Years ago, a good friend gave us a family home evening journal. Inside were pages to fill in the minutes of our family gatherings each Monday. There was space to list who conducted, which songs were sung, the lesson topic, and family business, but most fun was the place for family news. I go back to our family home evening journals from those early years and smile at the things we listed as accomplishments of the week.
We gave up the practice of keeping a family home evening journal, and the blog seemed to fill in for the “family news” part of our record. However, I have missed the record of what we did together each Monday evening. I’m going to try to give a small recap of what we do for our Monday family home evenings each Tuesday on the blog.
We went to dinner last night with a Christmas gift card. We enjoyed this family time. When we got home, I was in charge of the lesson. I showed this video and then we studied and discussed prayer, referring to the Bible Dictionary:
As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7-11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest blessings.
Daniel shared that prayer should be a real communication between child and the Father. He said that we need to avoid saying the same things without thinking (vain repetition) and pray often so we develop a relationship. Paige shared that we are children of God and that the video depicts how everything we have is a gift from Him. Richard shared that Heavenly Father doesn’t ask us to pray for his ego, but because everything He asks us to do is for our benefit. I told the kids that prayer is a little bit like playing catch. There are two participants. We show we are ready for answers (or a pitch) by turning to God and preparing ourselves for what he sends to us. If we don’t pray (turn toward the pitch), we aren’t prepared for answers and we aren’t in tune with what Heavenly Father wants for us.