revelation – Page 3 – What Do Mormons Believe?

How Do You Pray?

Q. How do you pray?

This is an important topic. Paramount. Essential! We’ve discussed the topic of prayer already here, here, here, and my personal favorite, here. But I really don’t think we can emphasize prayer enough. Too often religious discussions get bogged down in abstract dogmas like grace and works, deification, and canon. These are good things to discuss, but we sometimes miss a chance to talk about what’s really practical in our lives here and now.

Many of our readers have never prayed before and probably feel intimidated at the thought. I hope my step-by-step instructions will be helpful to you.

Step 1: Prepare

Why are you praying? A prayer is communication with your Heavenly Father, and there are many reasons to speak to Him. Perhaps you are facing hard times and need help. He can help you. Maybe you need answers; maybe you just want to know if He is really there. He will respond. You can confess wrong-doing to begin repentance. You can thank Him for blessings. You can request to feel His love for you.

Meditation before prayer can help you focus your thoughts and will make your prayers more meaningful.

Another part of preparation is finding an appropriate time and place to pray. I’m focusing this article on personal, private prayers, so alone time is key. Turn off the music, find a quiet spot and allow yourself at least a few minutes without interruption.

Step 2: Address God

Jesus began His famous prayer, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…” Jesus is the Son of God, so He naturally called on His Father in prayer. I think it’s significant that He invited us to call Him Father, too. The most powerful being in existence is your spiritual dad. Remember this relationship.

Kneel. It shows your respect and your willingness to defer to His wisdom. It represents humility. Your prayer does not depend on the position of your body, but it does depend on your attitude. Kneeling reminds you to adjust your attitude.

Step 3: Be Grateful

Express your thanks for the good things and people that are a part of your life. Think of the beauty of earth, the love of your mother, your innate, sharp intellect, your home. They are gifts from Father. Try to recognize when the Lord’s hand helped you and let Him know you appreciated it.

Again, your attitude is key. We are dependent on God for all our support. As King Benjamin taught in the Book of Mormon, “I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants” (Mosiah 2:21). Our gratitude is the least we can offer to Father for all He has given us.

Step 4: Speak Your Mind Plainly

You can talk to Heavenly Father as easily as you talk to your own parents. Share your thoughts with Him, let Him know what your dreams are and what kind of person you hope to become. Celebrate together your triumphs, and seriously reflect on your sins; request forgiveness.

He knows what’s halting your progress, and He can help you overcome. Ask how.

You can ask for help with other things, too. Things like: relationship trouble, career paths, patience, mathematics, lost car keys, what books are worthwhile, overcoming addictions, providing food, maintaining health, etc. It’s really wide open. There are things that are probably inappropriate to ask for (“please make my neighbor die”), but there is a wide field of possible blessings God is willing to grant, and is waiting for us to request.

Step 5: Close Your Prayer in Jesus’ Name

“…in the name of Jesus Christ; amen.” This little phrase, spoken in sincerity, indicates you have faith in Jesus Christ. Every answered prayer is a miracle, and miracles can only occur with faith in the Redeemer.

The Book of Mormon prophet Moroni was confronted by the charge that God can do no miracles. This was his response: “And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth” (Mormon 9:20-21).

This promise even extends to us today, whenever you pray to the Father in the name of Christ.

Praying in Jesus’ name also brings your heart and mind closer to the Savior’s. Read a bit more about that over here.

Step 6: Listen

This is the hardest step, especially if you are unaccustomed to praying. You’ll sit there in silence for a moment, thinking about the things you said in your prayer. You will analyze and over-analyze every thought that passes through your mind, wondering, “was that from me, or from God?”

Sometimes it will be obvious. Sometimes it will be subtle. Like a radio, we must tune into the signal and be ready to receive. We will talk more about this topic in another article, but I want to leave you with one important rule: if it is good, it comes from God.

Moroni taught, “But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good. And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me” (Ether 4:11-12).

Greatest Gift on Earth

present Think of the best gift you have ever received. Christmas, birthday, whatever. It was probably thoughtful, generous, useful, exactly what you needed even if you didn’t realize that you needed it. And that gift came from a person with limited resources, imperfect abilities to love completely and know your deepest needs.

Now think of the best gift you could ever receive–one from a loving heavenly parent with unlimited resources, perfect love, and such an intimate knowledge of who you are and what you need that it often surprises you. What gift would God give to you on a special day?

