Invite the Spirit through Prayer

Section 42 of the Doctrine and Covenants was revealed to Joseph Smith in the early part of 1831, less than a year after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, and was identified by him as the "law of the Church." It specified principles by which the holders of the priesthood were to administer the Church and operate within it. 

The first principle of administration set forth in the revelation directed the Elders of the Church to preach the gospel to the world. This general commandment to teach and preach included the instruction to teach by the Spirit, meaning to teach as the Holy Ghost prompts and dictates. Within that instruction is the following injunction: 

And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.
--Doctrine and Covenants 42:14

We typically emphasize the second part of this verse. But I want to draw attention today to the first phrase. Before I can have the Holy Ghost's direction in what I teach, I must know how to acquire the presence of the Holy Ghost in my life.

This verse states clearly that I access the power of the Holy Ghost through prayer. Though I may have received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands following my baptism, I activate His influence in my life by asking for it. In other words, the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost affords me the opportunity to have the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit, but the ordinance does not ensure that I will always retain that companionship.

The Holy Ghost resides with me only by my invitation. He honors my agency. He is easily offended by sin, both physical and mental. Hence, I must be constant in my repentance to resolve the offenses I give to the Holy Ghost through impure actions and thoughts. But I should not assume, simply because I have repented, that the Holy Ghost automatically takes up residence with me again. According to this revealed principle about how the Spirit operates, I must ask in faith for Him to return and abide with me.

I cannot take the Holy Spirit for granted. I must pray to the Father that He will send the Spirit to be with me, not only when I teach, but in all things. Only by asking and inviting can I experience the privilege of the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Stronger in Humility

The prophet-author Mormon editorialized on the situation of the Nephites in a period in which the "pride cycle" was spinning faster than usual. The Nephite people had just experienced a brief period of peace and prosperity in which the church of Christ had grown and flourished even to the astounding of the priests and prophets. And now, because of their prosperity, many Nephites were sliding down the slippery slope of pride and persecution. 

A minority, however, remained faithful to the faith. They stayed on the path of righteousness. How did they do it? Mormon tells us, and what he says about the Nephites in their day also applies to us in our day:

Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.
--Helaman 3:35

An interesting choice of words: "stronger in humility." I take this phrase to mean that humility became a more powerful force in the lives of the believers. It became an enabling power. As they became more humble and teachable, they acquired more power from heaven. 

As their humility grew, so did their faith in Christ. It became firm, then solid, then unbendable, then unbreakable. 

Humility and faith go hand in hand. The more humble I am, the more I see the need to depend on God. The more I depend on Him, the more He can help me. The more He helps me, the better I come to know Him. And the better I know him, the more I trust him. Trust is another word for faith. I act with growing confidence in my beliefs. 

The more thoroughly I trust God, and the more evidence I acquire of His love for and interest in me, the more joy I experience. How can one not feel exquisite joy when he recognizes that the Supreme Being in the universe knows him and cares about him?  How can he not rejoice in knowing this earth, life itself, and the grand plan of salvation were created to lift him to exaltation with God? 

Note that I do not purify and sanctify my own heart. I can only yield it to God. It is by His power through Christ's Atonement that my heart is changed. 

The key to this marvelous transformation is prayer and fasting. I start by reaching out to God, even blindly at first, but with hope. Prayer initiates the humbling, refining process in me. Once I make space for God in my life, He can go to work.

