Vain Repetitions

The Savior taught us that when we pray, we should avoid “vain repetitions.” They say that one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. If we keep praying for the same thing over and over again, but we don’t change up our actions or the ways that we show our faith to achieve that prayer, then our prayers are nothing but vain repetitions. If we’ve been struggling with the same thing over and over and getting nowhere, maybe we need to try something new. Look at when Nephi and his brothers went to go get the Brass Plates. I’m sure that Nephi was praying for the Lord’s help every minute of this dangerous mission that he was on. When they first sent in Laman to ask for the plates and that failed, they changed their approach. They tried to bribe Laban with all of the wealth they had left behind. And when that failed, Nephi snuck in at the dead of night and did something that was way out of his comfort zone and slew Laban in order to get the Plates. Nephi did not pray with vain repetitions. He kept changing his approach until his prayers were answered. It can be scary to try something new, and it can be hard to go forth with faith into an unknown path when everything else we’ve tried has ended in failure. But trying an insane new approach is a lot better than being driven insane by vainly repeating the same old method over and over and never getting different results. If we’ve been praying our hearts out over and over to move the mountain in front of us and haven’t managed it yet, then maybe it’s time to find the faith to move around the mountain instead.