Answers to Prayers

     I saw a quote in our church building and it really stuck out to me and it was something that I never really thought of before. This post is mainly going to be the quote I read but I feel like it is really good and worth sharing on my blog. The quote has to do with receiving answers to prayers and I hope it might open a new perspective when waiting for an answer from God because I know it has for me.

    The quote is by Elder Richard G. Scott, one of the Twelve Apostles and he says the following,
     " It is vitally important to recognize that the Lord also responds a third way to prayer by withholding an answer when the prayer is offered.
     Why would He do that?
     " He is our perfect Father. He loves us beyond our capacity to understand. He knows what is best for us. He sees the end from the beginning. He wants us to act to gain needed experience.
     "When He answers yes it is to give us confidence.
     "When He answers no it is to prevent error.
     "When He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him, obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth. We are expected to assume accountability by acting on a decision that is consistent with His teachings without prior confirmation. We are not to sit passively waiting or to murmur because the Lord has not spoken. We are to act."

     I know oft times we say that God always answers our prayers, which is true. I never thought that Him withholding an answer from me was in fact, an answer to prayer. Sure that may sound contradicting a little bit but I really believe it is true. We must not sit around and wait for an answer to come, we must keep going forward with faith and act, then the rest of the answer will come when the Lord sees that we are ready.

Who Am I?

     One of my favorite movies is the classic film, Zoolander. The hilarious, and yes, kind of pointless film about male models finding out there is more to life than being really ridiculously good looking. The main character, Derek Zoolander, played by Ben Stiller, finds himself lost after losing the number 1 spot for male model of the year by his fellow rival model, Hansel, played by Owen Wilson. This loss shattered Derek Zoolanders entire universe and he is depressed and throughout the film he, in a round about way, tries to find out who he is. A couple times during the movie, he asks his reflection in a puddle of water, and the heavens the question, "Who am I?". With that introduction, let me tell you something that everyone needs to know and should never forget; who YOU are.

 

     Many people in this world sincerely have the question "Who am I?" and really want to know. What glorious news the gospel of Jesus Christ has which tells us in fact, who each and every person is. The answer to that question is simple. You are a child of God! There is spiritual power that comes from that simple phrase and knowing that we are all children, sons and daughters of God.

     God is literally the Father of our spirits. He lives in Heaven, therefore, we as Latter-day Saints refer to God as our Heavenly Father. We are His children, and He loves us more than we can comprehend. He cares about us and He wants us to be happy in this life. He is happy when we are happy, and He is sad when we are sad. Our loving Father in Heaven loves us so much, that He provided a way for us to communicate with Him, and we do that through sincere prayer. Just as we have an earthly father who wants to talk to us, more importantly, we have a Father in Heaven who wants, and expects to hear from us. He wants us to talk to Him, so He can give us guidance and direction to our lives. Because God loves us so much, He answers our prayers, so we can feel His love in greater abundance in our lives. 

     No matter what circumstance we may be in this life, if we feel like we are forgotten, we must NEVER forget that we will NEVER be forgotten. Our Father in Heaven will never abandon us. We will always have Him love to us unconditionally and help us out in our times of sorrow and despair. We only have to be willing to turn to Him and trust in His constant care.

     I know that each and every one of us are literally children of God. I know He loves us because I have felt His love in my life on many occasions. I know that God knows us personally, inside and out and He is very aware of the situations we are in. He has a plan for each and every one of us in this life and we can know of His plan for us by doing what He has asked us to do (prayer, scripture study, keeping the commandments etc.). I am so grateful for the knowledge I have to know who I am; that is, a child of God.

Here is a song we sing and learn as children that tells us perfectly who we all are.

Enjoy.

 

Receiving an Answer to Prayer

     I recently read the story of the Book of Mormon Prophet, Enos, who received an answer to his prayer and a forgiveness of his sins because of his faith in Jesus Christ. I love Enos's experience and it has helped me gain a stronger testimony of the power of prayer and also of the mercy of our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. 

     Enos begins his account telling us about a "wrestle" he had before God. Which wrestle was a struggle Enos had to explain his real deepest desires of his heart to God in prayer. Enos was out hunting wild beasts and he had remembered the teachings of his father Jacob, who was the previous prophet, and he prayed very hard and earnestly for his own soul. He struggled to express his feelings to God and he was seeking for a remission or forgiveness of his sins. Enos prayed all day and into the night when he heard a voice from heaven saying "Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed" (Enos 1:5).

     After Enos was told his sins were forgiven, he gives a inspiring response and question. He asks "how is it done? (Enos 1:6). Now that to me shows how sincere Enos was in calling upon God and truly wanting his sins to be forgiven because he wanted to know how. What a great example if I say so myself. The Lord goes on to tell him that it is because of his faith in Jesus Christ that has made him whole. What a blessing it is to know that if we have faith, we can receive answers to our prayers, even forgiveness of our sins.

     An Apostle of the Lord Elder Robert D. Hales explains the process Enos went through that helped him to have an increase of faith and prepared him to receive the answer to his prayer. This 5 step process Enos went through can also apply in our lives to help us prepare to receive an answer to our prayers.