Formula for Spiritual Growth

Behold a formula for spiritual growth through prayer:

But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering; Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest.
--Alma 13:28-29

I see the following elements in this formula that apply to my life:

1. Humble myself. I must not wait to be compelled to be humble. I can choose to be humble. I can look for ways I am proud, resistant, and unteachable, and take positive steps voluntarily to surrender my pride and my weapons of rebellion.
2. Call upon God. This is more than trite prayer or a mindless postscript to an exhausting day. It is reaching deep into my soul to see what I am really made of and then offering it unto the Lord. It is acting as if I were coming into His presence.
3. Watch and pray continually. I must pay attention rather than drift mindlessly through the day on spiritual autopilot. Be thoughtful and deliberate in my actions, always guided by the Spirit, which shows me the Lord's will. And do things prayerfully. Undertake no task save in the first place I ask God to direct me and consecrate my actions for the benefit of my soul as well as the benefit of others. Just as calling upon God is a different level of prayer, praying continually is a different flow of prayer. There is no amen to a continuous prayer.
4. Let the Holy Spirit guide, which implies that I first ask for direction, then listen for it, note it when it comes, and obey it. Again, it is the surrendering of my will to God's and doing things His way.
5. Seek the following gifts of the Spirit: humility (teachable, open to direction, able to see and admit weakness, ready to accept help), meekness (accept others as they are and let them be right), submissiveness (give up my stubborn pride so I can follow the direction of the Spirit), patience (operate on God's timetable instead of insisting on my own), full of love and all long-suffering (care more about others than myself, bear with others' imperfections because I know they must bear with mine, see others through God's eyes).
6. Have faith on the Lord rather than in myself, knowing that I cannot save myself but am totally dependent on Christ as my Redeemer.
7. Have hope, which motivates me to continue in the face of constant and inevitable failure because I believe that in the end Christ will erase all sins, heal all wounds, and right all wrongs.
8. Have the love of God always in my heart. Be filled with charity, which is a gift from God for which I must pray diligently and with all my heart as if I were pleading for my very life—which, in fact, is exactly what I am doing.

Honest Prayer of the Heart

When a young man by the name of Alma rebelled against wicked King Noah, he gathered many followers to whom he preached the true gospel. Eventually this band of faithful believers had to flee from the unrighteous kingdom. After settling in a secluded valley where they could worship God unhindered, Alma's people were discovered and surrounded by the Lamanites. Alma's people were enslaved, and along with losing their liberty, they were forbidden to worship God. Anyone caught praying to God would be executed on the spot. 

The scripture records how the people responded to their oppression:

And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.
--Mosiah 24:12

The Lord heard these silent prayers and answered them initially with comfort and strength to endure. Eventually, God rescued these people and led them to a place of safety.

The thoughts of my heart are more than my superficial musings. They are what move and motivate me. They are who I am when no one is looking. They are the essence of my character. To pour out the thoughts or contents of my heart is to be completely honest and transparent. No posturing or pretending. An honest heart is a broken heart. 

Honesty in prayer is essential. God knows when I am honest and authentic. I don't have to sugar coat it for Him. If I am angry, He can take it. If I am depressed, He comforts me. If I am happy, He rejoices with me and sweetens my joy. He simply wants to be a part of whatever I am doing and however I am feeling. If I invite Him in, He can enrich every moment. And in the end, He will save me and lead me to a place of safety, even into His loving embrace.

Have You Inquired of the Lord?

The prophet Lehi had received a marvelous vision about God's plan of salvation for the human family. He described his vision to his sons, Nephi believed his father, but Lehi's other son's, Laman, Lemuel, and Sam, struggled to understand. While Nephi went off and prayed about what he had heard, his brothers argued and bickered over the possible meanings of the vision. Nephi received his own revelation from God to enlighten him, but the others were stuck in their intellectual reasoning.

Nephi found his brothers bitterly disputing with each other. He asked them, "Have you inquired of the Lord?" Their answer was, "No, God doesn't talk to us. He won't respond to our questions." Nephi then taught his brothers a truth about prayer that he had learned for himself:

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

In his response to his brothers' quandary, Nephi provides us with a formula for receiving revelation as an answer to prayer. 

