Many of us never really listen to the words of the songs we sing in church. Read these verses thoughtfully:
Prayer is the souls sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed.
Prayer is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear.
The upward glancing of an eye when none but God is near.
Prayer is the simplest form of speech, that infant lips can try.
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach the Majesty on high.
Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath…His watch word at the gates of death: he enters heaven with prayer.
Dr. David Livingston brought Christianity to darkest Africa in the 1850’s. He died on April 30,1873 after a long illness, his African companions found him kneeling beside his bed where he had said his last prayer. “His watch word at the gates of death: he enters heaven with prayer.”
We are commanded to pray. (Moses 5:8) “Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.” God’s commandments are always designed for our good! Our relationship to God is only preserved through communication.
The story is told about five nuclear scientists, who were atheists. Headed by a Dr. Jerome Stowell, they decided to experimentally try to measure the wavelengths of the electrical charges in the human brain. They found that each person’s brainwave patterns are as varied as fingerprints. Then they wondered what happens in the brain while a person is dying. They chose a woman who was still alert in mind but who was on the verge of death. They arranged to have an electrical measuring device attached to her head, along with a small microphone by her pillow so they could hear if she had anything to say. Their measuring device had a needle pointing to zero in the center of the scale. The scale was calibrated to 500 positive points on the right and on the left 500 negative points. The power used by a 50,000 watt broadcasting station was measured at 9 points of the 500 possible on the positive scale. That station was sending a message around the world. Dr. Stowell reported that when the moment of the woman’s death was near, she began to pray and to praise the Lord. She asked Him to be merciful to those who had spitefully used her, and she expressed her love to God. They were engrossed in her humble prayer and when they looked up there were tears running down their cheeks… suddenly they heard a clicking sound. They looked, and the needle was trying to go higher than the scale, only to bounce against the post in its attempt. By actual instrumentation, they had recorded that the brain of a woman, alone and dying, in communication with God registered powerful, positive, brainwave energy.
Then they decided to measure the brainwave patterns of an angry person. They identified a man in the same hospital as the woman. They were just measuring his brainwaves when he became very angry and used the Lord’s name in vain. The needle bounced against the negative 500 mark as soon as he cursed. Thereby recording what happens in the brain when one of the ten commandments is broken, ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain’.
Therefore, when positive emotions are being expressed, the brain registers positive and powerful brainwave patterns. When we express negative emotions the brainwave patterns are powerfully, negative. The Positive power of God and the negative power of the adversary. Dr. Stowell also testified that those positive electrical impulses may also promote health beyond measure (power to heal the sick?). If scientists can record these positive and negative expressions and thoughts, surely we must believe that God can also. God has given us the power to transmit our speech, as well as, our thoughts to Him.
Evidence of this can be found in the Book of Mormon. Alma the Younger (Alma 36:6–26) said, “For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way…we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us…the voice said unto me… If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God…for three days and three nights…I was struck with such great fear…I saw that I had rebelled against my God… as I was thus racked with torment…I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me…
And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more…yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain.” Alma repented by way of his thoughts and was heard of God.
Why has he given us such power to communicate with Him? Because we are precious to Him! Corianton, son of Alma, wondering why it was so important to know of Christ’s atonement when it was hundreds of years before the event? (Alma 39:17) His father’s answer “is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be at the time of his coming?” We can say, is not a soul as precious today, 2000+ years after the event? Yes! “For this is His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Alma 34:28)
I love the words of the song; “Abide with Me; Tis Eventide.” A few of the words are as follows:
“Abide with me tis eventide, Thy walk today with me,
has made my heart within me burn, As I communed with thee,
Thy earnest words have filled my soul, And kept me near thy side… If I cannot commune with thee, Nor find in thee my light.
The darkness of the world, I fear, would in my home abide.”
As important as prayer is, our prayers are vain if we…turn away the needy…visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart not of our substance, if we have, to those who stand in need… If you do none of these things, behold, ye are as hypocrites.
A Christian prayer is only efficacious if the Christian’s behavior is Christian in nature. We were mysteriously and wonderfully made in His image, and created with the power to communicate with our Maker both verbally and in thought!