"And my soul hungered"

"And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in might prayer and supplication for mine own soul..." (Enos 1:4)
"And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore...[pouring] out [her] soul before the Lord." (1 Samuel 1:10,15)
"...I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God...exerting all my powers to [do so]..." (Joseph Smith-History 1:15,16)

Prayer has played a pivotal role throughout the scriptures. That is not surprising, considering that it is a commandment to call on the name of the Lord in prayer. In 2 Nephi, chapter 9 verses 8 and 9, we are told that the Spirit of the Lord teaches us to pray. Verse 9 states, "But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ..."
The prophet Alma teaches his sons to, "...cry unto God for all thy support...Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good..." (Alma 37:36,37)
The Lord has promised that if we will call on Him in the name of Christ, we will receive our righteous desires in His will and in His way: "Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7)
Bishop Dean M. Davies, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric said, "Prayer is one of the most basic and important foundational building blocks of our faith and character. Through prayer we are able to express our gratitude, love, and devotion to God. Through prayer we can submit our will to His and in return receive the strength to conform our lives to His teachings."
In the Bible Dictionary it says, "As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part...Prayer is..an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings."
God wants us to speak to Him. He has given us prayer in order for us to communicate with Him on a daily basis-in fact, more than just once a day!
The three quotes from the books of Enos, Samuel, and Joseph Smith-History (at the top of the page), are about three people who desired answers. They wanted peace of mind and a greater understanding of what the Lord wanted them to do. Enos desired forgiveness of his sins and for the blessings of the Lord to rest upon his family, his friends and even his enemies. Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, asked the Lord for a child and promised that the child would be given to Him to serve Him all its life. Joseph Smith sought an answer to an age-old dilemma: which church is true? Each of these faith-filled people sought the Lord in prayer and found Him. They found the answers that they so desperately desired.
One of my favorite lines in the book of Enos is "...I cried unto him in mighty prayer..."
Mighty prayer. I have thought a lot about what mighty prayer is. 'Might' or 'mighty' are synonyms for 'great' and 'powerful'. Mighty prayer is when we have a great desire for the things we are asking God for, whether that be help and strength to face trials and afflictions, relief from grief or pain, help for a family member or friend struggling with difficult decisions or disease, or anything else our heart yearns for.
"The Lord is in the details of our lives." He wants us to be happy and He has given us prayer so that we can obtain many of the blessings that He so greatly desires to give to us.
Prayer is real. It is how we communicate with God. It is how we express love, gratitude and devotion. It is 'an appointed way for obtaining the highest of blessings.'
God desires to bless us. He desires our happiness in this life and our eternal life in the world to come. Allow Him to bless you as you pray.
No matter how quickly the world seems to have fallen down, or no matter how happy life is right now, the Lord is there to comfort, strengthen and bless us. He is there so that we are never alone.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27) The Lord wants to give us peace. Through prayer, we can find the peace that Christ spoke of.