Seeking Happiness and Joy

As my mom was finishing her two Master's programs, she decided to reward her own hard work by purchasing her dream car--a bright red Jeep. Her Jeep is the fanciest car anyone in my family has ever owned. It has heated leather seats, power everything, radio/CD controls on the steering wheel, a sunroof, and many other things we had only seen in the movies. Her Jeep is also ridiculously smart. The Jeep's message board tells you which direction you are facing, how many miles until the gas tank is empty, and when to change the oil. I freaked out the day the message board told us the spare tire had low air pressure. How does the Jeep know that? Sure enough, when we checked it, the spare tire needed 8 psi. My mother and I were going for a ride in her fancy red Jeep. My mother was telling me that she was stressed, depressed, and overwhelmed. She asked me what she could do to gain control and find peace in her life. Before I could answer, the Jeep chimed in with an answer. We recognized

"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 ( Matt. 7: 7-11 ). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." I gave the closing prayer in a church meeting not long ago. Since then, I've been thinking a lot about prayer. I know God hears and answers prayers. I testify of that. As I prayed at