Becoming His: Power of Prayer

Ere you left your room this morning.. Did you think to pray?

Last night I read this quote on prayer..

How true is that?! What a good reminder! Too often in life I forget to pray! 

This weeks challenge really focused on saying frequent prayers but it also touched on how we pray. 

Have you ever had a really good conversation with a friend, a significant other, a parent, a sibling, a child, even a stranger? A conversation where you really opened up to that person and they really opened up to you. A conversation that when you walked away you felt a sweet and powerful connection. 

I was sitting in church Sunday and as the sacrament was being passed I had the most powerful thought. It was so powerful that I had to write it down. How often do I hide my thoughts from God? 

Now that sounds ridiculous doesn't it? I mean can we truly ever hide our thoughts from God? He knows us. He knows our thoughts and our challenges and joys and trials and bad habits, He even knows our choices. Perhaps even before WE know our choices. So why then do we feel like we can hide our thoughts from Him? 

Lately my prayers have become a little mundane.  It seems that when things get rough or when I'm battling trials my thoughts become less-than positive. So in turn I don't mention them to my Father in Heaven or I brush over them so quickly without diving into too much detail. In my head I think, "Does God really want to hear my sob story? Does He really want to hear my struggles from the day? I don't want to bother Him with my problems." This is exactly what Satan deceives us to believe. The answer is YES! God wants to hear from you. Why hide from Him what He already knows? Take your problems to Him. Give Him your frustrations. Tell Him what hurts you, what bothers you, what has been on your mind all day long. He wants to hear them. He will never get tired of listening to you. In order to have an intimate relationship with your Father in Heaven, you MUST be open and honest with Him! Ask God, not Google.

He is there. He loves you! And if you ever need to feel closer to Him, you must first hit your knees.

"Pray, He is there.
Speak, He is listening.
You are His child,
His love now surrounds you."

Becoming His: Finding Joy In The Journey

Do you ever have those lessons that feel like a slap in the face? Like the Holy Ghost whispers, "HEY! LISTEN UP! THIS ONES FOR YOU!" This was one of those lessons for me.

I am an anxious person. I look to the future often. Which isn't a bad thing.... But far too often we become so wrapped up in the future that we forget to live in the present. Especially during times of trial.

During my darkest hours what would keep me going is knowing that there were brighter days ahead, only to find out that my brighter days were, yes, brighter, but also much dimmer than I had hoped.

Here's the rather sad truth. Satan exists. He is poking and prodding during times of darkness and even more so in our times of light. There is no escaping him in this earthly life. His temptations will always be upon us. But here's the good news. We might not be able to silence him, but we can put ourselves in situations the quiet him.

In the scriptures there is a very familiar story of some travelers, and on their journey they are captured. So as any righteous soul would do in this situation they began to pray for their deliverance, and do you know what God told them? Hold on. Find women. Find men. Get married, have children, have grandchildren. Could you imagine? Here you are captured and your answer is basically, build a life, your gonna be here a while. But, oh, what a lesson!

During the week I read multiple conference talks, each one seemed to talk about having an eternal perspective. This reminded me that perhaps we are not to far off from the people long ago. The very purpose of this mortal life is to be tried and tested, our very purpose to be on this earth is merely to grow!! Perhaps our "captured" years are these very years on this mortal earth. Often we are caught in times of trial and hardship. Often times I find myself looking towards my better days. I tell myself, hold on, suffer through these days and soon you will be where you wanna be. What a waste!! Enjoy the day your in. Wake up and find good in the life you have been given today! Be where you wanna be today!

President Monson quotes one of his favorite musicals in his talk Finding Joy in the Journey, he quotes, "You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you've collected a lot empty yesterday." 

How profound!

When you rolled out of bed today, God granted you a special gift, one more day of life. Whatever comes your way today, enjoy that gift. Thank Him for it! Cherish it. Cash it in wisely. You never know when it might be your last.

