He Hears Me

Yesterday, Ella spoke in sacrament meeting.  She spoke about how Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.  Here is her talk:

He Hears Me

By Ella

Last week I went to Oakcrest and the theme was He Hears me. I loved this theme so much and I learned so much from it.   Our theme was based around this verse, 1 Nephi 18:3 And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did prayoft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.”

The theme song that we had for this year was called He hears your heart. This song touched my heart and it is a great reminder that he listens to our prayers. The chorus is my favorite it says “He knows each of his children. He is never too far. Whatever the words, wherever you are. He hears, hears your heart.” I just loved that. I love knowing that He knows me personally…and He knows you.

President Nelson said, “Through prayer, we can show our love for God. And He has made it so easy. We may pray to Him any time.”  In Alma 34, Amulek teaches the people when to pray and what to pray for.  He says, “Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.”  He tells them to pray for mercy, to pray over their flocks and fields, to pray to have strength to withstand their enemies, to pray for power against the devil and to pour out their hearts to God.  Nephi also taught about prayer.  In 2 Nephi 33:3 it says, “Nephi exclaimed, “I pray continually for [my people] by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, … and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.” 

Clearly, we can pray to Him at any time and for anything we need. 

President Nelson also said, “We should pray in accord with the will of our Heavenly Father.³² He wants to test us, to strengthen us, and to help us achieve our full potential. When the Prophet Joseph Smith was held in Liberty Jail, he pled for relief. His prayers were answered with an explanation: “All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.”  Sometimes when we pray, we don’t get the answer we are hoping for or we may have to wait and search for awhile before receiving an answer to our prayers.  When that happens it is because Heavenly Father knows better than us what will be for our best good in the eternal perspective.    He wants us to develop faith and spiritual strength and wants us to be prepared to return and live with Him.

When I was 4 months old, my parents found out that I had a hole in my heart in the ventricle.  The cardiologist said it was possible that the hole would close on its own, so my parents took me to Primary Children’s Hospital every 3 months to have chest x-rays and echocardiograms and see the cardiologist.  When I was 18 months old, the doctor recommended surgery.  So I was scheduled to have open heart surgery a week before Christmas.  The doctors said I would probably be in the hospital for close to a week.  Before the surgery, my parents and other family members prayed sincerely that the surgery would go well.  I received a priesthood blessing and was promised that the surgeon would be guided and that I would be healed.  The surgery was on a Thursday, and everything went well.  In fact, they found that there was a second, smaller hole in my atrial valve and they were able to repair both holes.  By Saturday, I was up and running through the halls of the hospital (scaring my mom and dad!)   I came home from the hospital on Sunday, much earlier than the doctors had predicted.  My heart was completely healed and after a few more follow up visits, I was told I didn’t need to see the cardiologist any more.  Heavenly Father heard those prayers and answered them.

Jamie Glenn said, “Heavenly Father is aware of us, our every feeling and our every need even when we feel far away.  He cannot love us any more, know us any better, or be more aware of us as if we are His only child.” 

The last verse of the theme song says “oh, in every single moment no matter what it is, we can always turn to him.” I testify that he will always be here. We may feel at times, like we are alone but I promise you are not. Heavenly father is always looking over you. He is just waiting until you take that one step to cry unto him. He suffered for us and he felt our pains way before any of us did. He may not answer immediately but he knows exactly what you are going through. He always hears you.