God created all things spiritually before he created them temporally. Similarly, we can “spiritually create” our day through meaningful prayer.
I always seem to have a billion things to do, which makes it hard for me to keep track of everything and even harder to remember to involve God in the process. God is my top priority in life—but sometimes I feel like I’m just saying that and not actually living it. An important truth has helped me.
The scriptures teach us that “I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth” (Moses 3:5). We can spiritually and temporally create our days by using prayer, as Elder David A. Bednar teaches in his talk “Pray Always.”
He advises us to begin each day with a meaningful prayer—an opportunity to recognize blessings we have received, express our goals for the day, and plead for help in accomplishing that which we cannot do alone. Throughout the day, we can keep a prayer in our heart and “let all [our] thoughts be directed unto the Lord” (Alma 37:36). At the end of the day, we can report back to our Father through prayer: We review our day, consider the blessings we received, and ponder the ways we can do better tomorrow. In this way, we’re centering our hearts on God and including him in each part of our day.
Even though I still seem to have a billion things to do, reaching out to God through prayer has helped me feel his influence throughout the day and recognize that he’s standing with me and helping me with the little and big things that matter to me. Every day is a new chance to spiritually create something beautiful and powerful with my Father in Heaven.
If involving God in your life through prayer isn’t a normal thing for you, try it out! Be lenient with yourself if you forget, but start by beginning and ending your day with a prayer. If you are already praying consistently, think about how you can make your prayers more meaningful. As you do, you’ll see God’s power shaping each day in ways you couldn’t have accomplished on your own.
Find out more about how to make your prayers meaningful by reading Elder David A. Bednar’s talk “Pray Always.”
Source: General Conference
—June Cazier, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY TOM BARRETT
Find more insights
Take a look at Elder Taylor G. Godoy’s talk “Call, Don’t Fall” to learn about the power of prayer.
Read President Dallin H. Oaks’s talk “Good, Better, Best” to find out how to organize our time and choose the best things.