prayer – Page 3 – What Do Mormons Believe?

Love of God and of All Mankind

All too often we find ourselves acting much like some of the Jews did at the time of Christ—we focus so much on the commandments that we are asked to live that we miss the big picture.

prayer

On the second day after Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, prior to his crucifixion and resurrection, he is at the temple teaching the people. In an attempt to “entangle” Christ, a Pharisee, who was a lawyer, asks Him, “Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus answers:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (St. Matthew 22:36-41, italics added for emphasis).

What does Christ mean when he says that all commandments and prophets hang on loving God and loving your neighbor? All commandments and teachings of all the prophets, both modern and ancient, are centered, built, and depend upon these two simple principles. Is it any wonder that Christ taught, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (St. John 14:15)?

03tailor2600

We frequently find ourselves tallying up the commandments that we need to live—praying daily, studying the scriptures, attending church, speaking with love to those around us, being grateful for all things, not entertaining immoral thoughts, and the list could go on and on. If we let ourselves become bogged down with living all of these commandments, it often leads to despair, because we realize that it is impossible to do or not do everything perfectly–the price of discipleship can seem unbearable. If we will rather turn our attention and focus to the two great commandments, loving God and loving all mankind, the rest of the commandments will take care of themselves. Prayer will happen naturally and be meaningful. Maintaining pure thoughts will be easier, speaking with kindness and love to everyone will be second nature. We will turn from sin much more readily and be much more inclined to do what Jesus would do, because of the love of God and love of all mankind that burns in our heart.

Loving God and loving others truly are the two great commandments. If we will focus on these two things, there will be nothing but joy and peace that flow into our life.

The Restoration

The Lord follows every apostasy with a new dispensation and a restoration of authority. Here is a short film produced by the Church which shows how the current dispensation was opened through the young man, Joseph Smith.

This is the second half of the same film.

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7).

Heavenly Father will answer your prayers, too. Ask Him whether Joseph Smith was a prophet.

Fasting

Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer

Doctrine and Covenants 59:13

Usually, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints abstain from two consecutive meals on the first Sunday of every month (yesterday). fasting-empty-plate That Sunday church service is designated for witnessing or bearing testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ by the members of the congregation. Besides abstaining from food and drink and attending testimony meeting, a true fast also consists of giving a fast offering to care for those in need. The offering, the sum of money that would have been spent on the two skipped meals, is given to the Bishop for any members who are struggling.

The scientific community has caught up with the religious practice and has proven that fasting helps prevent heart disease, speeds up metabolism, gives us more energy and helps our digestive organs run better by giving them a little bit of a break. The LDS church does not recommend fasting too often or for an extended amount of time. A 24 hour fast once a month is what is recommended.

Two prominent reasons for fasting are to improve physical conditions and spiritual development. President Heber J. Grant describes some of the physical blessings of fasting by writing, “Let me promise you here today that if the Latter-day Saints will honestly and conscientiously from this day forth, as a people, keep the monthly fast and pay into the hands of their bishops the actual amount that they would have spent for food for the two meals from which they have refrained . . . we would have all the money necessary to take care of all the idle and all the poor” (Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham (1941), 123).

money-on-a-plate Isaiah notes the spiritual benefits and lists them in the 58th chapter of his book. When we obey the law of the fast he says, “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward [or rearguard]. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; though shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.” We are promised better health, protection, that we will be closer to the Spirit of the Lord and that the Lord will hear and answer our prayers.

Fasting is regularly employed when trying to discover answers to our questions. In The Book of Mormon the prophet Alma testifies of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the goodness of God and the reality of the Plan of Salvation to the people living in the land called Zarahemla. As he concludes his teachings he proclaims, “Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety? Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit” (Alma 5:45-46).

