Writing is a powerful tool that enables personal progression. Unfortunately, this is a tool that isn't used to its full potential by many. In this article, I will introduce a form of writing that is more powerful than just recording your thoughts and the events of the day. The particular form of writing I'll be focusing on is called Letter to God.
This letter is basically a written prayer. The simple act of writing down what you want to pray about, or for, helps you think more deeply. A written prayer is often more carefully phrased and more sincere than a spoken prayer.
Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are uncomfortable with the idea of writing a prayer. There is nothing wrong or sinful about writing a prayer. Our sacred ordinances, such as baptisms and the sacrament, are written prayers. The dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple was received by revelation and written down so it could be read verbatim, then eventually became the 109th section of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Writing a letter to God is fairly straightforward. You start by writing "Dear God," or "Dear Father in Heaven," or whatever is comfortable for you and then you just write what's on your mind. You can share your experiences of the day, you can ask questions, you can record your thoughts and feelings, whatever is on your mind. I've met people whose most helpful, edifying, and uplifting letters were when they were just upset and vented at God about all of their problems.
Writing letters to God like this can be very helpful. It helps you think through your desires and prayers a little more. It is another form of accountability. It helps you remember things better. It can also be a very powerful form of revelation.
Another way that Letters to God are helpful is they can help you be consistent in your prayers without having vain repetitions. It is important to understand that while we are warned against vain repetitions in our prayers, repetitions are not bad. The 1828 Merriam Webster dictionary is a powerful resource because it shows what words meant when Joseph Smith was translating the Book of Mormon. In that time the most frequent use for vain meant, "empty or meaningless." Repetitions in prayer, or pray consistently for or about things that are important to us are good so long as we make sure they are full of meaning. Letters to God can help facilitate that process.
This happens when you write a prayer with the intention of reading and reciting that prayer several times. You follow basically the same pattern as any other Letter to God; you start with addressing Him however you're comfortable and then you thoughtfully write down the desires of your heart. You return to this letter often, usually once or twice a day. As you review the letter/prayer you look for ways to revise it and make it more specific, or to make it sharper, to better communicate the desires of your heart. As you pray in this manner with sincerity and consistency, you will see a subtle change in the power of your prayers. The Lord wants us to ask, seek, and knock. I think seeking implies repeated effort. God wants us to ask with consistency. He will test our patience a little to see if we really want what we are asking for as much as we say we do. Following this pattern will help you pray with consistency for your deepest desires, to pray with repetitions, but not vain repetitions.
My favorite part about writing letters to God is when I receive a letter back. This may sound weird but it's not very different from the process of how Joseph Smith received most of the Doctrine and Covenants. Receiving a letter from God is simple but powerful. The pattern I follow when I want to receive a letter from God is I begin by writing a letter. In that letter, I ask any questions or share thoughts that I may have that I'm seeking guidance on. After I finish writing the letter I pause and try to get my head and my heart to a good place.
One of the things I have found is I have to be willing to receive the letter, I have to be willing to listen. And this isn't the kind of listening that you do with your ear but the kind of listening that you do with your heart. If I'm in the right place of head and heart and if God wants to communicate with me and typically what happens is I hear the words "Dear Bryton" come into my mind. Then other words begin to follow and I write them down exactly as they come.
At the moment you are receiving these words they may not all make sense. I've even had experiences where God told me words I didn't know what they meant and I had to go look up the definitions later. Write them down exactly as you received them. There was another experience where I was receiving a letter and there was a word that I didn't think fit in the sentence so I wrote down a different word instead. It was as if a concrete wall fell and stopped all communication. Nothing was coming, so I went back and erased what I had written and wrote down what the word was supposed to be. Then the barrier lifted and communication began to flow again.
After God finishes responding I go back and reread the letter. I've found that the content of the letters is similar in quality to my patriarchal blessing. These letters are personal. These letters are sacred. The things that are communicated to me come in a way where I don't doubt that it literally is a communication from my Father in Heaven.
Another thing I have found is there's nothing else that better prepared me to give Melchizedek priesthood blessings. The process of receiving a letter from God for myself is very similar to the process of receiving a priesthood blessing for somebody else. As I've asked other people who've had both experiences of receiving a letter from God as well as giving a priesthood blessing to someone else they have shared similar thoughts and feelings that the experiences are quite close.
Writing Letters to God is a very powerful and versatile form of writing. It is something many do consistently as part of their Border Patrol. I recommend that you try it. If you write a prayer to your God daily for twenty-one days in a row, what miracles might you witness or revelations might you receive?
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