us.
Among the
“things that shall come to pass” before His Second Coming are “wars and rumours
of wars[,] … famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Savior said, “And
all things shall be in commotion; … for fear shall come upon all people.”
News reports are filled with
accounts of violence. Moral denigration is published online. Cemeteries,
churches, mosques, synagogues, and religious shrines have been vandalized.
A global pandemic has reached virtually every corner of the earth:
millions of people have been infected; over a million have died. School
graduations, church worship services, marriages, missionary service, and a host
of other important life events have been disrupted. Additionally, countless
people have been left alone and isolated.
Economic upheavals have caused
challenges for so many, especially for the most vulnerable of our Heavenly
Father’s children.
We have seen people passionately
exercising their right to peaceful protest, and we have seen angry mobs riot.
At the same time, we continue to
see conflicts all around the world.
I think often of those of you who are suffering, worried, afraid,
or feeling alone. I assure each one of you that the Lord knows you, that He is
aware of your concern and anguish, and that He loves you—intimately,
personally, deeply, and forever.
Each night when I pray, I ask the Lord to bless all who are
burdened with grief, pain, loneliness, and sadness. I know that other Church
leaders echo that same prayer. Our hearts, individually and collectively, go
out to you, and our prayers go to God in your behalf.
I spent several days last year in
the northeastern part of the United States visiting American and Church history
sites, attending meetings with our missionaries and our members, and visiting
government and business leaders.
On Sunday, October 20, I spoke to a
large gathering near Boston, Massachusetts. As I was speaking, I was
prompted to say, “I plead with you … to pray for this country, for our leaders,
for our people, and for the families that live in this great nation founded by
God.”
I also said that America and many of the nations of the earth, as
in times past, are at another critical crossroads and need our prayers.
My plea was not in my prepared
remarks. Those words came to me as I felt the Spirit prompt me to invite those
present to pray for their country and their leaders.
Today I expand my call for prayer to all people from every country
around the world. No matter how you pray or to whom you pray, please exercise
your faith—whatever your faith may be—and pray
for your country and for your national leaders. As I said last October in
Massachusetts, we stand today at a major crossroads in history, and the nations
of the earth are in desperate need of divine inspiration and guidance. This is
not about politics or policy. This is about peace and the healing that can come
to individual souls as well as to the soul of countries—their
cities, towns, and villages—through the Prince of Peace and the source of
all healing, the Lord Jesus Christ.
During the past few months I have had the impression come to me
that the best way to help the current world situation is for all people to rely
more fully upon God and to turn their hearts to Him through sincere prayer.
Humbling ourselves and seeking heaven’s inspiration to endure or conquer what
is before us will be our safest and surest way to move confidently forward
through these troubling times.
The scriptures highlight prayers
offered by Jesus as well as His teachings about prayer during His mortal
ministry. You will remember the Lord’s Prayer:
“Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
“Give us this day our daily bread.
“And forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
This focused, beautiful prayer,
repeated often throughout Christianity, makes it clear that it is appropriate
to directly petition “Our Father which art in heaven” for answers to what is
troubling us. Therefore, let us pray for divine guidance.
I invite you to pray
always. Pray for your family. Pray for the leaders of nations. Pray for
the courageous people who are on the front lines in the current battles against
social, environmental, political, and biological plagues that impact all people
throughout the world: the rich and the poor, the young and the old.
The Savior taught us to not limit who we pray for. He said, “Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray
for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
On the cross of Calvary, where Jesus died for our sins, He
practiced what He taught when He prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know
not what they do.”
Sincerely praying for those who may
be considered our enemies demonstrates our belief that God can change our
hearts and the hearts of others. Such prayers should strengthen our resolve to
make whatever changes are necessary in our own lives, families, and
communities.
No matter where you live, what language you speak, or the
challenges you face, God hears and answers you in His own way and in His own
time. Because we are His children, we can approach Him to seek help, solace,
and a renewed desire to make a positive difference in the world.
Praying for justice, peace, the
poor, and the sick is often not enough. After we kneel in prayer, we need to
get up from our knees and do what we can to help—to help both ourselves and others.
The scriptures are full of examples of people of faith who combined
prayer with action to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of
others. In the Book of Mormon, for example, we read about Enos. It has been
observed that “about two-thirds of his short book describes a prayer or series
of prayers, and the balance tells what he did in consequence of the
answers he received.”
We have many examples of how prayer
made a difference in our own Church history, beginning with Joseph Smith’s
first vocal prayer in a wooded clearing near his parents’ log home in the
spring of 1820. Seeking forgiveness and spiritual direction, Joseph’s prayer
opened the heavens. Today we are the beneficiaries of Joseph the Prophet and
other faithful Latter-day Saint men and women who prayed and acted to help
establish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I often think of the prayers of
faithful women like Mary Fielding Smith who, with God’s help, courageously led
her family from mounting persecution in Illinois to safety in this valley,
where her family prospered spiritually and temporally. After praying earnestly
on her knees, she then worked hard to overcome her challenges and bless her
family.
Prayer will lift us and draw us together as individuals, as
families, as a church, and as a world. Prayer will influence scientists and
help them toward discoveries of vaccines and medications that will end this
pandemic. Prayer will comfort those who have lost a loved one. It will guide us
in knowing what to do for our own personal protection.
Brothers and sisters, I urge you to redouble your commitment to
prayer. I urge you to pray in your closets, in your daily walk, in your homes,
in your wards, and always in your hearts.
On behalf of the leaders of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I thank you for your prayers for
us. I urge you to continue to pray that we may receive the inspiration and
revelation to guide the Church through these difficult times.
Prayer can change our own lives.
Motivated by sincere prayer, we can improve and help others to do the same.
I know the power of prayer by my
own experience. Recently I was alone in my office. I had just gone through a
medical procedure on my hand. It was black and blue, swollen, and it was
painful. As I sat at my desk, I could not focus on important and critical matters
because I was distracted by this pain.
I knelt in prayer and asked the
Lord to help me focus so I could accomplish my work. I stood and returned to
the pile of papers on my desk. Almost immediately, clarity and focus came to my
mind, and I was able to complete the pressing matters before me.
The world’s current chaotic
situation may seem daunting as we consider the multitude of issues and
challenges. But it is my fervent testimony that if we will pray and ask
Heavenly Father for needed blessings and guidance, we will come to know how we
can bless our families, neighbors, communities, and even the countries in which
we live.
The Savior prayed and then He “went about doing good” by
feeding the poor, providing courage and support to those in need, and reaching
out in love, forgiveness, peace, and rest to all who would come unto Him. He
continues to reach out to us.
I invite all Church members, as well as our neighbors and friends
of other faith groups worldwide, to do as the Savior counseled His disciples: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always” for
peace, for comfort, for safety, and for opportunities to serve one another.
How great is the power of prayer, and how needed are our prayers
of faith in God and His Beloved Son in the world today! Let us remember and
appreciate the power of prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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