Friday, September 12, 2008

Family Life Line

Every once in awhile I read or hear something that encourages me to keep on keeping on. Earlier this week I received a gem in my inbox on family prayer. I know there is a protective power in prayer both spiritual and physical, that our families need and are blessed by. I know that as we kneel in prayer each morning before the boys head out the door for school and pray that they will make wise choices, will be watched over, that they will learn and understand what they are taught, I am comforted and know that they each are as well. Read the following story and you will likewise be encouraged to keep on keeping on.

James E. Faust, "The Lifeline of Prayer," Ensign, May 2002, 60-61

"The Savior told us, 'Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed' (3 Nephi 18:21). In our day, the Church urges us to have family prayer every night and every morning. . . .

"Family prayer is a powerful and sustaining influence. During the dark days of World War II, a 500-pound bomb fell outside the little home of Brother Patey, a young father in Liverpool, England, but the bomb did not go off. His wife had died, so he was rearing his five children alone. He gathered them together at this very anxious time for family prayer. They 'all prayed . . . earnestly and when they had finished praying, the children said: "Daddy, we will be all right. We will be all right in our home tonight."

" 'And so they went to bed, imagine, with that terrific bomb lying just outside the door half submerged in the ground. If it had gone off it would have destroyed probably forty or fifty houses and killed two or three hundred people. . . .

" 'The next morning the . . . whole neighborhood was removed for forty-eight hours and the bomb was finally taken away. . . .

" 'On the way back Brother Patey asked the foreman of the A. R. P. Squad: "Well, what did you find?"

" ' "Mr. Patey, we got at the bomb outside of your door and found it ready to explode at any moment. There was nothing wrong with it. We are puzzled why it did not go off" ' (Andre K. Anastasiou, in Conference Report, Oct. 1946, 26). Miraculous things happen when families pray together."

SUBSCRIBE TO GEMS HERE

9 comments:

Brenda said...

Thanks for the inspiration! We always say our family prayer at night, but slack off in the morning. I am going to get us back on track with this. It always helps our days go so much more smoothly! I love the picture of your kids...

[M] said...

Family prayers are hard for us because nobody sits still or listens. Max gets scared (a lot) during the day and wants to say a prayer to help him not be scared anymore. We say lots of those every day. It's pretty cute. Thanks for the post.

Shayla said...

I've been thinking a lot about family prayer and scripture this week. We've really been trying to get better at it, but constantly struggle. We had prayer morning and night at the beginning of the week and then missed a day later in the week. The difference in those days was staggering to me. Something so simple can bring such amazing results, I don't know why it is so hard when I look at it that way. Thanks for the inspiring story.

Alicia Leppert said...

That story is chilling. So, so great. Thanks for this post. We do pretty good with family prayer at night, but not so much in the morning. (It's hard for me when Bill leaves before I have to wake up) But there is always a way to do it, I just need to make sacrifices!
P.S. Love the picture.

Debie Spurgeon said...

Thanks for sharing these essential thoughts Natasha. Sheri Dew once said something that hit me, she said in times gone by it might have been ok to get by on just one family prayer a day, but as the last days are advancing, it has become ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to pray with our families both morning and night. We aren't perfect, thanks for the reminder.

Deborama said...

Thats awesome, my sister in law said sending the kids off to school without prayer is like sending them out on a winter day with no coat.

Megan said...

loved the story. subscribed to GEMS

Megan said...

loved the story. subscribed to GEMS

Shauna said...

What a beautiful post thanks for sharing :)