Answers to prayers and gaining more light to understand them

[Misshalfway]

I think I have identified one area in my personal prayers that I really want to understand better and really to improve.

I sometimes ponder long over the passage in the Book of Ether where the Brother of Jared is chastised by the Lord for three hours.

I suppose I am a little jealous of such conversational interactions with the Lord. Sometimes I just want the Lord to talk to me and exchange comments and questions in some kind of productive dialogue.

I do get answers. Lots of them. But they seem like little shots of light that often leave me wanting or needing more or that leave me wandering in faith.

I sometimes believe that it is my weakness or sinfulness or lack of spiritual refinement that might be blocking such interactions. But then I object when I remember that the Brother of Jared was being chastised for failing to pray.....something very fundamental and very close to my own weakness.

I guess what I am saying or asking is that I want to know how you all seem to bridge the gap between "answers" to prayer with more light and knowledge and wisdom to answer the follow up questions that come.

Let me share one experience to illustrate. My heart was heavy and my soul longing. I drove to the temple for solace. Unable to go in (because the temple was closed for cleaning), I sat in the parking lot and prayed. I poured my heart out.....not necessarily asking specific questions but longing for my Father to just talk it out with me. At one point, a spiritual communication came. It interrupted one of my sentences and caused me to pause and listen. I am sure that I don't exactly understand the breadth of that answer. I felt comfort and deep empathy. I felt Father heard my deepest pain and fear. But.....I needed to understand more. I need more clarity. But I felt the moment was over and the Lord isn't ready to share more with me for whatever reason.

Any insight or counsel would be appreciated. AND Scriptures!!! Scriptorians please weigh in.

[Traveler]

I loved reading your post. I will start with a story. After returning from my mission and completing my active duty in the army I was having difficulty adjusting, especially with dating. I decided to fast and pray in the wilderness (living off only food G-d provided). I walked into the desert with a blanket, a knife and a rope for 40 days. I thought I would see angles or something that would help me get myself together.

Two things happened that changed my life but I did not realize the impact for several years. The first was I happened upon a lost convict that was on a work release project. The poor man was near death. It took me 3 days to get him to help and it nearly cost me my life as well. He ended up joining the church and died in a small plane accident about 2 years after his release from prison.

The second thing was a week stretch that I did not come across another human. No one to talk to, to watch, touch or anything. I was very much alone and left to myself and my thoughts.

What I learned is that often the L-rd answers our prayers with thoughts. If someone is not careful they will think that such thoughts are their own. We must train ourselves to recognize and “listen” to these thoughts. I also learned that we are given “thoughts” from another source. We could call these alternate thoughts “temptations”.

For me I have discovered that the thoughts are always presented – but it is by being in “tune” that I have learned to be the only way to be able to recognize and put divinely planted thoughts to use. It is like the seed in the parable of the sewer. Only if our ground has been prepared (softened, cleared of rocks, weeds and thorns) will the seed (divine thought) be able to take root; grow and thrive within us.

The Traveler

[Guest tomk]

misshalf,

Hi. :)

Your struggle is not unique. The influence of the Holy Ghost was intended to have a short "shelf life" so to speak. It must constantly be renewed.

The key to that renewal lies in the sacrament prayer:

We promise to be willing to do three things:

D&C 20: 77, 79

77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

Notice what is required is a WILLINGNESS - not perfection! Christ can give us what we lack.

• • •

79 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

1) Take His Name upon us.

2) Always remember Him.

3) Keep His commandments (which He has given you)

Christ often referred to Himself as the Bridegroom. The Church is His Bride. In other words, Christ considers His relationship with us to be very intimate, as intimate as a married couple's relationship should be. Traditionally, a new bride takes upon herself the name of her husband. They become one in every way imaginable. There is no mistake in the symbology Christ is representing here. A temple sealing is a marriage between THREE people... the husband, the wife ... and the Lord.

We always remember Him. As a friend of mine likes to say, "Just what part of always don't you understand?" LOL. She said that kind of tongue-in-cheek, but the sentiment has merit. Christ wants us to learn to rely upon Him in ALL aspects of our lives. To become willing to let Him counsel us in ALL THINGS - not just the things we choose to let Him counsel us in. One area where I really struggle is Chastity. Another is Food. Your list may be different, but the answer is the same for you and for me: always remember Him. In other words -- in whatever thing we struggle with or find ourselves hesitant or downright STUBBORN and willful in not wanting to do it, we must humble ourselves, and go to the Lord with our struggle and ask for help...for strength to obey, willingness to obey, and ... counsel.

Which brings us to the 3rd requirement: Keeping His commandments.

Yes, this refers to the 10 commandments and that which is necessary to obtain a temple recommend. But it goes beyond the commandments we can find in scripture or in Conference talks. Christ is also willing to counsel us individually -- He is willing to give us personal commandments!

If we find ourselves WILLING to do these things, the promise is:

"[WE] may always have his Spirit to be with [uS]"

If we find this promise realized in our lives, we have EVERYTHING that is necessary to return home to Heavenly Father!

How amazing is it that the Lord LOVES US SO MUCH that He builds into a WEEKLY ordinance the 3 GRAND KEYS necessary for us to have His Spirit and return back to His Presence!!

=============

Now, we've covered the WHAT. Let's talk about the HOW.

There is a tool that I use to bring those THREE things I listed above into ONE convenient place. The Tool of Writing. I call it "Counseling with the Lord in Writing."

