Keep Thou My Feet

Yesterday I had an interesting experience that was a reminder of the power and blessings of prayer.

It was 7:00 p.m. on a Saturday and I had been planning on going grocery shopping all day but never really got around to it. We had been thinking of going all together, but now it was really too late to leave and still get the kids in bed at a decent hour, so I decided to feed the baby and then leave Ryan home with all of the kids.

On the way to Aldi, I was feeling a little depressed because in my experience the pickings are pretty slim in the produce section this late in the evening and I was worried there wouldn't be any decent fruit left. On a whim I said a prayer that went about like this: "Heavenly Father, please let there be some good fruit left, because if we don't have any fruit I will end up eating too much chocolate and sugar for the next few days, and then I will feel sick and I will be a mean and grumpy mom."

The answer I got was interesting. It came in two parts. First an image came into my mind of a skinny woman praying that she could just get half a cup of rice to feed her children so they wouldn't be hungry. Immediately I felt a little ashamed that I was praying for fruit when so many of Heavenly Father's daughters make do with so much less than I do.

But before I could feel too guilty, the second part of the answer came. I was told that God was pleased that I had turned to him for help with my problem, small as it was, and that my prayer had been for a righteous desire (i.e. that I would be able to get some fruit so I could have a healthy diet, which would make it easier for me to be patient and meet my kids' needs).

The produce selection was better than I expected at Aldi. I ended up going home with plenty of great-looking fruit.

I have had experiences like this before in which I turned to Heavenly Father for help with something fairly trivial and he gave me the help I needed. Each time has reinforced my testimony that God is always pleased when we come to him with our righteous desires. He can't always give us what we ask him for, but it's always good to ask him for help.

To many people this might seem contradictory. It's hard for me to comprehend it myself. I think it can be hard to feel good about asking God for some small thing when there are so many people who suffer greatly and need his help more than we do. But God isn't limited in his capacity to help his children the way we as mortals are. The fact that he is helping me get some fruit at the store and find my keys or whatever other little thing doesn't make him too busy or tired to also help the starving woman praying for a handful of rice for her children. He loves both of us and wants both of us to ask for his help. There is also tremendous power through the Atonement of Jesus Christ to make it all right. I don't completely understand how it works, but he suffered the pains of all men and made mercy available to everyone, and it is through his sacrifice that it will all be made right in the end. I believe God wants us to petition him for help, even when we are asking for something that seems small compared to the things that other people struggle with, while also remembering how much he has already blessed us.