Fifth Sunday Forum: "A Matter of the Heart"

Our son Spencer hasn't yet figured out the concept of folding arms for prayers. Not sure why. We remember that Lucy picked it up without any prodding. She just learned by watching us and we expected Spencer would be the same.
No dice.
So we've tried to teach him- tried to wrap one little arm across his body, followed by the other.
Nope.

But he does acknowledge prayer time - with his own chosen ritual: hands (or often just one hand) over his heart.

I'm sure it's his attempt to mimic our folded arms.

And while it's not exactly traditional, it is dear and instructive to us. Helps us to remember daily something that President Eyring wrote a few months ago - something we hope ultimately to teach our children:

"Prayer is a matter of the heart."

We wanted to focus on the topic of heartfelt prayer for today's Fifth Sunday Forum. What are your favorite quotes/scriptures about prayer? How do you improve your personal and/or family prayers (it's a circus with little people, isn't it?)? How do you teach your children to pray from their heart? Any thoughts are welcome!

Here are two of our favorite quotes.

(Wes) "I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me." — C.S. Lewis

(Lori) "I can’t remember a sermon from my mother or my father about prayer. They prayed when times were hard and when they were good. And they reported in matter-of-fact ways how kind God was, how powerful, and how close. ...I testify that our Heavenly Father answers the pleadings of faithful parents to know how to teach their children to pray." — Henry B. Eyring

Feast on the Word: A Forum

Mosiah 29: 20
But behold, [the Lord] did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him.

We've been reading a lot of scriptures about trusting God in our family of late and they fill us with hope! We memorized this one at the beginning of the month. Lucy loved marking it up in her scriptures and correcting us when we'd tease her with phrases like "because they cried lazily unto him he did deliver them" or "and thus doth the Lord work with his power in some cases"

Helaman 5:12
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Lucy learned How Firm A Foundation in primary last year and has been singing it non-stop lately. We suspected, however, that she didn't have any idea what it meant. So this week for FHE we started to memorize Helaman 5:12 and experimented with "firm foundations." We built block towers on top of various bases (a sturdy, heavy wooden box, a cardboard box, and a pillow) to see which foundation was the most secure. Songs included Lucy's "Firm a Foundation," and The Wise Man and the Foolish Man. We labeled our strongest foundation with a picture of Christ and then "built our life" on him with blocks labeled with Lucy's ideas about "following Jesus"(learn, obey, love, share, help, etc).

We have Gene R. Cook's Teaching by the Spirit book on tape in our car and it has been the source of much discussion lately. Anyone read it? We keep talking and talking about various sections...

Finally:

For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave each of her grandchildren one of these darling framed temple pictures. Such a simple idea - such a treasure! My kids love them and want to sing "I Love to See the Temple" every time they spot their picture on the dresser.

OK! That's plenty for one day!
Look forward to your thoughts/questions/ideas!