The first step is to not harden our hearts. A hard heart is one that denies the possibility that God will hear and answer. Such a heart denies the need for God. It's closed in on itself, becoming impenetrable and unyielding. A hard heart is a willful decision to reject God and His spirit. It is the stony ground on which any seed of truth withers and dies before it has a chance to take root. To get an answer to our prayers, our hearts must be soft, pliable, open, accepting, willing to take what comes and consider the possibility that God has something to offer. We prepare our hearts through diligent searching of the word of God and nurturing the seeds that land within us. When we choose God, He cultivates our hearts and prepares them to be expanded. 

The second step is to ask. Asking is a commandment. We must ask to put ourselves in a position to receive consciously and with thanksgiving. Learning what to ask attunes us to the revelatory process. We learn what God wants to give us, and we know what to expect so we recognize the answer when it comes. The asking is not for God, who already knows our needs; it is for us to identify our true needs as God sees them in His infinite wisdom and goodness. Asking shows our willingness to receive and exercises our agency in alignment with God's will. If we don't ask, we won't receive. 

The third step is to exercise faith. Faith is to act on an unseen outcome. It is moving forward even when the path is not clear with the assumption that clarity will come when we need it. It is confidence and trust in an answer that has not yet been granted but will surely come. It propels us into the unknown with the assurance that it will be knowable at the right time. Faith is trusting in the goodness of God and the wisdom of His timing. 

The fourth step is believing that God will deliver on His promises. Believing is patient waiting. It is not wishing. It is hopeful expectation, an extension of our faith. We sincerely and honestly anticipate the answer we asked for. Believing enables us to wait without despair, to watch diligently, to be ever ready. 

The final step is to diligently keep the commandments. When we obey what we already know, we show our readiness to receive and obey more. We keep ourselves attuned to the Holy Spirit. Our receiver is dialed in and ready to accept the answers when they come. We align ourselves with God's will and make room in our hearts to receive more of His will and wisdom. Thus, the answer we receive will be a step in the direction we are already headed rather than an abrupt about face. 




 




When we follow Nephi's formula, the promised blessings of knowledge and revelation will come just as surely as combining hydrogen with oxygen produces water.

Obedience Affects the Outcome of Prayer

In the Apostle John's first general letter to the church in his day, he bore his eyewitness testimony of the resurrected Christ. Then he counseled the saints in the proper Christian life. Among his injunctions are these words:

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
--1John 3:22

How I live—my obedience and faithfulness—affect the outcome of my prayers. It's just that simple. If I want answers, I must live for them and qualify for them. I do not earn them, for no one is really worthy. Answers to prayer, like the Atonement itself, are gifts of grace and mercy. But like I must qualify for the grace of the Atonement, I must qualify for the gift of answers to prayer. God is good, but He is not stupid; generous, but not foolish. He gives to those who will recognize and appreciate His gifts. The proof of my desire is in the asking, but the proof of my appreciation is in the living and keeping the commandments.

Persistently Consistent

The Apostle Paul exhorted the faithful followers of Christ in these words:  

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
--Romans 12:12

The phrase "continuing instant in prayer" means to be constantly persistent in our prayers. A prayer binge followed by silent indifference or prolonged distraction is a formula for failure with God. Sometimes our trials persist so that our prayers persist. Persistent prayers lead to persistent hope, which produces persistent joy. 

When I pray persistently and consistently, I can rejoice in hope and patiently endure tribulations. The three are related and dependent. Tribulation teaches practical patience, and prayer adds to my patience. I pray for the gift of patience, not only in my trials but in all good things. The answer to my prayers is hope, and once I have hope, I can rejoice, even in tribulations. 

Persistence is not the same as vain repetition. Vain repetition comes from thoughtlessly reciting words that may have had meaning once but are now hollow. We may have felt good about a particular prayer the first time, so we repeat it over and over again hoping it will make us feel good again. It is not prayer to God but a therapeutic exercise directed at ourselves. 

Persistent prayer may be repetitive, but it is filled with faith, hope, and expectation. It is an expression of my trust and patience in a God who knows best and whose timing is best from an eternal perspective, especially when my mortal perspective is temporally myopic. I constantly let God know I wait in faith and trust in His divine wisdom. Trials come and go, and in their wake they leave enlivened hope, increased joy, solid patience, and ever blossoming prayer.

