So this is part of a talk I was asked to give in church last week. I overprepared, it's pretty long. I'll post it in sections. Here's section 1! In fact, I had so much material prepared that I exceeded my time limit and our Branch President had to kindly ask me to sit down. :D I feel quite accomplished because of that.
So this talk was on faith & revelation (inspiration) from the Lord to us personally as well as through our living prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson. Okay first things first. Before I actually start the typing of my actual talk I need to tell you about some of the things in it. Not everything in here is from the scripture (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) and not all of it is church doctrine. Some of the things are from other sources that I really like. Books, songs, etc. I'll try to give as much information on my sources as I can.
This first song is from a singing group called Celtic Thunder. This is the first verse to their song entitled 'A Bird Without Wings'.
"Like a bird without wings
That longs to be flying,
Like a motherless child
Left lonely and crying.
Like a song without words,
Like a world without music,
I wouldn't know what to do
I'd be lost without you
Watchin' over me."
I think at times we all feel like this. We need someone watching over us and Heavenly Father is there waiting for us to just ask for His help.
President Thomas S. Monson (of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) said: "Remember that you are entitled to our [Heavenly] Father's blessings in this work. He did not call you to your privileged post to walk alone, without guidance, trusting in luck. On the contrary, He knows your skill, He realizes your devotion, and He will convert your supposed inadequacies to recognized strengths. He has promised: 'I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear up.'"
How awesome it is to know that we're going to be blessed and that Heavenly Father will be there for us and that there will be angels around us. By angel I don't mean angels with wings that come and help you only when you need it. Heavenly Father lets people into our lives and lets them perform miracles in our lives and sometimes the person performing the miracle isn't totally aware of what's happening on the receiver's end. :D
In the November 2009 Ensign (LDS Church magazine, I can get you a copy if you want one), page 46, President Boyd K. Packer said,
“Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil.”
How true that is. I know there’s been times in my life, said to say, when I may have been like, “You know what? I’m doing pretty good right now. Maybe I don’t need the Lord’s help.” We’re human and each of us is pretty independent. Maybe at times each of us feels that way. But I know that we can’t obtain true happiness without the Lord’s help.
In the student Institute manual entitled “The Gospel and the Productive Life” there are several things that related to my talk. Since there are so many I’ll make this into one paragraph and put the page numbers in ( ) after each quote.
“Elder Henry B. Eyring: “I have had prayers answered. Those answers were most clear when I wanted them silenced by an overpowering need to know what God wanted. It is then that the answer from a loving Heavenly Father can be spoken to the mind by the still, small voice and can be written on the heart.”” (pg 9). “
Elder Dallin H. Oaks: “We do not always receive inspiration or revelation when we request it. Sometimes we are delayed in receiving revelation, and sometimes we are left to our own judgment and understanding based on and study and reason. We cannot force spiritual things. It must be so.”” (pg 9).
We were sent to this earth to be tested and we were giving free agency to help us do that. So doesn’t it make sense that Heavenly Father would have us make decisions? :D
“Communication with our Father in Heaven is not a trivial matter. It is a sacred privilege. It is based on unchanging principles. When we receive help from our Father in Heaven, it is in response to faith, obedience, and the proper use of agency.
“It is a mistake to assume that every prayer we offer will be answered immediately. Some prayers require considerable effort on our part. True, sometimes impressions come when we have not specifically sought them. They generally concern something we need to know and are not otherwise able to find out.
“We are here on earth to gain experience we can obtain in no other way. We are given the opportunity to grow, to develop, and to gain spiritual maturity. To do that, we must learn to apply truth. How we face challenges and resolve difficult problems is crucially important to our happiness.” (pg 10).
“It is vitally important to recognize that the Lord also responds a third way to prayer by withholding an answer when the prayer is offered. Why would He do that?
“He is our perfect Father. He loves us beyond our capacity to understand. He knows what is best for us. He sees the end from the beginning. He wants us to act to gain experience.
“When He answers yes, it is to give us confidence.
“When He answers no, it is to prevent error.
“When He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him, obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth. We are expected to assume accountability by acting on a decision that is consistent with His teachings without prior confirmation. We are not to sit passively waiting or to murmur because the Lord has not spoken. We are to act.
“Most often what we have chosen to do is right. He will confirm the correctness of our choices His way. That confirmation generally comes through packets of help found along the way. We discover them by being spiritually sensitive. They are like notes from a loving Father as evidence of His approval. If, in trust, we begin something which is not right, He will let us know before we have gone too far. We sense that help by recognizing troubled or uneasy feelings.” (pg 11).
Isn’t that pretty awesome? To think that each of us can obtain little notes from our Heavenly Father? That’s just the coolest thing to me. Since we know how we can receive these little ‘notes’ shouldn’t we try to receive as many as possible?
