A Few Thoughts About Faith and Obtaining Answers to Our Prayers
I don’t know if everyone is born with some degree of faith or not. But I think it is safe to say that some are born having the gift of faith, and others can develop it.
When I refer to faith, I mean faith in God. The following list expresses a few things we know about faith as Latter Day Saints:
1. Because faith is wanting, the fruits are
A Few Thoughts on Getting the Lord’s Attention
ASK
Asking is a law of heaven. We can ask, petition, request, beg, and implore the Lord, depending on our need.
I’m Going to Shoot Old Joe Smith
The following is taken from a talk given at BYU by Robert H. Daines, 20 June 2000. Click here to see the entire talk.
The Prophet Joseph was a great exemplar, not only of this principle but also of having total faith and confidence in the promises of the Lord. I should like to share with you an entry from the diary of my great-great grandmother. This is a record of a little-known experience of the Prophet Joseph--little known because this diary was lost for 30 to 40 years in my mother's home in New Jersey. It was only rediscovered as they were preparing to move back to Utah in the late 1970s. This is a diary entry of Sister Sarah Stoddard. Her son Charles, my great-grandfather, as a boy of 14, was asked by the Prophet Joseph to serve as a houseboy for William Law, an enemy of the Prophet, and to inform him of any of the Laws' devious plans. It was, I guess, an early form of counterintelligence.
Each of Us Will Face Trials and Hardships in This Life
The following General Conference talk was given by Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Oct 2008. It was titled, "Hope Ya Know, We had a Hard Time", Ensign, Nov 2008, 102–6. For a shortened YouTube version, click here
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Do You Think the Bloggernacle Should Become an Extension of Sunday School?
I certainly hope not! They have very different purposes.
In many ways I like the Bloggernacle the way it is, kind’a like the old west. There are lots of unique personalities and ideas manifest here. I like being part of it. Each of us are becoming what are use of agency is making us, and the Lord has prepared various degrees of glory to accommodate our choices. The Lord wouldn't have it any other way (Abraham 3:5).
The following scripture makes this point:
Bloggernacle Stories of Lost Faith
In the two years I’ve been participating in the ‘nacle tales of lost or failing faith is a constant, and enduring leitmotif (Mormon 9:20). On occasion, someone will relate how they had a Spiritual experience that resolved their difficulty with church history or one of the other confounders of faith. But they are rare, receive few comments, and are quickly forgotten.
It seems many ‘nacler’s are stuck in the twilight zone of shrunken faith by choice, and when this carte du jour is challenged by someone (like myself) who can relate miraculous encounters with the things of the Spirit, they are instantly marginalized by the defenders of the status quo.
Our Proclivity for Sin and Error
The scriptures testify, abundantly so, of the propensity of men to sin. This is even true for those who have been given significant Spiritual experiences. One would suppose that those who have been so blessed would never sin again, but the scriptures and church history provide a different prospective. Prophets and church leaders are subject to sin and error just like the rest of us.
For example, Nephi, the son of Lehi appears to be a near perfect man. He does everything his prophet father asks of him, even with the intolerable burden of two older brothers working against his every effort. Nephi’s propensity for goodness is matched by his older brother’s propensity for wickedness. However, the impression of Nephi perfection is diminished when he reveals the turmoil going on in his heart when he says, “notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. 2 Nephi 4:17-18
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