Spending Time with the Lord
Spending time with the Lord is a worthy goal. Spending quality time with the Lord is even better.
Relationships are built in many ways, but “time” is a primary ingredient in each. Time to relationships, is like water to a flower, no matter what else we do right, without water a flower won’t develop and grow.
If we want to know our Father in Heaven there are things we can do to draw near to him. It is a matter of making time for him. Here is a short list of proven ways:
1. Prayer
2. Reading the Scriptures
3. Striving to keep the commandments
4. Serving in church callings
5. Providing for the poor and needy
If we sincerely and diligently do these things, the Lord will draw near to us (D&C 88:63).
Spending Quality Time with the Lord
Spending quality time with the Lord would include all the above, and could include three additional ingredients:
1. Boldness
2. Keep a journal
3. Fasting and prayer
Boldness and confidence go hand in hand. I’ve learned that it is appropriate to ask Heavenly Father for manifestations of His spirit to bless our lives. Spiritual experience deepen and strengthen our faith.
I suggest that in meekness, we boldly ask the Lord for what we need. In my estimation the greatest needs each of us has is to fulfill our baptismal covenant and receive the promised gift of the Holy Ghost.
This should be the part of our prayers everyday. Ask Heavenly Father to give us promised gift of the Holy Ghost that we were promised when we were baptized. Explain to him what we are doing, and willing to do in order to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This is where a journal comes in. We can write in journal those things we discuss with the Lord in prayer and then record our spiritual experiences when they are received.
Last but not least, is fasting and prayer. In fact, fasting and prayer may be the most important, as well as the most neglected, principle we have available to draw on the powers of heaven.
Be persistence, which is part of being bold. Don’t give up on obtaining an answer from the Lord. Learn how the Lord deals with His people. This is done by reading and praying about the scriptures.
Write down your feelings in your journal as you read the scriptures, and remember that many of the accounts in the scriptures can be duplicated in your life. The Lord gave us the scriptures for that very purpose.
To find examples in the scriptures about how to draw near to the Heavenly Father go here, and type in the search box, “cried unto the Lord” (put quotes as shown to narrow the results).
Because of the testimony I’ve been given about the Book of Mormon I always start there and then move to the other books of scripture.
Searching through these scripture will provide examples of how the Lord deals with those who seek Him diligently.
I wouldn’t spend my time writing about this subject unless I had first hand experience. I have had many wonderful manifestations of the Spirit by doing what I written in this post.
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