Growing up in an LDS home, skipping breakfast before church was expected on the first Sunday of the month, but it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I finally recognized what I could accomplish if I actually fasted and prayed. When I decided that I really wanted to know of the truthfulness of the gospel for myself, I fasted and prayed a couple of times a month to gain the witness that God exists, that He knows who I am, that The Bible is correct, that The Book of Mormon is a true account of Jesus Christ’s ministry in America, that Joseph Smith restored the original church back to the Earth and that the current prophet Thomas Spencer Monson is truly called by God to lead us at this time. Prayers alone were not enough. I know that the answers I received and still receive are possible because fasting and prayer help me to be closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

girl-praying

Because I have had those experiences in the past, I feel comfortable fasting and praying when I need more guidance in my life now. I often fast and pray for help during stressful times in the school year, at times when I have to make serious choices about my future and especially times when I recognize the need to change my attitudes and habits (all too often). Changes in character are some of the hardest changes to make, but through the strength I receive when I fast and pray I know that I need to and that I can cut away some of my flaws.

hungry When I lived in Uganda last summer I fasted for a number of reasons. I went there to do humanitarian work and “change the world!” I wanted Heavenly Father to show me what I could do that would make the most meaningful impact on the people I worked with. Thinking I could change things or fix problems was incredibly prideful, but I really wanted to make a difference. The biggest difference, of course, was with myself. The scriptures tell us to feed the hungry, heal the sick, clothe the naked, etc., but I have never seen such practical application in my life. Everyone I knew in the U.S.A. had at least five pairs of shoes, plenty of food in the pantry and access to medical attention, but in Lugazi? No. It was while I was walking up and down dirt roads, having little kids who wore the same shirt everyday run up in their bare feet and grab my hands that I realized why we are asked to fast. Not everyone can have the experience I did in East Africa, but fasting gives people everywhere that little taste of discomfort that is so common around the world. It helps us to realize that there is so much work for us to do while Christ is away.

rejoicing

For me, the most important thing about fasting is that we follow Christ’s example of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, satisfying the afflicted, becoming closer to our Father in Heaven, and learning to understand the answers we are given. That is how we should act toward each other and toward Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. When we do those things, fasting really is a cause for rejoicing.

An Answered Prayer

I started writing an article on a different topic today, but I couldn’t get my head around it. Every way I phrased my words seemed wrong or incomplete. As we say in the Church, I had a stupor of thought.

I had the feeling to discuss something else:

Studying the scriptures makes it easier for the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Before studying the scriptures this morning, I closed my eyes and offered a silent prayer. Often times (too often) I pray for the same, routine blessings, “bless me with thy spirit, help me understand, give me guidance, etc.” Nothing wrong with any of those things, just that they are so vague and I tend not to think too hard about them.

This morning I was about to do the same thing, but I paused and recognized a problem in my life. There is a person I treat poorly. Some would call it a ‘personality conflict,’ but it’s really all about pride. Mine and his. Mostly mine. Problem is (and it really makes me ill to admit), I’ve come to enjoy putting him down, and making him the butt-end of jokes. This morning in my prayer, I asked for the grace to want to love him with a Christ-like type of love.

I opened my Book of Mormon to Mosiah 4 and started reading, but the verses still floated in and out of focus. I’m sure you know the feeling of reaching the end of a page and thinking, “Do I remember anything I just read?” Anyway, I woke myself up enough once I reached Mosiah 4:12, which read,

And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

This stuck out to me. It was the exact answer to my prayer, but I had to go back and read the previous verses again to find out what the “this” was that I had to do.

And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

There is a lot there to ponder. What really made me think was that God is greater than us all, and he knows all of our weaknesses, yet he still loves this person I struggle with. Who am I, in my nothingness, an unworthy creature, to maltreat this person? Am I saying that my judgment of the man is better than God’s?

I need to submerge myself in ‘the depths of humility’ before Heavenly Father. It’s very easy to come to this conclusion, but a terrifying and difficult thing to do. It means surrendering what I think is good (or fun or funny) for what I know the Lord desires. It also means trying to see him in a better light and treating him as a child of God, an heir! This particular relationship will take time to mend, but at least it feels good to be heading in the right direction for a change.

