Mighty Prayer

Note: This is a reader submission by a dear UnBlog family member, Veronica Clarke.

Shortly after the death of my husband, I was awakened in the middle of the night with instructions communicated through the spirit by my husband. I took my iPad into the bathroom and began to type as they flowed. I typed as fast as I could until I literally felt exhausted and drained. The information was still coming, but I begged to be able to just rest for a while. I climbed back into bed and fell quickly asleep only to be awakened an hour later with more instruction.

This pattern continued the entire night until morning. I remember thinking, “I understand now how Enos prayed all night.” I used to wonder how someone would have enough to say to pray an entire night. Now I understood that Enos’s prayer was one of two-way spiritual communication. Enos was learning and listened as much if not more than he was speaking. On occasions, this experience has been repeated on a much smaller scale during my personal prayers; it has helped me to understand what it meant by ‘mighty prayer.’

As a result of the experiences with spiritual communication right after my husband’s death, I have learned to keep a note pad or iPad near my bed. I have found that communication often comes to me after I have concluded my prayer and when I am in that sleep/wake period in the morning hours. Elder Scott also confirms spiritual communication that can happen during this period. He says, “Revelation can also be given in a dream when there is an almost imperceptible transition from sleep to wakefulness” (Richard G Scott, “How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life”, April 2012).

I think perhaps it is when my body is most still, that my spirit can take the forefront. I have also experienced this after fasting. Elder John H. Groberg shares this idea in his talk The Power of God’s Love. When the body’s senses are dormant because of lack of sustenance or shutting down from resting, spiritual senses can take the forefront. These are times when we can be more sensitive to, and perceptive of, the spirit. I have found that the words often start in my mind. If I do nothing and simply listen, I often fall back to sleep and forget what was being communicated to me.

However, if I am diligent and begin to write, then the promptings continue and more and more is given to me. At times, I have written for several hours. The words flow easily, and I am learning as I am writing. When I go back and read what I am writing it is as if I have never read it before. The information is new and surprising to me and does not follow previous things that I have reasoned or thought on my own. These key things, in addition to the reverent feeling and peace from the spirit, tell me that this is personal revelation and not my own thoughts.

Sometimes the information is for my personal enlightenment or to answer questions that I have been searching to understand. At other times, the information is things that I need to share with my children, with a friend that I am trying to help, or with people I am over in my callings. I find that information always comes easier when I am seeking for knowledge to help someone else.

I have also found ‘mighty prayer’ through the process of studying the scriptures. This also isn’t prayer on one’s knees, but active communication with the Lord that is aided in writing. I do not study the scriptures or the words of the prophets without writing. Elder Richard G. Scott has been a great mentor to me in this process. He says,

“When I am faced with a very difficult matter, this is how I try to understand what to do. I fast. I pray to find and understand scriptures that will be helpful. That process is cyclical. I start reading a passage of scripture; I ponder what the verse means and pray for inspiration. I then ponder and pray to know if I have captured all the Lord wants me to do. Often, more impressions come with increased understanding of doctrine. I have found that pattern to be a good way to learn from the scriptures” (Richard G Scott, How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for your personal life, April 2012).

The death of my husband accelerated me on this track because I had a deep desire for direction and I was willing to sacrifice all practices in my life that distracted me from the spirit.

I was also willing to be obedient to any prompting at all costs. Elder Scott confirms,

“One must be ever mentally and physically clean and have purity of intent so that the Lord can inspire. One who is obedient to His commandments is trusted of the Lord. That individual has access to His inspiration to know what to do and, as needed, the divine power to do it.”

Mighty prayer takes deep dedication. It takes implicit trust in the Lord.

As I have listened to and obeyed the promptings of the spirit, as I have sought to have more powerful prayers, those promptings have guided me line upon line through the process. If we are diligent, humble, pure in our hearts and action, and we are seeking direction to further the Lord’s work on this earth, then the spirit can be unrestrained in our life. That is my solemn witness.

— Veronica Clarke

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