On most mornings I roll out of bed at an unearthly hour while the rest of the family slumbers. After exercising I retire to the master bath to clean up and get ready for work. When I am ready I douse the bathroom lights, step into the darkened master bedroom, and walk the well worn short distance to my wife's side of the bed where I kneel. We clasp hands. And then we pray together.

We take turns praying, switching off every other day. One recent morning when it was my wife's turn to pray, I thought about how much I love to hear her pray. I get some insight into her joys and concerns. I hear how much she cares about and loves others. I get a deeper glimpse into the magnificence of her soul. Her faith increases my faith. Her conversion more fully converts me and makes me a better man than I was before I knelt with her. I cannot describe in earthly terms the tenderness and transcendent grandeur of these brief moments.

We also kneel and pray together each evening before retiring. Our prayers are not perfect. While the house tends to be very quiet during our morning prayers, our evening prayers often occur amid a din of activity streaming from the other side of the bedroom door. Since I arise early, my wife usually leaves the room after our evening prayer to deal with all of the things with which wives and mothers regularly grapple to prepare the family for the following day.

I find that when I pray with my wife or with the family, I often use the same comfortable phrases. But I hope that these are not merely vain repetitions. A priesthood leader and friend recently told me that, although one may use repetitive words while praying, those words are not trite if they are sincere. The Lord, I am certain, knows my intent despite my poor expressive abilities.

I trust that God will divinely expand upon my meager words and will answer according to his love and his knowledge of what is in my best eternal interest. Thank goodness I don't have to rely solely on the requests I make based on my limited mortal viewpoint.

Another reason I love to hear my wife pray is that I perceive that her prayers are usually much closer to God's eternal will than are my own. Through my wife's prayers I gain greater understanding of God's heart and mind. I sense simplicity, love, wisdom, care for others, humility, and a host of other divine attributes too numerous to name. I feel uplifted and ennobled. I feel blessed to be my wife's husband.

What a blessing it is to hear my wife pray.
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