Manuscript Releases, vol. 10 [Nos. 771-850]

Prayer Request Translated Into the Things We Need

If we come to God and pray for things that are not in accordance with the will of God, then He that searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins of the children of men, translates that prayer into the very things that we need to ask God to give us. I loathe myself. I would clothe myself in sackcloth and ashes and cry, “Unclean, unclean.” The only cleanness that I can have is that which is in Jesus Christ. He takes my prayer and offers it to God, and if I make a mistake, and ask for the things that are not best, my prayer is translated into the very things that I should have, and want.—Manuscript 15, 1894, pp. 1, 11. (“Address to Students,” February 23, 1894.) 10MR 113.3