United Prayer Brings Heavenly Fireworks

Jesus's disciples wanted to know which one of them would be the greatest in heaven. This question prompted the Master to teach a series of parables and precepts about humility, being a responsible shepherd, avoiding evil, and making peace with those who would offend them, ending with an injunction to prayer together in unity:

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
-Matthew 18:19

We strengthen one another through prayer. When we agree on the thing we need and unite our desires, our prayers are additive. They compound one another. Jesus commanded us to be one, unified, and singular in our faith. When we pray together, the unity of faith has a powerful effect. 

God is pleased with righteous unity, and it appeals to His sense of economy when He can answer many prayers with a single action. God wants to bless us, and when we all ask for the same blessing, His power is unleashed in a spectacular display. Like heavenly Fourth of July fireworks, He will dazzle us and awe us with His power. He will not just move the mountain, He will blow it away.

Are you praying for someone who needs a special blessing? Ask others to join you, and then watch the Lord go to work!

How a Mustard Seed of Faith Moves a Mountain of Grace

Jesus descended from the Mount of Transfiguration to find His disciples in a pickle. A man had brought his terribly afflicted son to the disciples for a healing blessing, but they had been unable to provide the cure. The father approached Jesus and begged for help, and Jesus immediately cured the boy. The disciples then came to Jesus and asked what had gone wrong that they had been unable to heal the boy.  Jesus spoke bluntly. "Because of your unbelief." He then taught them the parable of the grain of mustard seed, saying that even the tiniest bit of faith would be sufficient to move a mount. But then He added this footnote to his teaching: 

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
--Matthew 17:21

Prayer and fasting are needful preparations for the development and exercise of faith unto power. Prayer puts us in direct connection with God, the source of all power. In sincere prayer we subject ourselves to His will and we learn His intentions for us. His Holy Spirit makes known to us the mountain He wants to move with us. 

By going to Him often and listening carefully, we can learn what He expects us to do and when it is time for us to step back and watch Him work. 

Our shovelfuls may seem insignificant, but they are our necessary contributions, not in moving the whole mountain, but in building our strength and convincing us that only God's power can complete the job. He asks us to try on our own, not to discourage us, but to help us see the reality of the task and convince ourselves of our insufficiency. Then, when He steps in with His power and moves the whole mountain with a single sweep of His hand, we can better appreciate the gift of His grace.

Open the Universe

Jesus taught this amazing principle and promise about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount:

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
--Matthew 7:7-8

With this promise echoing in my mind, I know everything of God's is available to me. It's up to me, though, to take the first step. I must ask, seek, and knock. I must learn how to approach the Father, trust Him, listen to Him, have faith in Him, and accept His will. 

Sounds easy, right? Well, it's not so easy when God doesn't seem approachable in the middle of a hard day or a sleepless night, when worry is overpowering and pain is unrelenting. It can be hard to trust a Father who allows suffering and sorrow, who apparently wants to polish me with 100-grit sandpaper. His voice, if He is speaking at all, can hardly penetrate my thick skull and ears tuned more to the world's shouts for attention than to the gossamer whispers of the Holy Spirit. Faith - the anchor of the soul - threatens to break loose in the storms that spring up like winter gales and beat on me with no care for my stamina or energy. And the divine Will runs so counter to my earthly logic that it boggles me.  

As the pounding and pummeling of life continues, driving me to my knees when standing gets too hard, I think of the joke, "The beatings will continue until morale improves." I wonder, is that what God is doing to me? Is He beating me until I finally learn to believe His promise?

I believe He hears every prayer, even my casual, mundane daily invocations. But while I may be satisfied with vain repetitions, He is not. He wants more from me, and so He gives me more - more trials, more challenges, more troubles, more afflictions, more pain, more suffering - more of everything that strips me of my expectations of life and leaves me raw and vulnerable and, dare I say, humble. And when I finally cry in genuine need, in total despair - in honest prayer - He answers. He sends the Comforter. He gives strength where there was none. He fans an ember of hope that was all but dead. Another day dawns, and life goes on. And I'm still here.

