In the last general conference in President Monson's opening talk he said, "There remain areas of the world where our influence is limited and where we are not allowed to share the gospel freely. As did President Spencer W. Kimball over 32 years ago, I urge you to pray for the opening of those areas, that we might share with them the joy of the gospel. As we prayed then in response to President Kimball’s pleadings, we saw miracles unfold as country after country, formerly closed to the Church, was opened. Such will transpire again as we pray with faith."

I read this during my break the other day in the temple. First of all, how many people actually remember to specifically pray for the opening of these countries. I know that I didn't remember about this until I read it last week. I have read the conference issue several times through, but missed that every time.

I also have thought a lot about why we are asked to pray for the opening of these countries because surely this is already Heavenly Father's will. I went and read about prayer in the bible dictionary and this is the answer I received, "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... Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." This made so much sense to me, that there are so many blessings God wants to give each of us but they are conditional upon our asking for them. That is why we are taught to pray with faith, giving thanks for our many blessings and then humbly asking for the things we need. It is a way for us to receive the greatest of all blessings, a way to "work out our own salvation" like I wrote about the other day.