The other day, I read one of my husband’s secret priesthood papers. I was looking for a phone number I had thrown away, and found the priesthood paper in the process. Hey, if he doesn’t want me reading his secret priesthood stuff, he shouldn’t throw it in the trash can in the same office where I work all day.
It wasn’t anything super secret, like home teaching reports or the official 2006 high priests’ chant. It contained some guidelines and instructions. A word that was used repeatedly in the text was “prayerfully.”
My prayers of late have been pretty perfunctory. Not thoughtless, but certainly not heartfelt. The emphasis on prayerfully and lovingly following the guidelines in the secret priesthood document struck me as quite a contrast to how I’ve actually been praying. I haven’t even been praying prayerfully, let alone pursuing any of my other activities that way.
Since reading the guidelines, I have been trying a little harder to be more intent with my prayers. I visualize myself reaching up with my prayers, like the evangelicals do with their hands during their praise music, except with my heart. I think it helps. If nothing else, it helps me to feel like I’m not talking to myself.
However, I wonder what other things besides praying I ought to pursue prayerfully, if any. The agnostic thing is a real obstacle. Praying is usually an end to itself, not an approach to another task. I’m a pretty secular person; I would find it awkward to ask God to bless or direct things as I do them.
Maybe a good place to start would be with my Mormon stuff. Most of my Mormon stuff is on the internet now. Maybe I could approach my Mormon internet stuff prayerfully.
Do any bloggers out there blog prayerfully?
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7 comments:
Do any bloggers out there blog prayerfully?
Yes. But admittedly not all the time. D&C 50 has guidelines I try to follow when I teach in person and sometimes when I blog.
I have never blogged prayerfully.
But I did read my husband's handbook when he was in the bishopric. He came in and said, "honey, you're not supposed to read that." I said, "too late."
Why I love blogger word verification: Because the word now is wzapdud. How cool is that?
Geoff & RT, thanks for the links. Some things to think about. Geoff, I had some initial problems figuring out what guidelines you were referring to, probably because it was so long. I will read it again to get a better feeling for the context. RT did a short one. Good job, RT. I can wrap my brain around two verses.
Annegb, did you read anything cool?
Sometimes.
One thing that helped my prayers was reading some twelve-step program material on prayers.
Given that about half of the original AA members were agnostics or atheists, they have some interesting things to day.
I read that people who have been abused shouldn't be punished for immoral behavior because they are suffering, or something like that.
Nothing controversial.
Who me? Not really.
And I think it shows sometimes.
Seth R.
Actually, I'm realizing I didn't know there was such a thing as "secret priesthood papers." What did they say?
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