If I can ever quit trying to do things my way and let Him do things His way, the universe will open to me.

Use Not Vain Repetitions

Before giving the example we know as The Lord's Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, the most oft-repeated prayer in the Christian church, Jesus warned about repetitive prayers with these words:

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
--Matthew 6:7

Jesus loved to pray to communicate with His Father. It is written in several places that He went alone to pray. A few of His public prayers were recorded in the New Testament, and more of His prayers are found in the Book of Mormon. What I have learned from the above verse in particular about prayer is that to be effective, prayer must be heartfelt and meaningful. We may need to pray frequently and repeatedly as we seek a particular blessing or an important answer or as we face a long trial. Frequent, even constant, prayer is a balm to the soul. 

Prayers become vain (useless) repetitions, however, when we say the same things over and over without faith or real intent. We can find ourselves using vain and repetitious words and phrases if we are not careful. Bless the refreshments for our nourishment. Take us home in safety. Bless those who were not here this week that they will be able to come next week. When we repeat empty phrases, the Lord is not pleased. Nothing is wrong with blessing our food, asking for protection, or praying for the welfare of others. In fact, we are commanded to pray for such things. Effective prayers that reach the Lord's ears, however, must be thoughtful, intentional, genuine, and faith-filled.

I had such a prayer with my grandson just last night. His dad had been hurried to a local emergency room to attend to complications from a recent medical procedure. My grandson was home alone and feeling shaken and worried about what would happen to his dad. I was on the phone with this young man to keep him company as best I could from seven hundred miles away when he expressed his feelings of concern and sadness. I said we should pray for his dad, and he promised he would pray that night before going to bed. I suggested we could pray for him right then and there, even while we were on the phone together. He didn't need to wait for bedtime to pray.

He agreed, and I offered a simple, sincere prayer for healing for his dad, strength for his mom, and comfort for him at this stressful time. I had prayed for these things many times for this beleaguered family, but with my worried grandson present with me on the phone, it was a new and fresh prayer experience. 

After the prayer, we visited about school and other topics. A few minutes later, he said, "Papa, I think the prayer worked. I feel better now."

"Yes," I replied, "the Holy Ghost as the Comforter can help you feel better any time you are worried. You just ask, and God will send Him to help you."

His dad and mom came home a few hours later, the medical problem under control. Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers.

In My Distress

Chapter 18 of the book of Psalms is a magnificent testimony of God's strength. King David, having suffered many trials and afflictions in his younger years, speaks with great power in beautiful language of his love for the Lord:

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
-Psalm 18:1-3

I love these words: strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, my buckler, the horn of my salvation, my high tower. And then, what does he say? I will call upon the Lord, and so I shall be saved. God has unfathomable power, but we have to call upon Him. He won't save me unless I ask.

Then David writes:

In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
-Psalm 18:6

In my distress, I too have called upon the Lord, and He has heard me. When I have been crushed by dark despair, He has lifted me and lightened my way. When I could see no way out of my trials, He walked with me. When I have felt alone, He has come to my side. But only when I asked.

In his Psalm David describes all the ways God has intervened for him with great displays of heavenly power, and then he concludes:

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure. . . For thou wilt save the afflicted people. . . For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
-Psalm 18:25-28

God will be merciful to me and to all those who call upon Him. We just need to ask. A simple, sincere prayer. All that power is waiting to protect us and save us. Smoke, fire, hot coals like hail, hurricanes, thunder, brilliant light - it is all available, God's full power and glory - when we ask.

David ends his Psalm with these words of praise and gratitude:

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
-Psalm 18:49-50

God has shown mercy to me, David, though I am not a king. May He show great mercy to my children and all that come after me.