Prayers and Truth Under the Golden Arches
Prayers and Truth Under the Golden Arches
By Becky Watson
I recently took my mother to a doctor’s appointment for a procedure, but was not allowed to wait for her inside. (Thanks, COVID.) Normally I would be happy to spend an hour in the car with my book, but I had my four year old daughter with me. She would NOT be happy to spend an hour in the car with my book.
So we googled around and landed on McDonald’s. An 85 cent ice cream cone was just what the occasion required.
I sat across from my blue-eyed blonde and asked what she wanted to talk about.
(I never ask her…)
She Pooh-pondered for a second (think, think, think…) and then announced she wanted to talk about the beach.
We talked about the big waves and the hot sand and building castles and boogie boarding. Then she said she was done talking about the beach and now she wanted to talk about hiking.
So we talked about trees and feeling the wind and listening for the birds and feeling the grass swish up to our chests like we were going on a bear hunt.
And then she asked – out of nowhere, while we were talking about dandelions, her eyes wide and vanilla ice cream dripping down her chin – “can we talk to God?”
“Yes,” I answered. “Yes, we can.”
(Aren’t kids great? I’m sitting in a slightly sticky plastic booth, basically just wasting time, and suddenly I’m plunged into deep introspection and an esoteric discussion on basic doctrinal tenants.)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that we can talk to Him anywhere – any time – anyone can pour their hearts out to the Creator. All we have to do is focus our thoughts, and bam! instant divine reception. The signal is never jammed or busy.
On churchofjesuschrist.org there is a whole page on How to Pray. I particularly loved this section:
In Psalm 55:17, King David said he would pray in the “evening, and morning, and at noon.” Typical times for personal prayer are as you start your day in the morning, before each meal, and before you go to bed at night. But there is never a wrong time to pray. God is always listening, so we can “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Prayer is truly a “defining act of the worshipper of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This is because the act of prayer itself can change and purify us, both individually and as a group.” (Sorenson, “Prayer.”)
Most churches teach that prayer is a basic principle of worship. But perhaps what makes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a little different is that God talks back to us. Indeed, the church began with a simple prayer uttered by a simple farm boy, based on the simple idea that God would actually answer.
I testify that He does.
My prayers have looked vastly different over the years. I have fallen asleep countless times in my bed on my knees – my bum rather irreverently up towards the ceiling. I’ve had prayers that were not so much in words but in silent sobs, wordless pleading sent up to the heavens. Prayers of joy, prayers of gratitude, prayers where I vented and complained and insisted He doesn’t know what I have to deal with. I have wrestled with my weaknesses – and plead for help in understanding the weaknesses of others. But my favorite prayers – the ones that change me – are when I ask Him what He wants to talk about.
Don’t wait until a child asks you to examine your soul. Ask Him now. Today. Does He know you? Does He love you? Does He have anything to say to you?
Yes. Yes. And yes.
Works Cited:
Sorenson, David E. “Prayer.” April 1993. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1993/04/prayer?lang=eng
