"It isn’t until you come to a spiritual understanding of who you are that you can begin to take control of yourself. As you learn to control yourself, you will get control of your life. If you want to move the world, you first have to move yourself.
"President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) often quoted an unknown author: “The greatest battle of life is fought out within the silent chambers of the soul. A victory on the inside of a man’s heart is worth a hundred conquests on the battlefields of life. To be master of yourself is the best guarantee that you will be master of the situation. Know thyself. The crown of character is self-control.”
"This leads us to God’s great gift to His children: agency.
"Lehi taught this most important doctrine to his children. He said: “The Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. … And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Ne. 2:16, 27).
"You have agency, and you are free to choose. But there is actually no free agency. Agency has its price. You have to pay the consequences of your choices.
"Human agency was purchased with the price of Christ’s suffering. The power of Christ’s Atonement overcomes the effect of sin on the condition of wholehearted repentance. Through and by the Savior’s universal and infinite Atonement, all have been redeemed from the Fall and have become free forever to act for themselves (see 2 Ne. 2:26).
"Agency is a spiritual matter. Without awareness of alternatives, you could not choose. Agency is so important in your lives that you not only can choose obedience or rebellion, but you must.
During this life you cannot remain on neutral ground; you cannot abstain from either receiving or rejecting the light from God." (Emphasis added) -- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, On the Wings of Eagles, 2003
Interestingly, this morning Lisa and I were discussing this very subject. I mentioned that if you're not continually working on living the Gospel, that you are rejecting it. There is no neutral ground. Those who think they are neutral, are actually rejecting the light from God, as President Uchtdorf puts it.
Living the Gospel requires daily continuous work. If we are not moving forward, we are moving backward.
I was listening to "The Infinite Atonement" this morning. One thing Elder Callister mentioned that struck me was, speaking of the gifts of the Spirit, that we must continually fervently pray and ask to receive those gifts we've been blessed with or for anything that we sincerely desire or wish for.
Just keeping the commandments and trying to live righteously is not enough. We have to ask the Lord for the desires of our hearts.
This makes total sense since work is an eternal principle and prayer is a form of work. I think it's something we often forget. The Lord requires effort on our part before he will bless us. He wants us to work to obtain those things which we desire. And he wants us to ask him for them. And if you think about it, things always mean more to us when we have worked hard to obtain them.
There are several scriptures which mention, "Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you".
Another quote from President Uchtdorf's talk, On the Wings of Eagles:
"Prayer, if given in faith, is acceptable to God at all times. If you ever feel you cannot pray, that is the time when you definitely need to pray. Nephi taught in plainness, “If ye would hearken unto the Spirit [of God] which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit … teacheth him that he must not pray” (2 Ne. 32:8).
"President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) taught, “The sincere prayer of the righteous heart opens to any individual the door to divine wisdom and strength in that for which he righteously seeks.”
"Obedience assures us an answer to our prayers. We read in the New Testament, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 Jn. 3:22).
"Daily, simple but sincere and mighty prayers will help you lift your lives to a higher spiritual altitude. In your prayers you praise God, give thanks to Him, confess weaknesses, petition needs, and express deep devotion to your Heavenly Father. As you do this in the name of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, you perform a spiritual effort that leads to increased inspiration, revelation, and righteousness—not self-righteousness—and brings the brightness of heaven into your lives." -- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, On the Wings of Eagles, 2003
This makes total sense since work is an eternal principle and prayer is a form of work. I think it's something we often forget. The Lord requires effort on our part before he will bless us. He wants us to work to obtain those things which we desire. And he wants us to ask him for them. And if you think about it, things always mean more to us when we have worked hard to obtain them.
There are several scriptures which mention, "Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you".
Another quote from President Uchtdorf's talk, On the Wings of Eagles:
"Prayer, if given in faith, is acceptable to God at all times. If you ever feel you cannot pray, that is the time when you definitely need to pray. Nephi taught in plainness, “If ye would hearken unto the Spirit [of God] which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit … teacheth him that he must not pray” (2 Ne. 32:8).
"President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) taught, “The sincere prayer of the righteous heart opens to any individual the door to divine wisdom and strength in that for which he righteously seeks.”
"Obedience assures us an answer to our prayers. We read in the New Testament, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 Jn. 3:22).
Well I actually combined two blogs into one. :-) But it seems to flow. Anyway, if you feel like you are not receiving answers to your prayers, perhaps you are not working hard enough. Or perhaps the Lord is delaying his answer for your own benefit, which He sometimes does. Or perhaps the answer is no. But one thing is certain, the Lord does hear and answer every sincere prayer offered to Him.
Remember that the Lord will not thwart the agency of mankind. Everybody must exercise his or her own moral agency and face the consequences whether good or bad. Therefore if your prayer pertains to someone else's lifestyle or choices, the Lord will not intervene, even when those poor choices detrimentally affect us directly.
Satan would have us believe that obedience limits our freedoms and agency when in fact, the opposite is true. As we learn and exercise self-control and practice obedience to the Lord, we are actually increasing the choices available to us and therefore expanding our freedoms.
Look at those who rebel against the Lord's laws, and are slaves to addiction. Or those who give in to temptation every time they face it. Are they more free than someone who actively chooses to obey the Lord? I think not.
Choosing to exercise our moral agency by actively striving to follow the Lord by living His commandments not only gives us more freedom but also brings more happiness and blessings in our lives.
That's my two cents.
Great post with great quotes. I almost did a post using that exact quote from Pres. Uchtdorf today. In fact, it's partially composed. I also like the quote regarding obedience and answers to prayer.
ReplyDeleteNicely done and all true.