Today in Relief Society I learned something. The lesson was on prayer and the instructor told us " Satan would like nothing more than for us not to pray."
Okay, I'm with her on that.
Then she asked us to think about the last time that we didn't pray because we felt unworthy to approach Heavenly Father in prayer.
Hmmm... I've never felt that. Never.
The teacher than reinforced that by asking "where do you get the audacity to pray to God? Why do we pray?"
Wow, I raised my hand and replied that I am his daughter and that is where I get the audacity to pray to him. And we've been commanded to pray. Then I asked if feeling unworthy to approach God in prayer is a real problem with members of the Church.
She replied that it is a big problem, and asked me "haven't you ever felt unworthy to pray"? Her tone of voice said to me that it's a normal feeling and something might be wrong with me if I haven't had that feeling. (an assumption on my part)
"No, never"
Then the spirit impressed upon me that I have a sacred gift from God. It's called the Holy Ghost and he has testified to me that I never need to feel unworthy to approach God in prayer no matter what my current spiritual state may be. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be deceived by Satan and feel that I shouldn't pray. I am thankful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. He is truly one of my greatest gifts. He's got my back.
3 comments:
i do think that's a very common feeling among people, yet not necessarily any kind of LDS rite of passage... "you must have felt unworthy to pray at some point in time in order to have a fully developped relationship with god."
i don't get the question though. where do you get the audacity to pray to god? that doesn't even make sense! that's like saying where do you get off paying your tithing? or what right do you have to love your neighbor?
you and i need to hang out in RS. we'll push the whole ward over the edge.
wait, that may not be a good thing...
I've never felt unworthy either. Sometimes I felt lazy or too tired, but not unworthy. I don't get it.
Thanks for the post Anna. And thanks for saying exactly what you thought in R.S. Sometimes I think "generalities" become to generalized and nobody bothers to say any different. I remember a time our sunday school teacher was talking about testimonies and the "burning in the bosom." She asked if any one had not had that feeling. I was the only one to raise my hand (the teacher also said she had not felt that). I explained that I just knew it was true, it was a quiet thing, not a big deal, that's just how it was for me. Even though we all believe the same things, we can come to them very different ways and I thank you for your reminder of that!
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