3 Nephi 13:7-8 says:
"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him."
I have thought a lot about this counsel as I have taught my children to pray. When my oldest son first began to talk, I helped him say his prayers. They were simple. They had to be because he could not say a great many things, but without me realizing it, his vocabulary grew while the prayers stayed simple. Then, one day I realized he said the same thing every night. I was appalled that I had unwittingly taught him to pray from his memory instead of from his heart. I have taught many a Family Home Evening lesson on prayer to try to help my children learn what prayer is actually for, but every once in a while I realize that one of them, or even I myself, has gotten into a rut. The funny thing is that it usually starts out very meaningful, like when the Stake Presidency asked all the primary children to pray for the Ft. Collins temple. The kids remembered more than I did to pray for that. I'm not sure when a prayer that is repeated often becomes just words, with little thought behind it, but it seems to happen unless we are really paying attention.
Prayer is a direct line to our Father in Heaven. It is a truly amazing thing that a being of such great power really cares about all of our little bumps and bruises, about all our hopes and dreams, and takes the time to answer all of our questions if we will take the time to ask and listen. When we pray we have Heavenly Father's undivided attention (so to speak), but do we give him ours? I must admit at times I'm thinking about the family schedule, or the fact that I'm tired and cant' wait to get into bed, while I offer up a distracted prayer. Or perhaps worse, I poor out my heart with questions, or plead for help with a specific things and then get up and wander away shaking my head with thoughts of how hard life can be. I didn't even give Him a chance to answer me!
It reminds me of a friend I had in high school. She would often ask me questions and then forget to listen for an answer. It floored me when she would do this and this practice quickly got a prominent place on my Pet Peeve's List. It saddens me to think of how often I have done that to my Heavenly Father. I'm grateful He is such a loving, forgiving, and patient being.
One day, as a frazzled mother of young children who was trying to do everything right, I counted up the number of prayers we are counseled to have on any given day and realized that it as at least seven. (Morning and night personal and family prayer = 4 plus 3 mealtime prayers...I'm not even going to mention that 'have a prayer always in your heart' counsel) It seemed an impossible number to me. I still don't know how often I actually reach that number, but I know that I am grateful for the reminders to reach out to a Father who loves me and is willing and able to help with whatever I have to say as long as it comes from my heart.
