Prayer

My job is sometimes very high stress. I've endured more layoffs in my 16+ years here than Carter has pills. That, in and of itself, is stressful. But the Lord has been VERY good to me and my family. Knock on wood, I'm still kicking.

Other days my job's about as non-stressful as any job could be. I purchase some items for the group, I assure that everyone in Managed Services is happy, I assign some IP addresses to some ports on a router, I open and receipt a few Purchase Orders and I go home happy. It's actually very fun sometimes.

Then there are days when I'm actively looking for things to keep me busy. So has been my plight lately. On days like that, time creeps by slower than winter's sluggish strides toward spring. The end cannot get here quickly enough.

Don't ever think otherwise...I love my job! I am SOOO thankful for it. I don't mind the 24-mile commute, I don't mind the baloney I have to wade through from time to time, and I work for the best boss a man could ever hope for. I am VERY blessed.

Lately, though, there have been more of the slow days than the quick days. I can only clean up and arrange the storage closet so many times.

So, I decided to ask Heavenly Father a few days back if He would fill up my day. "Please give me something to work on", I said. I just want to work hard for my money. In fact, I sounded a little bit like the Brother of Jared when he pleaded with the Lord to touch his stones. He said, "Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which looks small unto the understanding of men." (Ether 3:5).

In the preceding verse, the Brother of Jared said, "And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea." (Ether 3:4)

As you know that the Lord touched those stones and made them shine in the darkness. In like manner, He touched my job and made it shine in the darkness, as well. The first day I asked for this blessing, I was so busy I didn't have time to do everything. There were still two or three tasks in my in box when I left for home.

The next morning, I thanked Heavenly Father for the day before and then asked for the same blessing. No sooner did I finish my prayer than several more things hit my desk and I felt busier than a one-eyed cat watching nine mouse holes. At the end of the day there were again several tasks left on my desk. Talk about going home happy! I was ecstatic! I LOVE days like that!

Now here I am on the third day of my little experiment and it's already nearly 11 o'clock. I've got enough work today to last me three days...and I am loving it. (By the way, I wrote this last night, not at work!)

May I just tell you, prayer works. It absolutely works. Like the Brother of Jared or Enos or any of those great Book of Mormon praying heroes, I have found from this small experience that it absolutely works. If done with real intent and with faith, the Lord will touch your life, too. He will touch those dark, lifeless places in your life and will make them shine in the darkness. Search for Him. Talk to Him.

As Richard G. Scott said in the last General Conference:

"Choose to converse with your Father in Heaven often. Make time every day to share your thoughts and feelings with Him. Tell Him everything that concerns you. He is interested in the most important as well as the most mundane facets of your life. Share with Him your full range of feelings and experiences."

If there is anything more mundane than my work life is some days, I don't know what it is. But despite that, Heavenly Father listened to me and showed He was interested. He will do the same for you, if you will just talk to Him. It REALLY works!

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