Asking for help can be one of the hardest things we have to do. And sometimes, the fact that we need help is staring us in the face, but we won't ask...for whatever reason, is pretty humbling. Other times we just want to be able to do it all by ourselves, or we think we have to do it all by our selves and shouldn't have to ask for any help. It was never the plan for us to do it on our own.
Heavenly Father has given us a tool that helps us with this problem of asking for help. This is simply called prayer. "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 we must ask for in order to obtain" (The Guide to the Scriptures). Praying isn't just reciting words that are the same, said over and over again. This would be called "vain repetition" (see Matt 6:7; 3 Nephi 13:7). It is a real conversation that takes place between us and our Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ " (see John 14:13-14). Sometimes the challenge isn't so much talking and telling our Father in Heaven what we want as it is to listen and then act upon the answer received. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that assuredly as the Lord liveth, who is your God and your Redeemer, even so surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive" (D&C 8:1).
As I ponder these words, that we surely shall receive a knowledge of whatsoever we ask in faith, what then? I believe the biggest challenge isn't receiving answers to prayers but accepting the answer given and then doing our part which is to "follow [Christ], and do the things which ye have seen [Him] do" (2 Nephi 31:12). When we receive the answer to "endure to the end" (see 3 Nephi 15:9; 2 Nephi 31:16; D&C 14:7) in the most difficult circumstances, it does mean to follow the example of Christ and keep pressing forward. Christ didn't give up, but endured to the end as He finished every last drop of the "bitter cup" (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland) "without becoming bitter" (Elder Neal A. Maxwell). Sometimes, I admit, I want to be done with something. I don't like how hard it is or how difficult it is and most definitely how long it is taking or how long it is going to take (an entire life time). But, on days like that, honestly, the only thing that keeps me going, is the thought and knowledge that there is more than I can see.
Elder Russel M. Nelson said it beautifully when he said, "Eternal perspective provides peace 'which passeth all understanding.' (Philip. 4:7). In speaking at a funeral of a loved one, the Prophet Joseph Smith offered this admonition: "When we lose a near and dear friend, upon whom we have set our hearts, it should be a caution unto us. ...Our affections should be placed upon God and His work, more intensely than upon our fellow beings. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 216)" (Doors of Death). The affections of our heart will lead us, as we place them in their proper place, upon God, and we will receive answers to our prayers and get the help that we need. When our hearts are in the proper place our wills are aligned with the will of God and we won't "ask amiss" (James 4:3) but will be able to "ask in faith" and "do not ask for that which [we] ought not" (D&C 8:10).
Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ love us. They are waiting and wanting to help us do those things that will lead us back to them. They hear and answer our prayers. What a beautiful way for us to communicate with Them who love us beyond compare (see Romans 5:8). "Pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another" (D&C 90:24). This I testify is how to get through life, simply by communication with God through prayer and then acting in faith as He surely will and does answer.
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