Title: Pray Always

Speaker: Elder David A. Bednar

Ensign, November 2008, p. 41

Step 1. Prayerfully read this talk. Ask for guidance

from the Holy Ghost to find those messages from the talk that Topics:
will help your particular family members. Pray always
Gratitude

Step 2. Plan the lesson using the scriptures,

Pray for Others

lds.org, Friend, New Era, Ensign, lesson manuals, institute

manuals, For the Strength of Youth pamphlet, etc. You can also consider the following
ideas:

For younger For older children or

children Show the simple diagram of “pray
always” and explain how our morning and evening prayers are
connected to our prayers throughout the day. Tell the story,
“What Would Jesus Do?” The boy said a silent prayer for help
in the moment help was needed, and it was given. To
completely understand this concept, it might be important to
continue this lesson throughout the week. Pray with younger
children in the morning to ask for help in a particular area the
child is working on, such as not hitting. When a difficult
situation arises, pray with your child and have your child
notice when help is given and then say a prayer of gratitude.
You can use the “prayer reminder” puzzle pieces and tell the
story of Enos’ prayer and the story of Jeremy and Daniel. Have
the children enact it with the cutouts. For a family prayer
sometime that week, you can say a prayer with only gratitude.
Encourage children to do the same in their prayers.
adults Talk about the “pray always” diagram and how
our prayers become connected throughout the day and weeks and
years, and how this fulfills the scriptures to “pray always.” Use the
activity “Heavenly Father Hears and Answers Prayers” to practice
praying always during the week. On the narrow strip with lines,
write some things you are working on and wish to ask Heavenly
Father for help with. On the first square write ideas of things to
pray for in your morning prayer. In the next square write ways you
can offer prayers of gratitude when help is given throughout the
day. In the next square write ways you can pray for additional help
th
during difficult times. In the 4 square write ways you can review
your day in your evening prayer in preparation for your morning
prayer. Slide the narrow strip inside the folded piece. Place this
reminder on your pillow to remind you to pray before you go to
bed. At night, place it beside your bed to remind you to pray in the
morning. Older children could tell the story of Enos and Jeremy and
Daniel to younger children. See also Elder Bednar’s talk from April
conference on prayer. This talk was a continuation of his last talk.
Sing, “Ere You Left Your Room this Morning.”

Step 3. Involve family members in carrying out the lesson plan. You can

use the planning wheel and agenda sheet provided at the beginning of this manual.