When we find joy in the journey, every day we will reach our destination.

I understand someday's its hard to find joy. Someday's its nearly impossible to find anything happy. I have experienced those days where you feel as though it would be best to climb back in bed and hide under the covers. But find your faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed, for if you have even just a tiny bit of faith God has promised He will bring you an "expected end." How comforting to know that even our longest, hardest trials have a light at the end of the tunnel. Whatever your going through, it WILL NOT last forever.

Be strong. Be faithful. Hold on. God is on your side!

Week 12: A Wise Master-builder... Bring Your Finest

Like baking... If you want the best, most delicious, amazing dishes, you of course want the best, most delicious, amazing ingredients.... and so it is with building. The beauty of our temples has always amazed me. Never have a seen a more beautiful, perfect building that wasn't one of the Lord's houses...

I remember a story about a temple being built.. and during the night vandalists had snuck into that holy temple and vandalized the walls with gruesome graffiti. The prophet, upon seeing the horrific vandalism, instructed that it was to be removed and taken care of... Well painters came in and repainted the wall covering the graffiti. By the time they were done you would never have known that the walls had once been covered in filth. The prophet came back in to inspect the work and looked at the wall which now seemed white and perfect... but kindly the prophet asked if the graffiti had been removed or simply covered. When they told him it had just been painted over he asked if they would take a sander, grind down the walls and remove the filthy words before painting the wall again. 

There was also a story about the building of a temple where the pioneers were asked to give there all and sacrifice their best to the building of this temple. There was many pioneer woman who had inherited very fine and precious china, some had gold designs and beautiful, precious markings. These woman took their most prized possession to the temple and unwrapped their precious china from the cloth they so carefully stored them in. Giving up their beautiful dishes they went home to care for their families. The china was carefully ground up and mixed into the cement for the bricks. Later the woman went back to the finished temple and notice the beautiful glow that sparkled around the outside of the glorious building, but up close they notice that the sparkle and shimmer the gleamed around the temple came from none other than pieces of their beautiful possessions, now there for all to see.  

I love these stories and sometimes compare them to myself.

Am I giving my best when I am building myself?

I am not a perfect person... of this I am sure. But how many times have I, like the painters, took the walls vandalized with my sins, and simply covered them up rather than removing the sins altogether? I, without my Savior can simply only cover them up. I can not remove them, I can only cover them up and hide them away. 

And second, am I giving my best to the Lord? 

When Christ came to earth He gave us the greatest sacrifice... He died for me. He died for you. He died because He loves us and wants us to return to our Father in Heaven. He gave us the most precious gift that we could not give to ourselves. He sacrificed His life and for that I am eternally grateful. So... why is it so hard for me to sacrifice my best to give to Him. Like the pioneer woman, I have very precious and beautiful gifts... and I hope that I can be like them and be able to give them unto the Lord. 

Week 11: And Still, The Builders Build...

If you ever drive down through the main road in Orem, Utah you will find two very large buildings on your right. Lost and abandoned, these buildings are incomplete and unfinished. Once upon a time they had a builder, and that builder had a dream. The building would be large among the many it stands next two. With the finest materials. It would hold many people and there would be many memories made in that building. It would be one that everyone would want to go in... just to see whats in side. It would be beautiful. But as life went on... funds run low, the building abandoned and unfinished, the dream burnt out.

As a child I always drove by the building with my parents and assumed that it was a castle they were building for a princess.. I never understood that the builder just gave up.

We are sometimes as the builder. We have a big dream ahead of us and a heart inside of us and we will reach that dream no matter what. Sometimes we dream of building ourselves with the finest materials, that people could see by our beautiful exterior that we are children of God, and they would want to know us just because of the happiness that surrounds us. Sometimes we dream of being that princess.. that would one day enter into that "castle", God's castle.. to be sealed for time and all eternity. Sometimes we dream of going to school and getting an education, or waiting for a missionary; our missionary, to come home and take us to that castle. We all have dreams, big and small, but sometimes as life goes on... our desires run low and our dreams burn out.

