Prayers do get answered

Sometimes I'm afraid to really pray for something. I pray all the time, but when something's really important, I get scared and only pray halfheartedly, and then try not to think about it. I realize this is not the way to get prayers answered. It shows a complete lack of faith. I'm afraid to really care about the answer and then recieve a no, or even worse, no answer at all. Well, in case anyone was wondering, this is not the way to protect yourself, or to protect your own faith in the power of prayer. Of course not. In fact, all you get is alot of unanswered prayers and diminished self esteem.

It takes bravery to really ask, on a regular basis, for things you truly care about. Its hard work to truly exercise faith in every instance. The answer won't always be yes. Thank-goodness for that. So anyway, I really need to remind myself and record answered prayers occasionally. So next time the answer is no, I can see the bigger picture and know God knows what is best for me. Here's a recent story that is still fresh in my mind.

I am very very brain dead when I'm pregnant. Truthfully, I'm always brain dead, but even more so when pregnancy throws my hormones all out of whack. I'm always losing things. like important documents and my train of thought. Its very frustrating. Recently, I lost some very important papers having to do with my calling at church. Even worse, I forgot to look for them until several weeks later, almost a month. We searched the entire house, but to no avail. We searched the car, nothing. I had almost given up. It was humiliating, because there were several people in the ward it would affect. I had been continuously praying, but not with real effort or faith. Can God do the impossible if I threw them away? was always in the back of my mind. But the spirit told me that I needed to put away my fear and pray wholeheartedly. Afterward, the thought crossed my mind that I should call my mom, to see if there was a chance I had left the papers there when visiting on Sunday. Well, she didn't answer. On a whim I decided to call my sister Fae to ask if she had them. I had little hope of it though. I do spend alot of time at Fae's, but never Sundays, so it didn't seem likely. Well, lo and behold, the papers were at her house after all. I had completely forgotten that we had borrowed their car for a few days. She had found the papers when cleaning out the car, and miraculously had not thrown them away. I was in shock. And grateful. God can do what may seem to be impossible. And even though we need faith to receive answers to prayers, sometimes, he will except hope or even a desire to believe. He truly does want to bless us. How amazing, and yet, how consistent. Thanks for listening to a silly little story.