“When we seek inspiration to help make decisions, the Lord gives us gentle promptings. These require us to think, to exercise faith, to work, to struggle at times, and to act. Seldom does the whole answer to a decisively important matter or complex problem come all at once. More often, it comes a piece at a time, without the end in sight.” (pg 12).
Recently I had a big ‘puzzle’ of a problem. I started praying in November that the Lord would help me know what to do about this problem. The Lord did not give an answer when I first prayed. Over the course of the next two months, the Lord ‘tore away’ some pieces of the puzzle. Although most of the ‘puzzle pieces’ were no longer there and bugging me, there were a few pieces left and I felt that I needed the Lord’s help to know what to do with them. Once there were just a few ‘pieces’ left I was able to get an answer from the Lord. I didn’t get it the first time I prayed with the fewer ‘puzzle pieces’ either, though. It literally came to me when I least expected it. But now I know what I’m supposed to do and I’m striving to go on the path that the Lord desires for me.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
- Proverbs 3:5-6
“But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me it if be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. “But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong.”
- Doctrine and Covenants 9: 8-9 (If you don’t know what the Doctrine and Covenants is, send me a message and I’ll explain it to you!)
I actually heard a really awesome (and true!) story that happened because of this scripture. A few years ago, probably 4 or 5, while in a Young Women’s meeting at church on Sunday we were talking about prayer or something along the sorts. I really don’t remember the lesson but I remember the story. My teacher was telling of a time in her life when she was unsure of what decision to make. She was in college. She had been dating a young man for a number of months and she was fairly certain that he was ready to propose (marriage) to her. However, she was uncertain of what she would say to him. She loved him, yes. But she was not sure she wanted to be his eternal companion. She had been praying for an answer for a number of days but no answer had come. That weekend, her and a bunch of her friends, guys and girls, decided that they were going to go up on the mountain and ski or snowboard (I don’t remember which one). Anyways, while they were on the mountain this young woman met a young man and they ‘clicked’ instantly. They had lots of fun that day while going down the mountain. The entire time that she was with ‘snow boy’ she had forgotten about the young man that she was in a relationship with. This young woman and ‘snow boy’ were married and now have a handsome son. :D
Prayer works, and the Lord is letting us all have access to it. We can learn so much from Him. Please don’t rob yourself of that knowledge!
An easiness to believe in the Lord and His words will come when the word of God is etched in our hearts. Some scriptural references for that are:
* Jeremiah 31:33 “But this shall be the acovenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my blaw in their inward parts, and write it in their chearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
* Proverbs 7:3 “aBind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine bheart.”
* 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, awritten not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in btables of stone, but in cfleshy tables of the dheart.”
An easiness and willingness to believe also comes from: A softness of heart. A heart sensitive to the Holy Ghost. A heart that can love. A heart that will make and keep sacred commandments and covenants. A heart that can feel the power of the Atonement of Christ.
In April 2008 General Conference (Message me if you want to know more about it…) Elder David A. Bednar gave a talk entitled: “Ask in Faith”. These next few quotes are from it. I’ll make this one paragraph and put the paragraph number after the quote.
“Simply saying prayers is quite a different thing from engaging in meaningful prayer.” (paragraph 1).
“faith is the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness” (paragraph 11).
“Asking in faith requires honesty, effort, commitment, and persistence.” (paragraph 14).
“Such a prayer of faith might include some of the following elements: “Thanking Heavenly Father… “Asking for courage and boldness… “Entreating Heavenly Father to help us… “Pledging to do our part this day and this week… “Seeking for the gift of the discernment… “Praying fervently for strength to act… “Gratitude should be expressed…” (paragraphs 16-23).
President Thomas S. Monson said, “The future is as bright as your faith.”
I don’t mean to seem rude by this but… Well, duh. Of course our future is as bright as our faith. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing. Without our faith, where would we be?
So, I’m really into songs. One song I think that can relate to this is a song entitled “He Hears Me”. This song is from ‘The Ultimate EFY CD’. The music’s pretty amazing. (If you want to know what it’s like message me & I can tell you where to find it!)
Here I am again, down on my knees
And with every pleading word,
Thy comfort I seek
Though the words are slow to come,
my thoughts are racing by
Peace fills the room,
Thy spirit is nigh
CHORUS: He hears me
When I’m crying in the night
He hears me
When my soul longs to fight
‘Til the morning will come
And the light of the dawn
Reasures…
He hears me
Any hour, wherever I may be
In the silence of an empty room,
or on a crowded street
Whether offering thanks,
or in urgency I pray
I never go unnoticed,
I’m never led astray
Chorus
Any whisper of the soul
No matter how old
Father hears the call
Chorus
Isn’t that awesome? I hope each and everyone one of us can take these to heart and obtain an easiness and willingness to believe in our Lord’s words. I know it’s possible. All we have to do is pray. :D
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