Recently my young daughter, Jane, was playing with a smart home device which can recognize the title of songs as spoken by the listener. The device is supposed to be able to then play the requested song. For example, my son, Mac, has a favorite song from the cartoon movie Cars which he can play at will just by asking the device. Jane, trying to follow his lead, tries time and time again to play her favorite song from her favorite Disney movie. Unfortunately, she doesn’t yet understand that to play the song, she has to say the exact name of the song’s title and pronounce it correctly. One day, after several attempts to play her favorite song, she screamed out in desperation, “Why won’t you listen to me!” To which the device responded, “I’m sorry I can’t help you; I don’t understand.”
Jane was stunned. She realized that the device was listening to her. She understood that the device didn’t simply favor her older brother. The device recognized Jane was trying to communicate, and the device would work for her, too, if she used it the right way.
Our Heavenly Father wants to help, and He listens. Unlike the smart home device, however, He fully understands all our desires and needs, even those we have a hard time putting into the right words. Sometimes the answers come quickly (Joseph Smith-History 1), sometimes they come very slowly (Doctrine and Covenants 121-123), sometimes they don’t come in this mortal life (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), and sometimes answers come in the way of blessings we didn’t expect (Doctrine and Covenants 137).
In the latter, the Prophet Joseph records: “I saw…and marveled.” There are many, many ways in which we receive answers to prayers. Like Joseph Smith, we, too, will marvel at the blessings that come to us and our families as we are faithful, stay on the covenant path and pray in earnestness. In all cases, whether blessing and answer come quickly or slowly, the promise is sure to the righteous: “I will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them” (Doctrine and Covenants 111:11). May we all carefully and intently pray to our Heavenly Father, and follow the counsel of President Nelson to “choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly” (April 2018 General Conference, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives”).
Akron Ohio Stake News 