What I do is I keep a journal. I keep mine ONLINE so that I can have a convenient place to record my thoughts. Access to the internet is so ubiquitous now that anyplace I have access to the internet, I have access to my journal. But some folks prefer paper and pen. That is okay, too.

What I do is sort of a written prayer, not to Heavenly Father, but to Jesus Christ. This may sound a bit ... ODD. And certainly our public prayers should be offered to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. But in my personal journal writing, I direct my thoughts and feelings DIRECTLY to the Lord Himself. Nobody ever reads this journal except me.

So I write to the Lord all of my thoughts and feelings. And then comes the important part. I become still. I sit and listen for His response. And then I record His response (in ALL CAPS, to distinguish His response from my own writing). For me, His response usually does not come in audible words. His response comes as thrills of thought and feeling. Sparks of intuition and ideas that are outside of me (they do not originate with my brain). I then record these thoughts and feelings in words as best I can!

When I first tried this -- it felt very strange. I must admit, I wondered if I was making it all up!

This is where you must be careful to be diligent! You must continue this form of journal writing for several months, faithfully recording the "Voice of the Lord" to you as best you can. Anything that feels LOVING, KIND, PATIENT, GENTLE can be recorded as the Lord's words in your journal. I promise you this is real, and it works! Over time, as you go back and re-read the Lord's Voice to you, you will begin to see that He really is speaking to you.

This practice is a WONDERFUL WAY to keep ALL THREE POINTS of the sacrament prayer:

1) Take His Name upon us. YOU ARE TALKING WITH HIM AS YOU WOULD YOUR SPOUSE. YOU ARE TAKING HIS NAME UPON YOU.

2) Always remember Him. THIS IS BUILT INTO THIS FORM OF JOURNAL WRITING!

3) Keep His commandments (which He has given you) YOU RECORD HIS COMMANDMENTS TO YOU

This process is amazing. You will find yourself opening up to Him in amazing ways, with more honesty than you ever dreamed. And the response from Him is amazing. You will know the Lord, and you will come to know His love as never before.

I will provide an example to you of what this journal writing process looks like. This is a real entry from my journal:

Tuesday, 11 March, 2008

Dear Jesus,

Good morning

GOOD MORNING, TOM

LET'S CAPTURE FROM THE D&C

Hearken, O ye people of my church, [HEARKEN, TOM] saith the voice [MY VOICE THAT YOU FEEL INSIDE OF YOU, MY VOICE THAT YOU FEEL MORE THAN AUDIBLY HEAR] of him who dwells on high, [READ THIS AS MY INVITATION TO YOU TO JOIN ME, TO COME TO WHERE I AM!] and whose eyes are upon all men; [iN MY CAPACITY AS YOUR GOD I MONITOR ALL THAT ALL THAT YOU DO, SO THAT A MERCIFUL JUDGEMENT MAY BE WROUGHT UPON YOU AT THE LAST DAY] yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people [HEARKEN, TOM] from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.

Why do you say "listen together," instead of just "listen"?

IT DENOTES MORE OF A GLOBAL LISTEN. I AM INVITING THE WHOLE WORLD TO LISTEN.

LET'S CONTINUE =)

For verily the voice of the Lord [sTILL, SMALL, QUIET, PEACEFUL] is unto all men, [iS UNTO YOU, TOM] and there is none to escape; [THE WORD ESCAPE HERE REFERS TO THE FACT THAT THE LIGHT OF CHRIST FILLS THE IMMENSITY OF SPACE, IT IS IN AND THROUGH ALL THINGS - THERE IS NONE TO ESCAPE] and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated.

"EYES SEEING" - SEEING MY HAND IN YOUR LIFE

"EARS HEARING" - HEARING MY VOICE

"HEARTS PENETRATED" - THINK BROKEN HEART AND CONTRITE SPIRIT -- THE CONVERSION PROCESS.

I need to go =/

I KNOW.

I LOVE YOU, TOM.

AND I HAVE LOVED SPEAKING WITH YOU THIS MORNING. =)

NOW GO. =)

STAY CLOSE TO ME TODAY. =)

=============

I hope this helps you.

Tom

Edited February 20, 2009 by tomk

[Misshalfway]

Thank you thank you. Ok....I am going to comment. I just need to ponder here for a bit.

I like that "short shelf life" idea. Good one Tom.

And the rest.......it always seems to come back to that self analysis. I suppose in all of my recent spiritual strugglings, I am finally getting to the point of surrender. I feel my soul saying "I give" and "I desire" the blessings.

It has been a long journey as I am coming back to what I always knew and as I am learning to live it in new and authentic ways.

[Guest tomk]

Just a quick note. I updated my post just now.

[Elgama]

I have always struggled with on the knee prayers, I can have wonderful spiritual conversations walking the dog, but not in the quiet of my bedroom or even sometimes in the temple. I decided to start doing a basic meditation before my evening prayers, basically sitting with my eyes closed, breathing in relaxation and out tension and telling my whole body to relax bit by bit, then I invite the Holy Ghost into all parts of my body, sometimes I take him as a ball of golden light, then count to 5 and come out of it. As a result of doing the meditation I have no developed a prayer space in my house, and taken to covering my head when praying often including my ears and eyes.

I know it seems a lot of hardwork but have found it stops my mind from wandering, and allows me to focus and listen better

-Charley

[Justice]

I'm going to be short, simple, and generic... and what I say applied more to myself than to anyone else.

In short, what separates us from God is sin. Sin is the whole reason we need Christ.

When I want to draw closer to God all I have to do is give up a little more of the world.

It seems to happen automatically after that.