Valerie Steimle is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormon” woman). She has been writing as a family advocate for the past 20 years. She is the mother of nine children living in southern Alabama and is the author of four books and a weekly newspaper column, Thoughts from the Heart.
We Should Pray to God Regularly
Through out our country’s history, we were known to be a people of prayer, religious conviction and those who promote life. We prayed before meals, before school started, before Congress, and before sport games. George Washington prayed during Valley Forge as well as many other military leaders and men in combat. So why has the media jumped all over Tim Tebow when he drops to a knee to thank his Heavenly Father for his blessings?
Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I am encouraged to pray with my family every day. From the President of the Church, Thomas S. Monson to my own congregation leaders, we are encouraged to pray every day with our families and privately. Prayer is the glue of what families need to stay together through difficult challenges and happy times.
Religious convictions, especially Christianity, have come under fire in many areas including entertainment, sports, education and government. Respect for the divine in our country is on a downward slope. The standard of what used to be acceptable in religion is slowly being undermined. In 2006 a public school teacher was forced by a federal judge to remove Christian-themed posters from his bulletin board. One of them was the picture of George Washington kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge . We remember the Ten Commandment fiasco when a monument showing the Ten Commandments had to be removed from our own state courthouse. There is a lack of regard for what we used to call respect for God’s authority. It is slowly taking over all those who are opposed to those who choose to keep this reverence.
From a talk in April of 1982 by John Groberg, one of the world wide leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints being a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy promotes the power of family prayer. He says, “Think of the power for good as you gather your family together and thank God for all of his blessings. Think of the eternal significance of daily thanking him for each member of your family and asking him to guide and bless and protect each one. Think of the strength that will come to your family as, daily, one member or another pours out his or her soul in love to God for other family members.” John Groberg knows the power of prayer as his life as a missionary in the Tongan Islands was a major motion picture release called “The Other Side of Heaven”.
From personal experience in raising nine children and then losing a husband at 46 years old, prayer was my life line. Everything wasn’t perfect but life went much smoother if we prayed together. When trials did arise, praying was sometimes all we could do to get through. We had purpose and we knew that our Father in Heaven loved us. It makes sense to me: praying as a family has helped to make our families better and our country great.
Additional Resources:
Our relationship with God is built on prayer. Learn more at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).
Learn more about strengthening the family.
Attend a local meetinghouse.
Valerie’s website: Strengthen Your Home.