I’ll tell you and I want you to know up front that it is honestly the most important gift I have and will ever receive in this life.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost.

pentecost The gift of the Holy Ghost comes to you as part of your baptism. (For more information on baptism, look here.) It is God’s gift to you for your willingness to make a covenant to follow Him and it is the very thing that will help you receive the greatest gift He has to give: Eternal Life. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is a promise that the Holy Spirit will be your constant companion, as you live worthily. Let me belabor this a little bit: a member of the Godhead (and there are only three) is your constant companion, giving inspiration, guidance, protection, comfort, knowledge, reproofs (when needed), and spiritual gifts throughout the rest of your life.

Some of the ways that I have personally benefited from this gift are:

Protection – Even though this one happens less frequently than the others listed below, it is still important. If a place is not safe or a person should be avoided, He will communicate that to you. For me, it is a generally uneasy feeling, sort of nauseous. At other times, people hear a voice, as in “stop and turn around” or “don’t talk to that person”. The way the Holy Ghost communicates with each person is tailored to them. Remember, God knows how to reach each of us perfectly.
Avoiding Spiritual Dangers – Along the same lines as physical dangers, there are very real spiritual dangers surrounding us that the Holy Ghost points out to us before we get hurt. You could call it a Sin-Warning-Alert System. The Spirit lets you know when you are going to do something that will drive Him away, and when you feel His absence, you know that you have done something to drive him away, and need to repent. And the guilt doesn’t go away–you can’t just push through it and get through on the other side unscathed. The only way is to turn around, change the behavior or thoughts, and ask for forgiveness. Then the Spirit will return and so will the peace. The Holy Ghost is the instrument that helps us gauge if we are in good standing with the rest of the Godhead, or if we need to repent.
Comfort – This happens often. At times of tragedy, the feeling is strong and warm, like walking around being hugged all of the time. (This is why LDS funerals are usually somewhat uplifting and peaceful.) On my mission, I had a few opportunities, when I felt all alone in the world, to pray and find companionship and comfort. Even with daily weaknesses and shortcomings, the Holy Ghost provides comfort and reassurance to help you get back on your feet.
Guidance – I cannot understate how important this is to me. What should I major in? What should I do for a career? Where should I live? Who should I marry? When should I have children? God gives us our freedom to make choices, but it is so nice to be able to consult with Him and receive answers and direction through the Holy Ghost. As a member of the Godhead, they all work together and are one in purpose and direction, so though you pray to God (in the name of Christ), the Holy Ghost is the one bringing you the answers to your prayers.
Knowledge – As a student, this was key. I had to show that my schooling was important to me through studying, attending class, and taking it seriously, but the Holy Ghost sure made it easier for me to retain things, write my essays and take my tests. I know that it was the Holy Ghost because the times that I wasn’t doing everything that I should have (living all the commandments) and He couldn’t be with me, I was barely able to keep my head above water. This isn’t just worldly knowledge though–spiritual knowledge is related to us almost exclusively through the Gift of the Holy Ghost. If you have just been baptized and you feel like you don’t know anything about what you have just covenanted to do, don’t worry. Just keep studying and asking and the Holy Ghost will teach you. And it doesn’t take long to understand the gospel as long as you are sincere and dedicated.
Reproofs – For awhile in my young adult life, I felt like this was the only way that the Holy Ghost was speaking to me, but I am sure glad that He did. The Holy Ghost is like a warning alarm, letting us know when we are veering off of the path back to Heavenly Father. He either tells us to straighten up or else He has to leave us until we repent and are worthy again. Both ways are effective at getting us to seek God again. If, as a recipient of the Gift of the Holy Ghost, you find yourself feeling unhappy, listless, frustrated and dissatisfied when you used to be happy and satisfied, it may be that He had to leave you. So repent, get back on the path and you can enjoy His presence again. Remember how nice that felt?
Spiritual Gifts – Spiritual gifts follow the true church of Christ. There are the public gifts like the gift of tongues or of interpretation of tongues, prophecy or healing (which all exist in this Church. They are just special and sacred so we don’t broadcast them for everyone to see). But there are also personal, private gifts of the spirit: Faith, visions, discernment, beholding of angels, teaching and learning wisdom, etc. These gifts aren’t intended to convince anyone that God is there, they are rewards for believing that He is, and for blessing the lives of others (1 Corinthians 12). And they are wonderful.

So can you see why I say that the Holy Ghost is the greatest gift I have ever or will ever receive? Even my marriage and beautiful children aren’t going to benefit me if I can’t make it to heaven to live with them forever. The Holy Ghost is going to help me get there. God wants everyone to have this gift because He loves us all and wants us to return to live with Him again. You don’t have to believe me, you can ask Him directly and the sweet answer that will come to your heart is the Holy Ghost.

