What are you supposed to do


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12 minutes ago, Zarahemla said:

What are you supposed to do when God answers a prayer but the answer is no?

Accept it and move on.  It's hard to give more detailed advice without knowing what the question was, but that's really what you have to do - hard as it may be.  Maybe you asked about a job, or a person you want to date, or a move, or whether you should teach X in next Sunday's lesson.  If the answer is no, you look for a different job (or stay in the current one), a different person to date, staying put (or a different place to move), a different thing to teach in your lesson...

I find it interesting that there are a few places, particularly in Joseph Smith's story, where he was told to just keep doing what he was doing - no big change, just keep on as you are; and one place at least where he was told to wait.  Waiting can be really hard (I remember a specific time I was told to wait - I didn't wait long enough (was getting nervous about an approaching deadline) - life would have been easier if I'd waited - not that it was a huge deal either way, just a lesson on trusting God instead of fearing looming deadlines).

Hope that helps.

Edited by zil
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On March 23, 2017 at 5:27 PM, Zarahemla said:

What are you supposed to do when God answers a prayer but the answer is no?

.... Don't do it, if the no is from God.  Or you could ignore it and be in for one heck of a learning experience (personally id say if god is going to the time and effort to manifest an answer to you then you had better follow it)

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On 3/23/2017 at 7:27 PM, Zarahemla said:

What are you supposed to do when God answers a prayer but the answer is no?

I would encourage you to consider the repercussions of rejecting the answer, and consider why you are questioning what to do in the first place.

If the question is, for example, "should I accept x persons marriage proposal?" and you receive a "no", what could come about by rejecting it?  Perhaps you really  like this person, you are compatible in every currently known way, you are truly in love.  Perhaps the lord knows that this person has or will develop an addiction that you will not be able to fully handle and he is protecting you as is understood from the teaching of paul to the corinthians:

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1 Cor 10:13 

. . . God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

If the question is, on the other hand, "should I eat the week old leftover pizza to save money on groceries?" perhaps the lord is aware that the pizza will make you ill which will cost you money in medical expenses.  Or possibly you are already overweight and it will contribute to some additional depression.  Its also possible that it will simply cause you bad gas and a few hours of unnecessary pain.

Obviously these are really random examples, however, I encourage you to consider Joseph Smith's experience with the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon which we no longer have today.  Martin Harris's wife, Lucy, was concerned/curious about his involvement with the translation of the plates.  Martin requested to take the pages to his wife.  The Lord repeatedly told Joseph "No!", however, Joseph continued to ask after being pressured.  Eventually the Lord said, "yes, but with conditions", however, He already knew that those conditions would not be met by Martin Harris, which is why he had said no in the first place.  As a result of not heeding the Lords answer of No, the entire body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has zero access to the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon (presumed to be the book of Lehi and/or other writings).

There is never a time when you will be worse off spiritually as the result of heeding the Lords council.  All council from the Lord is spiritual:

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D&C 29:35 Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual.

It is always possible that the end result of not following the Lords council in a particular situation will be minor or not problematic over the long term.  However, it is not usually worth a gamble to find out.

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On 3/23/2017 at 5:27 PM, Zarahemla said:

What are you supposed to do when God answers a prayer but the answer is no?

Do it and see if something bad happens. 

 

Or! follow the the example of Joseph Smith and keep asking. He will eventually change his answer.

(too innapropriate?)

Edited by Fether
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Sometimes we do not know the answers.

A Long time ago (ancient history unless you're an old geezer I suppose) I dated a girl (me, dated a girl?  other than the one I married?  is this something that actually ever happened?).  I kept getting the feeling that I shouldn't marry her.  It was the strongest feeling I ever puzzled about.  It even disturbed me to a degree.  I did not know why the answer was no.  Long story short, I didn't marry her.

I eventually married the perfect woman, which is my wife.  I would have never married her if I had married the other gal.  However, I found out later that the girl I used to date was unable to have children.  I do NOT know if that was why at the time, but I was not aware that this was something that I might have to deal with later in life.   I do not know if she did either at the time.  I just know that MAY have been a reason why I kept on being told, NO, in that specific instance.  It might not have been.  I still do not know completely.  It is the only time I can truly say I was actually being forcefully told...NO.  It was something I just could not shake off.

I have several wonderful children today that I am very grateful for, a wonderful wife, and wonderful companion.  I don't know all the answers, and rarely have I ever been given the answer no to a question. 

Sometimes our paths lead us in very different directions than what others would tell us to do or have us act.  I can't give you advice in your situation, as we have no idea what it is for or in answer to.  I can only tell you on this my experience in it and what the results were.

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9 hours ago, lds_person_0 said:

I would encourage you to consider the repercussions of rejecting the answer, and consider why you are questioning what to do in the first place.

