The Lord Will Not Force Himself Upon People;

"...And if they do not believe, they will receive no visitation. If they are content to depeond upon their own limited calculations and interpretations, then, of course, the Lord will leave them to their choesn fate...
... The almighty is with his people. We shall have all the revealations that we shall need if we do our duty and keep th ecommandments of God....
Remember:
If there be eyes to see, there will be visions to inspire
If there be ears to hear, there will be revealations to experience
If there be hearts which can understand, know this: That the exalting truths of Christ's gospel will no longer be hidden and mysterious, and all earnest seekers my know God and his program..."
(Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Spencer W Kimball; Chapter 22)
Today we discussed how we can be prepared to recieve revealation. Each of us have the ability to recieve it regarding our lives and those we have special fellowship over. The great thing about revealation is that it's one of MANY ways the Lord communicates with us. The most important things we need to remember about recieving revealations is we must be willing to put in the effort of being worthy and willing to recieve it. If we keep in mind that Heavenly Father wants us to succeed and will aide in that success if we do our part. Doing our part is usually more than just dropping to our knees and issuing up a quick "holla back, Lord." Jumping up and then continuing on our way. I know at least for me it usually takes more than just that. I will say, however on times when I do feel closest to the Lord, some times it is just that easy. Those times are rare indeed.

I've been working on the passed few months increasing my Faith in God the father and his son Jesus Christ. I've got some close to heart issues I've been working on and they have been of great concern for me for quite some time. I've half heartedly offered up prayers in answer to my questions regarding these things but must admit I've not really paid much attention to what could be the answers. A couple of things come to mind as to why:

1. Is there a certain "pay off" being in a state of ignorance?

I would have to say yes. There's very little ownership or responsibility.
It allows me to be spiritually lazy. And if it's something I have no real desire to take care of in my life, then I make the choice of being dumb to the situation. If i don't know what steps to take to move forward, then I don't have to take responsibility or accountability to act on it.

2. Am I ready for the answer?
In most cases, I am ready for the answer. And upon recieving that answer, I'm usually pretty quick to act. I have energy and focus take the answer and immediately apply it. It is very rare that I have a situation I'm not ready to recieve the answer on. But I think this is the case with my current situation. I'm unclear of what I'll have to do if I recieve the answer and if it's not what I would like it to be, I'm not sure I'm strong enough to act on it.

*sigh* What's a girl to do? Well one thing about me is I really don't like for things to be unsettled. Because it keeps resurfacing and that's just annoying. Toward the end of Relief Society our focus was brought to Enos Chapter 1 vs 4 in the Book Of Mormon:

"And my soul hungered and I knelt before my Maker and I cried unto him in
mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached into the heavens..."

Tell me that's not a man who was prepared for revealation. He not only was prepared for it, he was anxious for it. Ready for it. Willing to do what was needed to impliment it when he rec'd it.

That's how we need to become when we are seekin answers to prayers, or aide in situations that are beyond ourselves. We gotta want it. We gotta be hungry for it. We gotta be intentional. And we are and THEN seek Heavenly Father to recieve it, it shall be given. The Lord said in

Matthew 21:22: And all things whatsoever ye ask in prayer believing, ye shall recieve.

In 1 nephi 15: 11: Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and aske me in faith believing that ye shall recieve with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

There is no reason for the Lord to withhold information or blessings from of if we and THEY are righteous.
We did recieve homework at the end of the class. Well anyone who is going to church goes home with homework, or should, at least in my opinion. So maybe I'll say we were given a challenge.

Here is the Challenge:

"Do you want guidance? Have you prayed to the Lord for inspiration? Do you want to do right or do you want to do what you want to do whether or not it is right? Do you want to do what is best for you in the long run or what seems more desirable for the moment? Have you prayed? How much have you prayed? How did you pray? Have you prayed as did the Savior of the world in Gethsemane or did you ask for what you want regardless of its being proper? Do you say in your prayers: “Thy will be done”? Did you say, “Heavenly Father, if you will inspire and impress me with the right, I will do that right”? Or, did you pray, “Give me what I want or I will take it anyway”? Did you say: “Father in Heaven, I love you, I believe in you, I know you are omniscient. I am honest. I am sincerely desirous of doing right. I know you can see the end from the beginning. You can see the future. You can discern if under this situation I present, I will have peace or turmoil, happiness or sorrow, success or failure. Tell me, please, loved Heavenly Father, and I promise to do what you tell me to do.” Have you prayed that way? Don’t you think it might be wise? Are you courageous enough to pray that prayer?" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Spencer W Kimball; Chapter 22)

Am I courageous enough to pray that prayer? Usually, YES, absolutely without a doubt. But as to this current situation.... I wasnt. But now, I feel I am. If Im not, my own personal challenge is to prepare myself to be in a place to be courageous enough to pray that prayer very soon. THAT prayer is a life changing prayer. Whatever That prayer is for you, you have to really be ready and willing to pray it. There is a mighty strength and humility to praying THAT prayer because it will require action. That action may be to stop doing somethings that maybe you shouldn't be doing. It may require you to take people out of your life or place them in a more appropriate place or distance in your life. It requires you to prioritize. It requires you to act in a way that is conducive to the answer Heavenly Father has provided. It requires you to take responsibility and be accountable for following or NOT following the council recieved.

My Grandma would say... "girl, before you ask the question MAKE SURE you want to know the answer, cuz you just might get it." Amen to that Grandma.

I hope that as we all look at where we are in our lives regardless of activity or status in the church we will all prepare ourselves to be courageus enough to pray THAT prayer.

President Kimball also said:

"If one rises from his knees having merely said words, he should fall back on his knees and remain there until he has established communication with the Lord who is very anxious to bless, but having given man his free agency, will not force himself upon that man..."


"...And if they do not believe, they will receive no visitation. If they are content to depeond upon their own limited calculations and interpretations, then, of course, the Lord will leave them to their choesn fate..."


Good Luck with Praying THAT prayer!