The Power of Sincere Prayer

  Many times in our lives we hear the term "Power of Prayer". This in my head has taken on a completely new meaning. As a missionary I have never prayed more in my life than the past 6 months. I have needed it. But it's not just power of prayer I have noticed, but the power of sincere prayer.
  We were visiting a lady the other day who told us she hadn't been praying. This made me very concerned because she understood that prayer was important but hadn't for some reason. There are a few reasons why we don't pray. Maybe we forget or we're tired or maybe as in her case, as she shared with us, she didn't feel 'worthy' to pray.
It hurt me to hear her say that she felt unworthy to pray. She had made some mistakes and felt like she couldn't talk to her Father in Heaven. I knew what she meant by that but those thoughts are only from the Adversary. Our Father in Heaven would never tell us we are not worthy to pray to Him. We can ALWAYS pray to Him.
  He is our loving, kind, ever patient Father in Heaven. No matter what we have said or done will change that. It reminded me of the scriptures in the bible in Psalms 38 when David had sinned greatly. He had a man killed and he also committed adultery and knew what he had done was very wrong. He knew that he would have severe consequences but this is not the point today. The point I am trying to make is that David still prayed. He knew he had sinned but he still prayed and begged the Lord for forgiveness. If anyone was to feel unworthy to pray it would have been him.
  We talked with this lady about this. We told her she needed to pray. Prayer is not an easy thing sometimes. But it is necessary. The past 6 months of my mission would have never been possible without sincere prayers to Him daily.
  We need to pray. Always, everyday our hearts should be turned to our Father. He is waiting to help us. We should be showing our love and appreciation for Him in everything we do and say. Prayers are our time to be alone with Him. To tell Him our frustrations of the day, to tell Him our joys and our sorrows. He is ever listening no matter who we are and what we've done. I know this is true because I have felt it in my life time and time again.
  If there is anything going wrong or missing in your life, take 10 minutes every morning and night and set it aside for a personal, private prayer with your Father in Heaven. It will change your day, your mood, your outlook on life, and feel closer to Him.
-Hermana Skroski