We can become discouraged and lost and abandoned. We can be tempted and tried to the point where we wonder if the dreams we were hoping for are even attainable at all. Satan tries to tell us we are not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, that there's no hope for us, that we're not worth it... but let me tell you, HE IS WRONG!

You have a God that loves you. He is yours and He loves you so much that He sent His son, Jesus Christ to die for us. To build us. Don't give up. No matter how lonely, or lost, or abandoned, or broken, or depressed, or sad, or unforgivable you think you are... you are NEVER too far away for the Savior's love. Turn to Him for the help you need to not only endure, but to have fun in the journey to your dreams. Keep on keeping on! Keep on building! Keep on pushing! You are worth it! And one day you will be in that castle, or at the very dream you once seen as unattainable, and you will look back and realize that those thing that once seemed so big, are but small stumbling points on your journey, and that those small stumbling blocks.... are the things that shaped you and built you into who you are today. So keep on building, and still, the builders build.

Week 10: Location, Location, Location.....

As a builder for Christ, location is a very important aspect of how well we can build. No matter how hard you try you cannot dig a foundation in the middle of the ocean.

In Genesis there is a story about a man named Lot and the people he was with. Lot chose to face his tent towards the wicked city of Sodom, while others chose to face their tents toward the temple. Lot's choice eventually led to his captivity... but what about the choice of those who faced their tents towards the temple?

I recently just finished a book called "Paper Towns" by John Green. (SPOILER ALERT!!!) It is about a girl who is popular and has a car and is beautiful and lives a very nice life... at least in the worldly sense. Margo the girl in the book seeks escape... to build herself. She reads of this paper town in New York. Paper towns are towns that don't really exist. They are fake towns created by the map maker to keep other people from copying their maps without consent. She reads of this town called Agloe. It was a paper town until someone came along and built a General Store then making it an extremely small town, population zero. Even though Margo has a great and wonderful worldly life, she seeks more. So she runs off to the town of Agloe to build herself.

Although this book wasn't even church related, maybe there is something we can learn. When we are in the wrong location can we build ourselves? Can we build ourselves when we are surrounded by groups of people facing the wrong way?

So yes I must face my tent towards the temple but what can I do for others who's tent is in the wrong direction? What if Lot would have had a pal that was like "Hey bro, come sit in my tent for a while. We can look at the temple and listen to the messages. It'll be so fun!"I know it sounds a little crazy and they probly wouldn't have said it like that but it makes you wonder. What if someone could have helped him turn his tent? All the time we travel through misguided "tents", but what would happen if we took the time to take down the tent carry it to the temple and plant it so far deep into the ground that it can "be not moved"? This my friends, is missionary work.

I recently read a quote that said, "You may feel like you are on the wrong path, but as long as your sights are on  the temple, the path is always correct!" How comforting! This life may be full of trail and temptation and we may wander and feel lost and hopeless, but I promise you as long as your sights are on the temple it is ALWAYS right! Our lives will never be picture perfect.... our paths will never be straight.... and sometimes we have to check out several locations before we know we are headed in the right direction. But I beg and plead that your sights be on that temple... it doesn't matter how you get there or how long it takes.. if your sights are on the temple, YOU WILL GET THERE!!!!!

Month 3: BECOME A BUILDER---How Is It That He Cannot Instruct Me That I Should Build?

We all know of the notorious chapter in Nephi where the Lord instructs Nephi to build a ship. No Nephi was not a ship builder, he had never built a ship and I doubt he had even taken a ride in one. But I love Nephi's response to the Lord. He did not say "I can't build one I don't know how" or even "how do I construct a ship" but rather his response was "Where can I find the material needed to build tools?"

