A Countdown to Christmas

In an attempt to help us believe in Christ and come to know Him, Moroni (a prophet of the Book of Mormon) declared, "I will show unto you a god of miracles,"Mormon 9:11 The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

John similarly invited us to come to know Christ by pointing to his miracles: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name,"  John 20:30-31 Holy Bible. 

To countdown to Christmas this year, I am going to write about a different miracle recorded in the scriptures each day. I hope you will join me, and that we will come to see ourselves in the miracles, become better acquainted with Christ, and have more faith in His love, power, and willingness to bless us.   

Today's miracle is recorded in 2 Kings 20:1-6

     In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.  And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 
     Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.  And Hezekiah wept sore.  
     And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard they prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. 
     And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.  

I have often wondered if my prayers had any real power. If we are supposed to pray for God's will to be done, and He is just going to do His own will anyway, I have wondered what is the point of praying for what I want?

The LDS bible dictionary teaches, "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them."

I love Hezekiah's miracle. It shows that the blessings God is willing to grant are generous and miraculous, and that our prayers do have power.  There are other instances in the scriptures where God specifically points out that the outcome is directly because of a person's prayer (Alma 31:38, Mosiah 27:14).  In such cases, God's will isn't being changed because of prayer, but rather it is more fully accomplished.  Because of our prayers and His power, we can change what is and what will be.  That is a miracle.