Noah’s Flood

Q. What do Mormons believe about the Flood?

Let me introduce to you Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Noah looking formidable with billowing clouds in the background signaling the impending torrents of rain.

We Mormons believe in Figure 1. While certainly the artist took some creative license in recreating this scene (who ever said Noah had a giant staff?), the basic idea that it conveys is real. There was a man named Noah who gathered up a bunch of animals, put them on an ark, and then weathered one crazy storm with the miraculous help of God.

We also believe in science. For years I was a TA for physics classes at my university where I would teach everything from F=ma to quantum mechanics. I am currently working on a project for NASA that requires using more science than any grown man should ever have to use. With this background I know that there are equations and models that we’ve derived from our objective view of the universe that work. That is, we have discovered laws and theories that, as far as we know, accurately predict how our universe functions.

Sometimes science seems to butt heads with religion. Noah and the Flood is one of times. Many geologists discount the Biblical narrative of Noah as being improbable and not scientifically sound. This is fine by me. I do not need science to prove my belief in the Bible. There are many things I believe in that science can’t prove. How can people be resurrected after they have died? How can heavenly messengers such as angels defy Newton and his apple? How do miracles occur? I have chosen to place my ultimate confidence in God, not in the models and equations of science, which, in just the last couple hundred years alone, have been shown to change time and again as new experiments are performed.

The argument that geologists give that the Flood never really occurred is based on a few underlying assumptions that are important to understand. First, the concept of uniformitarianism which assumes that the natural processes that we observe occurring in our world today are the same as those operating in the past. That is, the geologic processes scientists have tracked over the last few hundred years are sufficient to predict what has happened to the earth over the past millions of years.

Another bold assumption is that God doesn’t exist. This assumption conveniently gets rid of Moses parting the Red Sea and the earth ever being modified in any unnatural way. I refute this assumption, believing Christ’s words, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).

I love the Bible. I know it to be the word of God. Its teachings (especially those of Christ) lead us to God and to a happier, fuller life. Science can’t always promise that.

Further reading: “The Flood and the Tower of Babel”, “The Gospel and the Scientific View: How Earth Came to Be”

Revelation on the Afterlife

Q. If God had two separate revelations to America and Israel, why did he leave out the complicated afterlife progression in the middle eastern revelation and then give them to Joseph Smith?

Good question. I assume that you are inquiring about how we, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believe that there are “three kingdoms of glory” in the afterlife, not simply the heaven and hell concept that the rest of the Christian world teaches.

It is apparent that we don’t have all of the teachings of all the prophets of Biblical times. The Bible is a compilation of assorted writings of various prophets; it is not a complete book. Here are some references made by some of the authors to other epistles/books of scripture that we simply do not have today—they are lost books of scripture (Num. 21: 14, Josh. 10: 13, 1 Chr. 29: 29, 2 Chr. 9: 29, 2 Chr. 12: 15; 2 Chr. 13: 22, 2 Chr. 20: 34, 2 Chr. 33: 19, 1 Cor. 5: 9, Col. 4: 16, Jude 1: 14 ). If we know that manuscripts have been lost, isn’t it safe to assume that teachings and doctrines have also been lost? That is a logical conclusion and a safe conclusion. The Bible does not contain a complete record of what has been taught by Biblical prophets. This is where the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith comes in—through Joseph Smith, God restored doctrines and truths that had been lost in previous eras. This is a beautiful concept. I love that God follows this same pattern over and over through history. When people fall away from His gospel and truths are lost, He calls a prophet just as He always has and restores the fullness of the Gospel through that prophet.

Celestial bodies There is, however, evidence from the Bible that the doctrine of “three kingdoms of glory” was taught. In fact, it seems to be so well understood that Paul just refers to it offhandedly. In 1 Corinthians 15:31-42, he teaches about the resurrection of the dead. Just as all animals are different (fish, birds, beasts), Paul clearly teaches that not all resurrected bodies are the same—there are celestial bodies, terrestial bodies, and telestial bodies, each with its own glory. In addition, there are different glories (kingdoms)—the glory of the sun (Celestial kingdom), glory of the moon (Terrestial kingdom), and glory of the stars (Telestial kingdoms, of which there are many). It follows that if there are celestial bodies, then they must inherit the Celestial kingdom or glory of the sun and so forth. This is what was revealed to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in February 1832 (see Doctrine and Covenants 76). In addition to there being celestial bodies and a celestial kingdom and so on, it was given to them what the basic characteristics would be of the people who are assigned to these different kingdoms.

So, while we don’t have as full of an account of the afterlife progression from the Biblical prophets as we do from Joseph Smith there is still evidence that it has been taught the way Joseph Smith revealed it from at least the time of Paul and the early Church leaders.

