Did you think to pray?

I remember the first time that I really did it.
I remember the exact spot that I felt his love.
I remember the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes.

I remember the first time that prayer meant something more than just an action to me.

The first time that I truly and sincerely prayed to my Heavenly Father, is a moment  in my life that I will never forget. And never want to forget.

My mind was frantic and my thoughts had raced around in my head, making me dizzy from the movement and struggle of what life had served to me that day. I walked into the house aftera terribly long day of school and I tried to forget what had been said to me. I felt weak. I felt alone. I felt defeated. I threw my backpack off and trudged up the stairs. My eyes streamed endlessly and my tears watered the carpet. I closed my door desperate for something to sooth my aching heart and my tired mind and body. No one seemed to know what to do or what to say to me to make it all "magically go away". I tried music and thinking a bit, but I realized that I needed more.

The thought hit me right between the eyes.

Pray

And before I could even realize what I was doing I was on my knees. Not like any other prayer I had prayed before. I had grown up in a home my WHOLE life praying. Praying morning and evening, praying before dinner and at church... but I had never done it with such sincerity before. I had never REALLY reached out to my Father like I should have...

The moment I finished that prayer one fall day- I had never felt the saviors love more abundantly in my life. I KNEW for MYSELF that he had heard me. I knew that no matter what had happened or what was going to happen that he loved me more perfectly than I had ever imagined. His loved filled my aching heart and seamlessly healed my broken soul. I could have reached out and felt him. I never even knew that feeling this was a possibility before.

Since this moment in time I have had many conversations with my daddy in heaven. He is someone that I love to talk to and I know that he hears me. He is with me every step of the way and I know that he will never leave me.

Often times I feel that we  get too caught up in the act of doing something and that we forget the meaning behind why we do it. It simply becomes something that we just do, or pencil into our days because we are supposed to. Its purpose is lost in the business of it all.

Today I challenge you to sincerely get down on your knees and really converse with your Father in Heaven. He LONGS to know how you are. He wants to hear it from you. And I promise that you will be able to feel his love surround you more fully. This is one of my most cherished possessions: the knowledge that he is always there with me and hears my prayers. Each and every time.

“When I was a little child, my parents taught me by example to pray. I began with a picture in my mind of Heavenly Father being far away. As I have matured, my experience with prayer has changed. The picture in my mind has become one of a Heavenly Father who is close by, who is bathed in a bright light, and who knows me perfectly.”

—Henry B. Eyring

“Exhort Them to Pray,” Ensign, Feb. 2012, 4

All my missionary love,
Sister Steffany Bird