One thing that I love the most about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that as I study and learn different topics, they all build on each other. (Isaiah 28:10, 2 Nephi 28:30) Someone asked a question on my FB news feed the other day and my answer came from a plethora of things that I had been studying lately. The point that I wanted to make came into focus as all these little things came together as my answer. I love it when that happens!
Today I studied a talk by Elder James B. Martino called Turn To Him and Answers Will Come. He discussed what conditions need to happen in order for God to answer our prayers. Mainly, if we don't have a sincere heart and real intent, He isn't going to answer merely on curiosity. As in the last few posts, the outcome depends on how prepared we are! What are you doing in preparation to asking Heavenly Father something? There are some promises and blessings given if we come prepared to ask our God questions.
Preparations
- Obedience to commandments
- Remember past spiritual experiences
- Soften your heart and ask in faith, believing you will get your answer
- Continue to hold fast to the iron rod by daily scripture study
- Turn To Him
- Call on the Lord through prayer and fasting
- Be ready to act on promptings
- Your answer will come and be made known unto you -- sometimes right away, sometimes not as an event but as a process
- Feelings of love and peace from the Savior
- Words of Christ will tell you what you should do
- Doors of revelation will open
- You will be susceptible to spiritual promptings
- Strengthened to withstand temptation to murmur and doubt
- Faithfulness will grow
...work without faith is dead. We must have faith with works to receive answers.When we show forth effort on our part, Heavenly Father will reach out to us. We do our part, He does his. It is easier to help someone else when you see they are trying their best to accomplish something. But it is harder to help someone if they don't want to help themselves. When we act upon promptings or show faith in going forward, I know our Heavenly Father is able to make up the difference and help us gain that answer or reach that goal that we are seeking.
When I was a teenager in the Young Women's program, I had the chance to go to a few Especially For Youth camps. I had some pretty spiritual experiences while there. While I attended them, those spiritual experiences helped solidify my testimony of who I am and where I wanted to go. I learned that I was a daughter of God and my goal was to enter the temple with my eternal companion. At times when I feel less than what I feel I should, I remember that spiritual experience. That foundation of my testimony is what kept me going and helped me to not give up when I felt like everything around me was falling apart. I've had several ups and downs since that experience and every time, I think back on it. It strengthens me to know that I can get through anything because I am a daughter of God who loves me. It is so important to have that knowledge. When we have a strong foundation to our faith, it can withstand even the hardest of times. Heavenly Father promises us that!
Can you remember a time when you had a powerful spiritual experience? Do you remember that and hold on to that testimony of it when times get hard?
...to all of us, if you "have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" If you do not feel it now, you can feel it again...What do we need to change in order to feel that redeeming love again?
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