A Prayer and a Penny

Of course I was taught to pray since I was old enough to talk. I have very vivid memories of my family kneeling in prayer every morning and night. I recall seeing my parents moving to their bedroom after family prayer in the morning for a couple's prayer. We were a praying family. How is it that I do not have many personal experiences regarding prayer? I remember praying when I was young and even as a teenager. But somewhere along the way, I lost that habit of kneeling and talking to my Heavenly Father.

I have had the opportunity to increase my testimony of the purpose of prayer. Nothing big really, just reading the Ensign this month. There were a few things that stuck out to me. The first article was by Pres. Uchtdorf. I have linked his entire article to my thought of the day. This article intrigued me from the very beginning. When life is the darkest, it is through prayer we are "lifted" to where Heavenly Father is able to surround us with peace and love.

The second article was the Visiting Teaching message. The last quote was by Pres. Monson. The very last sentence stuck out, beckoning me to listen. " If any of us has been slow to hearken to the counsel to pray always, there is no finer hour to begin than now." I have definitely been "slow". So I made a promise to myself that I would start listening and start praying.

I guess I have always felt a lack of the need to pray. I have all I need. What do I need to ask for? That is where I got confused. You don't pray to ask for things. You pray to talk and communicate your feelings with Our Father. And the more I thought about it the more I realized I do need to pray. My life is crazy right now. Why go at it alone? He will help me in anything. He is very concerned about my life and family.

I was reading another part of the Ensign today. It was the Q&A. The article was suggesting things we can do to keep our parenting focused on the gospel. A lady wrote how she prays for spiritual experiences for her children. I stopped. I had never done that! I'd never thought about it before, but I really couldn't think of a better thing to pray for. So I did it today. And a few hours later my prayer was answered! Here's the story:

We went to Dollar Tree today. The boys had some money they wanted to spend and I wanted to check and see if they had any ribbon. We found what we needed, I got my ribbon, and the boys bought little dart guns to annoy their sisters with! We left the store happy.

I wanted to make a quick run into the DI next door. While we were in there Aaron said, "Mom, the lady at the store told me my change was 18 cents, but she gave me 19." He was really worried. "I think I should take the penny back." I agreed and told him on our way home, we would stop so he could run the penny in.

Grace said, "Aaron it doesn't matter, it's only a penny. Just keep it." I corrected her and told her that it didn't matter how much money it was, it wasn't his and it is honest to return it. She seemed to understand. We finished looking around and found some books, bought them, and went back to the dollar store so he could return the penny.

I couldn't believe that my prayer was answered. It was an amazing feeling, and a testimony to me that Heavenly Father really listens and cares about me. EarlierI thought if He were to answer my prayer it would be neat for one of my kids, but ALL of my kids were there to witness Aaron's honesty and hear the lesson of why it is important to be honest, even if it is just a penny!

I'm looking forwadr to many more spiritual experiences for my kids and testimony building experinces for me!