Recently I reviewed my journal and relived some spiritual experiences. I noted a couple of things that I thought might be interesting to the readers of this blog. Let me know your thoughts and experience on this subject.
Some spiritual experiences are accompanied by a feeling of joy, sometimes the presence of joy is complete, meaning, there isn’t room to experience more joy, while other spiritual experiences are not accompanied by joy. They are both spiritual experiences, but are different.
I think the message is the difference. Those spiritual experiences designed to give a message of love, assurance, and most of all comfort, leave us filled with the spirit (of joy). Other spiritual experiences have little or no feelings of joy associated with them, but do convey knowledge.
At two critical points in my life I received direction from the Lord in answer to prayer. I had no feeling of the spirit in either of these scared experiences, but I knew, nothing doubting, the Lord had communicated with me. In both instances the course of my life was changed.
Mormon Heretic
Posted on 16th February, 2008
Answers to prayer are a deeply personal thing, and I believe that experiences are all over the map. One frustrating thing to me is that I usually don’t recognize the spirit until long after an incident. Many times, it seems that I do something that at the time seems very inconsequential, but turns out to be very significant later on.
The converse is also true. Sometimes, I think that I receive some manifestation, only to later learn that I was mistaken. These divergent experiences often leave me confused. So, I generally try not to put too much faith in “bolt of lightning” experiences, and just try to be a good person. At these quieter times, is when spiritual things happen.
I don’t deny that cool experiences happen to others, but it seems like my experiences tend to be more like Oliver Cowdery trying to translate the BOM. Yes, it worked for Joseph, but me, not so much. Even still Oliver was a great man in his own right–he just wasn’t always part of as many miracles.
Jared
Posted on 16th February, 2008
MH–I agree, prayer can be an enigma. However, my experience has taught me that, at least in part, prayer is a learned experience and therefore we can grow in our ability to pray and also understand God’s dealings with us as individuals.
Leave your Comment