President Eyring’s talk: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/17eyring?lang=eng

President Nelson has designated this year as “a bicentennial period commemorating 200 years since God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith in a vision.” President Nelson invited us to make a personal plan to prepare ourselves for this historic conference, which commemoration he said would be “a hinge point in the history of the Church, and your part is vital.”

Like me, perhaps you heard his message and asked yourself, “In what way is my part vital?” Perhaps you read and prayed about the events of the Restoration. Perhaps, more than ever before, you read the accounts of those few times when God the Father introduced His Beloved Son. Perhaps you read of the instances when the Savior spoke to the children of our Heavenly Father. I know I did all of those things and more.

How did you prepare for this historic General Conference?

How did you feel during the Conference sessions?

And since?

How, then, can each of us participate in this work of such magnitude and grandeur? President Nelson has taught us how to grow in spiritual power. When we take repentance as a joyful opportunity because of our growing faith that Jesus is the Christ, when we understand and believe that Heavenly Father hears our every prayer, when we strive to obey and live the commandments, we grow in our power to receive continuing revelation. The Holy Ghost can be our constant companion. A feeling of light will stay with us even as the world around us becomes darker.

Why should we regard repentance as a joyful opportunity?

What does it have to do with our ability to receive continuous revelation?

Throughout his prophetic ministry, Joseph Smith used prayers of faith to obtain continuous revelation. As we face today’s challenges and those yet to come, we too will need to practice the same pattern. President Brigham Young said, “I do not know any other way for the Latter-day Saints than for every breath to be virtually a prayer for God to guide and direct his people.”

What pattern do you see in the way that Joseph used prayers of faith to obtain continuous revelation?

What can we learn from this?

See D&C 42:14 – ‘And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; ‘

Preach My Gospel pages 100-101 makes the following suggestions for praying with faith:

• use the language of prayer
• always express gratitude for your blessings
• pray specifically for the guidance and help of the Holy Ghost
• pray with love and charity
• pray for people by name
• pray that you will be shown where to go and what to do
• recognise that your Heavenly Father knows what you need better than you do
• in your prayers at night, give the Lord an accounting of your day’s activities
• pray to overcome temptation
• pray and, when appropriate, fast for special blessings
• pray about and ponder the scriptures
• believe that God will answer your prayers.

Would any of these suggestions help you improve your prayers?

These words from the sacrament prayer should then describe our daily life: “Always remember him.” “Him” refers to Jesus Christ. The next words, “and keep his commandments,” suggest what it means for us to remember Him. As we remember Jesus Christ always, we might ask in silent prayer, “What would He have me do?”

In the mission leadership seminar in June 2019, after partaking of the sacrament, before beginning his formal message, President Russell M. Nelson said: “A thought has occurred to me that my making a covenant today is a lot more important than the message that I have prepared. I made a covenant as I partook of the sacrament that I would be willing to take upon me the name of Jesus Christ and that I am willing to obey His commandments. Often, I hear the expression that we partake of the sacrament to renew covenants made at baptism. While that’s true, it’s much more than that. I’ve made a new covenant. You have made new covenants. … Now in return for which He makes the statement that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. What a blessing!”

What do you feel is the significance of President Nelson’s observation that each time we partake of the sacrament we make a new covenant?

Dennis B Neuenschwander said. ‘As we all have a tendency to forget, the Lord has provided some gentle reminders to help us remember important things in the gospel. For those who are endowed, frequent visits to the temple remind us of holy covenants and promises. Frequent reading of the scriptures keeps important things in our remembrance. Perhaps the most pervasive reminder of all is the sacrament. All members of the Church can participate weekly in this important ordinance. By so doing we are regularly reminded of our willingness to take His name upon us, to keep His commandments, and to always remember Him. If we remember and do these things, the Lord promises that His Spirit will be with us, which Spirit brings “all things to [our] remembrance” (John 14:26).’

How can we better use the sacrament to help us to progress?

When I pray with faith, I have the Savior as my advocate with the Father and I can feel that my prayer reaches heaven. Answers come. Blessings are received. There is peace and joy even in hard times.

‘Just as pondering the scriptures invites the Holy Ghost, so does daily pleading in prayer. If we do not ask in prayer, He will rarely come, and without our petition He is not likely to linger. ‘ (Henry B Eyring, General Conference, October 1997).

Have you noticed any difference in the way you have approached prayer in those times when you have felt that your prayers reached heaven and those times when you felt that they didn’t get beyond the ceiling?

Satan’s attempt to thwart the beginning of the Restoration was so severe because Joseph’s prayer was so important. You and I will have smaller parts to play in the ongoing Restoration. Yet the enemy of the Restoration will try to stop us from praying. The example of Joseph’s faith and his determination can strengthen us in our resolve. This is one of many reasons why my prayers include thanks to Heavenly Father for the Prophet Joseph.

Have you experienced this? How did you overcome Satan’s attempts to keep you from praying?

Our ability to make our vital contribution to the wonderful continuing Restoration will increase as we grow in our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Heavenly Father as our loving Father. As we pray in faith, we become a vital part in the Lord’s work as He prepares the world for His Second Coming. I pray that we all may find joy in doing the work He invites each of us to perform.

See D&C 33:17-18 –

• 17 Wherefore, be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom—
• 18 For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that I come quickly. Even so. Amen.

In what ways might praying in faith help us become a vital part in the Lord preparing the world for the Second Coming?

NB: Passages in italics are excerpts from President Eyring’s talk.