If we put a little more thought and effort into our prayers, the answers that come will be more powerful and profound. I know that much is true.

Testimony: How can you really know?

girlpraying I gained my first witness that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true at a very young age. I was about three or four years old and one night as I was lying in bed, my mind started wandering and speculating and the thought occurred to me, “What if my parents and church leaders are wrong? What if there really is no life after death? What then? What if they’re just mistaken?” The response was immediate. No sooner had I begun to mull over this possibility than I felt an overwhelming sense of peace engulf me. I felt the reassurance of the Holy Ghost testifying to me that I needn’t worry about such a possibility because such is simply not the case. My parents and teachers are correct, there is a life after death and Christ is the Savior of all mankind. Since that time, my testimony has gone through numerous fluctuations as it has grown and developed, but its essence remains the same. I know of the truthfulness of the restored gospel.

Some may find my story remarkable or unbelievable. How could a child think such adult thoughts? More importantly, how could a child come to such a conclusion as I did? Some may scoff in disbelief that one can really know such things. I’d like to share another story. This is told by Elder Boyd K. Packer, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He says:

“I will tell you of an experience I had before I was a General Authority which affected me profoundly. I sat on a plane next to a professed atheist who pressed his disbelief in God so urgently that I bore my testimony to him. “You are wrong,” I said, “there is a God. I know He lives!”

He protested, “You don’t know. Nobody knows that! You can’t know it!” When I would not yield, the atheist, who was an attorney, asked perhaps the ultimate question on the subject of testimony. “All right,” he said in a sneering, condescending way, “you say you know. Tell me how you know.”

When I attempted to answer, even though I held advanced academic degrees, I was helpless to communicate. . . .

When I used the words Spirit and witness, the atheist responded, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” The words prayer, discernment, and faith, were equally meaningless to him. “You see,” he said, “you don’t really know. If you did, you would be able to tell me how you know” . . . .

Such an idea came into my mind and I said to the atheist, “Let me ask if you know what salt tastes like.”

“Of course I do,” was his reply.

“When did you taste salt last?” Do you know what salt tastes like?

“I just had dinner on the plane.”

“You just think you know what salt tastes like,” I said.

He insisted, “I know what salt tastes like as well as I know anything.”

“If I gave you a cup of salt and a cup of sugar and let you taste them both, could you tell the salt from the sugar?”

“Now you are getting juvenile,” was his reply. “Of course I could tell the difference. I know what salt tastes like. It is an everyday experience—I know it as well as I know anything.”

“Then,” I said, “assuming that I have never tasted salt, explain to me just what it tastes like.”

After some thought, he ventured, “Well-I-uh, it is not sweet and it is not sour.”

“You’ve told me what it isn’t, not what it is.”

After several attempts, of course, he could not do it. He could not convey, in words alone, so ordinary an experience as tasting salt. I bore testimony to him once again and said, “I know there is a God. You ridiculed that testimony and said that if I did know, I would be able to tell you exactly how I know. My friend, spiritually speaking, I have tasted salt. I am no more able to convey to you in words how this knowledge has come than you are to tell me what salt tastes like. But I say to you again, there is a God! He does live! And just because you don’t know, don’t try to tell me that I don’t know, for I do!”

The Holy Ghost testifies of the truth of the gospel. The Holy Ghost can be recognized a number of ways, but let me highlight a few references from the Doctrine and Covenants.

Section 6: 22-23 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?”

8:2 reads, “Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.”

And Section 9 verses 7-8 explain, “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it 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.”

scriptures

Everyone can know these things. If you earnestly desire to gain a testimony, be it of the Book of Mormon, the Restoration or whether the current prophetic counsel really applies to you personally, take the matter to the Lord in prayer. I know from my own experiences that God answers prayers. The Holy Ghost does testify of Truth. If you truly want to know, then study, ponder, research and pray in faith; act on that faith; believe that you will receive an answer to your prayer. It may be immediate or it may take years for you to realize that you have received a confirmation and a testimony, but your answer will come.