     " First, Enos heard the gospel truths from his father, just as you are hearing them in your families.

     "Second, he let his father's teaching about 'eternal life, and the joy of the saints'[Enos 1:3] sink deep into his heart.

      "Third, he was filled with a desire to know for himself whether these teachings were true and where he himself stood before his Maker.

      "Fourth, Enos obeyed the commandments of God, which enabled him to be receptive to the Spirit of the Holy Ghost.

      "Fifth, Enos records, 'I kneeled down 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 the heavens' [Enos 1:4]. It wasn't easy. Faith did not come quickly. In fact, Enos characterized his experience in prayer as a 'wrestle which [he] had before God' [Enos 1:2]. But faith did come. By the power of the Holy Ghost, he did receive a witness for himself.

    "We cannot find Enos-like faith without our own wrestle before God in prayer. I testify that the reward is worth the effort....I promise that if you do these things sincerely and unceasingly, the words of Christ spoke to His disciples will be fulfilled in your life: 'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' [Matthew 7:7]" (in Conference Report, Oct. 2004, 73-74; or Ensign, Nov. 2004, 72).

     I would like to add my personal witness that I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers. He answers our prayers according to our faith and to our willingness to act upon the answer we receive. I know that if we follow the steps that Enos took in preparing himself to receive an answer, then God will grant us what we best need according to the desires of our hearts. I am so grateful for the power of prayer and the role it has played in my life. I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have a Father in Heaven whom I could go to for strength and support and comfort. God hears and answers our prayers, we just need to be willing to do something about it and watch and listen for the answer.



   

My Dad

 

Before I move on to another Christlike attribute I would like to slip a quick post in here in regards to Father's Day coming up on June 19th. I would just like to write for a bit about my own dad Russell Neilson. My dad is the best, to put it simply. I truly couldn't have asked for a better dad. I have become the person who I have become because of him and how he has taught me and how he has lived his life. My dad would literally do anything for me, even if he didn't really want to. He always made sure to do whatever it took to make me happy. I have always been provided for my whole life, whether it was food, shelter, clothing, or even sporting equipment and attire. Ever since I can remember my dad has been up early in the morning to make me breakfast before school. Something which I now deeply appreciated cause I love his cooking. My dad has been a wonderful teacher to me. Whenever I needed help in school, he was right there to help me find the answers. He was a great coach and mentor. I absolutely love sports, my whole life has revolved around sports and my dad taught me how to play and get better in my athletics. He pushed me to my fullest potential  even when I may have whined and complained. He knew how good I could get and I am very grateful he did push me to become better. 

     There are so many more things I could go on about my dad and how he has blessed my life, but most importantly he has been the best example to me in living his life like our Savior Jesus Christ. My dad is the most kind, and loving person out there and I have seen the love he shows for my mom, my brother and sisters, the people he served in our ward as a Bishop and all the people around him. Throughout my life I have always seen my dad studying from his scriptures so he could teach me the ways of the gospel. He made sure we had family prayers, and family scripture study, and family home evenings to help strengthen us kids and help us gain a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sure there were times we as a family slacked, but that was us kids' fault cause we tended to again whine and complain. But I am so thankful that my dad did push to make sure we had the spiritual times as a family so we could know how to become more like Jesus Christ. Forgive me if I sound like I am rambling, there is just so much to talk about my dad that I will be forever grateful for. I am who I am today because of the example my dad set for me and I appreciate him and allowing me to be a part of his wonderful family here on earth. I love you dad and thank you for EVERYTHING. Happy Father's Day!

The Power of Prayer

Recently, we had our weekly District Meeting and one of the things we talked a lot about was prayer. Prayer is such a simple yet powerful gift we have given to us from God. Prayer is a two way communication between God and man. We speak to God through our prayers and in turn, God speaks to us in many different forms. First of, how do you pray? Well, its pretty simple, first, you start out by addressing our Heavenly Father for example, "Dear Heavenly Father". Since we are praying to God, we need to acknowldege that we are praying to Him.  Next you express the feelings of your heart. We should express our gratitude to God for all we have. We should thank Him for the blessings we have received. We can also ask God specific questions we want answered and ask for any requests we may need. Then, you close in the name of Jesus Christ. A prayer is not complete unless you close in Christ's name, because we speak to God through His son Jesus Christ.  Before God can give us the blessings or answers we ask for, we still have some work to do. We need to constantly be striving to find answers to our questions and have faith that we will find answers, then God will give us those answers. Answers can come in many different forms, and many may not know how to recognize those answers. We read from Galations 5:22-23 the fruits of the Spirit. Some of those fruits are, love, joy, peace, temperance, etc. In short, we may not know exactly how to explain our answers because they will most likely come as some kind of good feeling. We need to pay attention when we are looking for answers because they will come when we probably aren't expecting it to come. I know that God answers our prayers as long as we have faith and search for our answers ourselves. I know God answers prayers because He has answered mine.  I know that as we strive to call upon our loving Heavenly Father in faith then our relationship with Him will become stronger and our lives will become a lot more easy.