He Answers My Prayers

200 years ago, a boy named Joseph Smith saw God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. They were, and are, and forever will be two separate individuals with unique roles in bringing about our salvation.

In the boy Joseph's own words about the experience, he said:

“After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

“But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

“It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

I love this passage of scripture because I learn so much about the Plan of Salvation and Satan’s limited but very real power; the power of God and the closeness I truly have to Him; and the infinite power which I can call upon whenever we need it. There is a pattern which we can follow in order to receive answers to our prayers, and for the Prophet Joseph, that pattern began before his vision in the Sacred Grove.

It’s important to recognize that we have to do our part to gain answers to our prayers. We must formulate and ponder our questions, study them out in the scriptures, and meditate how the principles and doctrines of the Gospel apply to our question. We must have faith that we will receive answers to our prayers, and humility sufficient to recognize the answers when they come. One other important principle we learn from Joseph is that we must make a plan of action, if necessary, and then go to the Lord. Joseph spent some time attending different churches, studied the scriptures, and then he determined that he would go to the woods to pray and ask God Himself which church the boy should join.

Joseph Smith saw God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, as a result of diligent study, mediation, faith, and humble prayer.

There are two great principles to be learned from the First Vision. The first is that Satan has a very real and significant power, and yet we can overcome his power if we pray to our Father in Heaven. Temptations, distractions from and confusion about religion, faith, and the Savior have become commonplace in our society. But Christ has shown us the manner by which we can pray, and we can pray any time, whenever we need help. This first principle shows us that we have been given an incredible power – specifically, prayer – by which we can overcome the adversary.

The second principle we learn in these verses is that God answers our prayers and that he is listening; when we pray, there is someone at the other end of our prayer listening and waiting to respond. He will respond on his own time schedule, with the response that is best for us, but Heavenly Father will answer our prayers. He loves each one of us – as Elder Holland so gracefully said, “the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life.” We are His children and He is our Father. At any time and anywhere, we can pray for anything and anyone. Whether that prayer be in our heart or vocalized, for ourselves or for the benefit of others, in the form of a prayer or a blessing, Heavenly Father hears and answers all of our prayers according to His wisdom, and our faith.