How willing was Nephi? He was given a task that was heavy even for someone who knows how to build a ship but Nephi knew God would help Him. He knew that he was not alone and that the Lord would help him along the way. After all, is any task to big for our Father in Heaven?

In 1 Nephi 17:51 Nephi says, "If the Lord has such great power.... how can He not instruct me?"

Sometimes I wonder if I overlook what Nephi is trying to say. I praise the Lord on His power and His knowledge. I have faith that He is molding me into what He wants me to become. I trust that He knows me better than I know myself and that because of that He knows exactly what I need. HE IS ALL!! He is alpha and omega! He created all things.... this bed I am sitting on, the food I just ate, the computer I am using to speak to you, the scriptures I read every night, the skin on my body, the love in my heart, the thoughts in my mind, the blood pumping in my veins, and the soul that flows through me. He created me.... and just as He created me, He created you. How could He not know the very thing He spent so much time to create?

If I know that the Lord has all this power, how then, can He not instruct me?

The Lord knows us. He knows our desires and our fears, our hopes and our failures, our joy and our pain. He knows our struggles and our tears. The only thing that holds back his instruction is YOU.

Today in Gospel Doctrines the teacher explained that when our minds have a question it truly seeks an answer for it, it is as if a Velcro strip has been implanted in the back of our mind. We can be taught and taught and taught but until that Velcro strip is there we will not retain any of the knowledge.

God knows the answers... but sometimes we must ask the questions. Sometimes we must want something to cling to our Velcro so badly that we must truly desire Him to teach us. Sure He has the knowledge, He has the answer, but until we want to know of it He can't share it. He won't share until we ask.

Why then is it so hard to ask? We know He has the answers. We know He has the power... so why then is it so hard for me to just get down on my knees and ask. Perhaps if we would go to Him first with our questions... this life would be a whole lot easier.

Someone once said, "That which I HAVE I can easily give you, but that which I AM you must obtain yourself." We will never know of something until it has bombarded our hearts. We will never truly learn something until it has been constantly running through our brain. As much as I want the lessons others have learned they won't become apart of me until I have obtained it myself.

Week 8: Become Willing To Consider Your Ways

In order to truly become willing we must be able to consider our ways. To consider our sins and bad habits and addictions.. 

There is a lady in my ward who I just love. She is so sweet and kind and a great missionary and a great example, but like us all she had a fault... she was addicted to nicotine. She stood up one day and told us that she had seriously thought about it and realized that because of her addiction was holding her family back. She wanted so badly to be sealed with her husband and her 2 kids in the temple, but her addiction was holding them all back. She stood in front of us all and humbled herself as she confided in us her deep dark secret. I'm sure she had to feel low and awful, but she asked us all to pray for her.... now here we are several months later and this lady has been nicotine free and went through the temple and is soon to be sealed to her family. 

What a great example she is to be truly willing. How can we truly become willing when we hold on to things that are holding us back? We HAVE to let go of these things.. In order to move forward we have to let go..
We have to consider our ways.. 

It might not be sins or addictions holding us back either. Perhaps it is our emotions or fears... 

One time I was struggling. I felt incredibly alone. I just wanted someone to love me. I knew my family and friends did but I wanted a lover. Someone to take me on dates and confide my secrets in. Someone to hold my hand and wipe away the tears. I was a good girl, I went to church and believed in every word, but no one came along. One particular night I was struggling, up in my room I was crying and angry. Why hadn't Heavenly Father answered my prayers? My mom came up and asked me a simple question. "Are you doing everything you can?" I was a good kid. I was doing good things but I was not doing everything. I decided that night to pick up my scriptures and read. After three nights of continuous scripture study my answer came in the heart of a blonde hair blue eyed boy. There's not a doubt in my mind that this is the man I am supposed to marry. I'd known him for years but it wasn't until I lost myself in Christ that I found him. How can we expect Him to do all these things for us when we can't do all the things he asks of us? 

Lose yourself in Him and you will find yourself there too.