Perhaps Zarahemla isn't rejecting the answer.  (I see no signs of rejection.)  Perhaps he is sincerely wondering what to do now.  Or perhaps, like many of us, he is struggling with some disappointment and looking for help and encouragement.  Clearly, he has gotten his answer and accepted it - there doesn't seem to be any doubt about the answer in his OP.  The only uncertainty expressed is where to go from here.  I see nothing wrong with that.

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22 minutes ago, zil said:

Perhaps Zarahemla isn't rejecting the answer.  (I see no signs of rejection.)  Perhaps he is sincerely wondering what to do now.  Or perhaps, like many of us, he is struggling with some disappointment and looking for help and encouragement.  Clearly, he has gotten his answer and accepted it - there doesn't seem to be any doubt about the answer in his OP.  The only uncertainty expressed is where to go from here.  I see nothing wrong with that.

I suspect that he has asked the Lord for some form of help.  And the Lord is not giving that form of help which was requested.  In that case, I'd say: Ask for a different form of help.

Many times we ask for our burden to be removed rather than asking for strength to carry the burden.

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12 hours ago, zil said:

Perhaps Zarahemla isn't rejecting the answer.  (I see no signs of rejection.)  Perhaps he is sincerely wondering what to do now.  Or perhaps, like many of us, he is struggling with some disappointment and looking for help and encouragement.

I neither said nor assumed he was rejecting the answer, just that he should consider the repercussions of doing so.  The main point of that portion of my statement was to consider why he is questioning what to do in the first place.

While it is possible he is struggling with disappointment or sincerely curious, the lack of response to further clarify the OP and at least minor details regarding the specifics of the inquiry or at least the topic of inquiry, any help to deal with those issues would merely be a guessing game as can be seen from Carborendum's response.

12 hours ago, Carborendum said:

I suspect . . . the Lord is not giving that form of help which was requested.  . . . Ask for a different form of help.

We are all just guessing here at what the issue is and providing advice based on generics or possibilities.

12 hours ago, zil said:

Clearly, he has gotten his answer and accepted it - there doesn't seem to be any doubt about the answer in his OP.  The only uncertainty expressed is where to go from here.  I see nothing wrong with that.

Just because he has received the answer and has recognized it does not mean he has accepted it.  Many times family members have come to me after receiving personal revelation that she didn't like and, while acknowledging the answer received, rejected it until further evidence or persuasive experiences came down the road from other sources.  There is nothing inherently wrong with the question, I do not believe I asserted otherwise.

While I do not assume this is necessarily the case it is always possible that the he wants to find a way out of the answer he received (or believes he received), and that may or may not be the right course of action.

Side Thought: What if his question was to ask if the BOM is true? I'm sure the responses would be very different from everyone ;-)

Edited by lds_person_0
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The question was about a job where I was required to work some sundays. The answer I got was no but it offered health insurance and great pay but I turned it down because the answer I got in the temple was no to the job.

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4 hours ago, Zarahemla said:

The question was about a job where I was required to work some sundays. The answer I got was no but it offered health insurance and great pay but I turned it down because the answer I got in the temple was no to the job.

That can be tough to hear that and to decide what to do in that situation.  Sometimes we do not know all the reasons things happen or why we were warned (unless we choose to do them anyways and then we find out that way). 

I know an individual that had a similar situation.  In this instance they needed a job extremely badly.  They got an interview, but had a very bad feeling about the job itself.  They felt that they shouldn't take the job, even though they needed it.  Talk about a TOUGH choice.

I wish I could say it was wonderful and awesome afterwards, but it wasn't.  It was actually very hard.  They eventually had to go on church welfare for food, and we helped them filled out an application for the government for heating assistance (there wasn't enough funds to pay for everything, that was the best that could be done in this instance, not a choice,the ward couldn't pay the bills, because there was no money left to do so, which is where the government came in because that's all that was left for the best possible solution).

A few months later they found a dream job, one that they absolutely loved, and still love.  They are self sufficient and truly enjoy what they are doing.  It is the best possible outcome for them possible.

I don't know why they had all the challenges they went through, but there are suspicions on why the first job was a bad fit.  The person that eventually filled it quit within a few weeks, and their replacement also quite from what I understand.  Hard bosses and other stresses.  Though the pathway was hard, the final result of it has been a blessing to that family. 

I don't know all the answers or reasons things happen.  I can't even say when someone has really made the best decision or not.  Though the times in my life when I have gotten a No is rare, I know a few stories of those who received a similar answer and the results of it.  I don't know how it will turn out for you, I can only hope that you will be blessed for your decision. 

Having had jobs that worked Sundays, I can tell you, it can be HARD at times.  It's hard on the soul, and for a faithful LDS member, on the emotions.  It doesn't matter the pay or the benefits at times, because the drain can be harder than some may expect (and for others it may be easy, but for me, it was hard at the time).  As I said, I don't know what the future holds and can't promise it will be good or bad, but, I hope you find your dream job with great benefits and health insurance and once again, hope you are blessed for your decision.

Edited by JohnsonJones
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