For a more detailed explanation of our doctrine on the afterlife, see these two great posts: Life After Death: Part 1 and Life After Death: Part 2

Thanks for your inquiry.

Blacks, Mormons, Priesthood, Racism, Answers

First: Are there racist Mormons?

Answer: Yes. Sadly.

Second: Is the LDS Church a racist organization?

Answer: NO. From the Book of Mormon, “[The Lord] inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile” (2 Nephi 26:33).

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Racism in all its forms is disgusting. It is an evil wholly at odds with the gospel of Jesus Christ and has a pernicious effect on society. Those members of the LDS Church and other faiths that have race-superiority issues (which they often try to base on scripture or statements of church leaders) are in sin.

However, such people in the Church are few and far between. My personal experience in the Church has been a wholly positive one. I have attended church services in Brazil, China, Mongolia, Germany, and in various congregations in the United States and have witnessed firsthand the unity that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings as people of varying ethnicity worship together. Growing up I had a black foster sister. Admittedly, Mikayla was in the minority attending church with my family in the predominantly white state of Utah. Naturally, Mikayla would ask questions about it. But not once in the years I sat beside her in the chapel pews did I witness any form of racism against her. I love that. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a multicultural church (more members live outside the U.S. than within) welcoming sons and daughters of God of all ethnicities.

I am willing to admit there are problems. Racism is a resilient poison that people in the U.S. and elsewhere have had difficulty purging. Just because overt acts of racism don’t occur publicly often doesn’t mean it isn’t present beneath the surface. And yet I think the Church is doing well. Plus, we can hardly point a finger at others; are any of us truly free of hurtful prejudice of any sort? Let’s pray we all continue to do better. Do better together.

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Next topic: Why was priesthood denied to black male members of the church prior to 1978?

Our age of click-and-publish internet ramblings has brought with it a barrage of ill-supported commentaries which force the modern reader to be a skeptic of everything he or she reads. In light of this, I have tried hard to cut through the haze and get an accurate answer to this controversial and sensitive question. The answer I found: there is no satisfactory answer.

Some clamor that the priesthood ban was a product of traditional racism in early America; that it was a church policy based on unrighteous social norms. They have their evidences. Some insist that it was a divinely inspired command from God. They have their evidences. Still others claim it was a policy implemented by the Church based on correct doctrinal principles. Likewise, they have their evidences. The Church itself hasn’t said anything official and definitive on the subject. A paucity of facts invites a diversity of opinion. As far as I am concerned, it also makes any opinion on the subject mere speculation.

What I do know is that a prophet of God received a revelation on Thursday, June 1st, 1978 that enabled all worthy male members of the Church to receive the priesthood. History shows that it was a day of rejoicing. And it wasn’t the first of its kind. It was reminiscent of the New Testament scene where Peter told the new members of the Church that God had revealed to him that the gospel of Christ was now to be preached to the Gentiles. It was a policy change in the church: a policy change God gave (as He often does) without explanation. Acts 11:18 gives their reaction to Peter’s news, “When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God.”

In closing I say to white members of the church: Be careful in how you explain the priesthood ban to yourself and others. Perhaps Alma Allred in his essay “The Traditions of Their Fathers: Myth versus Reality in LDS Scriptural Writings” (found in the book Black and Mormon cited below) was near the truth when he urged white members to, instead of looking for what blacks did to receive the ban, look at themselves to make sure they were not the cause.

And to all members of the Church and other curious truth seekers: if it really bothers you, do the research. Come to your own conclusions. But remember that there aren’t always definitive answers. God moves in mysterious ways. Our Old Testament friend Naaman was confused when he was commanded to go wash in Jordan seven times to be made clean (2 Kings 5:10). God didn’t explain but he had faith and did it anyway. There are plenty of things I don’t understand, yet I can get by with the limited light I have. I do try to learn all that I can-I am not satisfied with ignorance. But I recognize that the ignorance and incomplete understanding that remain with me are mine and not God’s.

This takes you to an official church site touching on the subject.

Suggested further reading:

Bringhurst, Newell G. and Smith, Darron T. Black and Mormon. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004.

Bringhurst, Newell G. Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People within Mormonism. Westport Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981.

Embry, Jessie L. Black Saints in a White Church: Contemporary African American Mormons. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1993.

Lund, John Lewis. The Church and the Negro: A Discussion of Mormons, Negroes and the Priesthood. Salt Lake City: Paramount Publishers, 1967.

Taggart, Stephen G. Mormonism’s Negro Policy: Social and Historical Origin. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1970.