Pray to repent

We do not have to be perfect to pray.  We do not have to be "worthy" to pray.  A lot of times we need the strength that comes through prayer to overcome sin or temptations. 
Alma 34:22-23
"Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.  Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is the enemy to all righteousness."
Doctrine and Covenants 10:5
" Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work."

It doesn't say once you have to overcome, then you can pray.  It tells us to pray TO conquer. 

An example is Alma the Younger.  He was a man that was going around destroying the church and everything surrounding it.  He was not a righteous person at all.  He was telling his son about his conversion and he stated
"...not of any worthiness of myself." Alma 36:5

That God loved him so much that even though he was doing bad things, that Alma was visited by an angel and was given guidance on how to repent and to change.  He goes on to tell his son "...teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, WITH their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ." Alma 37:33  We are not expected to overcome sin and temptation on our own.  We will only be able to overcome all of those things WITH our faith, relying on our Savior through prayer. 

We have to remember at all times that NOTHING "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:39

There is nothing that is in our power to make God love us less.  He loves us eternally and infinitely and he will love us to the end and ALWAYS beckon us to return to him, no matter what we have done, what we have said, and what we have felt.  He LOVES us! 

If we ever get to a point and feel that we are not worthy to pray or shouldn't pray- remember this scripture
"Hearken unto the spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth NOT a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray."  2 Nephi 32:8

If you feel that you can't pray for what ever reason.  PUSH THAT THOUGHT OUT!  That is the devil trying to get you to feel bad.  That is not what God would have you do.  He wants you to pray and feel of his love and to repent so that you can have all guilt removed.

Pray for thanks and blessings

We should always thank God for all of our blessings.

Doctrine and Covenants 59:7
"Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things."

Doctrine and Covenants 46:7
"  But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally...doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving." 

We pray for things we are grateful for.  We pray for things that we are striving to develop.  Doctrine and Covenants 4 "things of god must be sought after."  We can seek after Christlike attributes through prayer.  The prayer of faith we can have divine help to develop these traits.

Also, we can ask for priesthood blessings which is a prayer for us from someone holding the Priesthood .
James 5:14
"Is an sick among you?  let him call for the Elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick..."

We can pray for things we need help with.  Things we are struggling with and we can always have access to the priesthood for an added measure of prayer.

Discerning Promptings

Sometimes the hardest thing to me is receiving the answers to my prayers.  I doubt the thoughts that I have thinking they are my wishes, not God's.  I have never heard God speak in my head.  So how do I get answers?

My sister-in-law once said something to the effect of
"God can't direct a person if they are not moving."

We cannot expect God to tell us every choice we make.  That we sometimes have to step in the direction we think we need to go and then God will make it known to us if that is the right choice.  We will sometimes feel the answers during our prayers, and that is great.  But sometimes we have to exercise some faith and start moving forward and then God can guide us from there.  If it was right, he will open the doors for you.  If that choice was wrong, then He will put up road blocks and help guide and lead you another way.

I KNOW that God answers prayers.  I know that he loves to hear from us and that when we pray, we are "seeking and obtaining a private interview with him." - Marion G. Romney

Praying for the gift of discernment is a great way to develop an ability to understand and receive answers to prayers. 

But always remember:
"Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks; Waiting patiently on the Lord, for you prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament-the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted... All things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord."- Doctrine and Covenants 98:1-3

Decide today to pray unto our Father who is in Heaven.

Article of Faith #9

No worries!  We are almost done!  Hang in there everyone :)

Article of Faith #9 states:

"We believe all that God has revealed,

all that He does now reveal,

and we believe that He will

yet reveal many great and

important things pertaining

to the Kingdom of God."



Now lets talk about things that God has revealed.  He revealed to all of us the 10 commandments and the other commandments from the Bible.  Now that is a lot of stuff to have revealed to us, but that is not ALL that God wants to reveal to us.

"And I do this that I may prove unto many

that I am the ^asame yesterday, today,

and forever; and that I speak forth my

^bwords according to mine own pleasure.

And because that I have spoken one

^cword ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another;

for my ^dwork is not yet finished;

neither shall it be until the end of man,

neither from that time henceforth and forever.

 10 Wherefore, because that

ye have a Bible ye need not suppose

that it contains all my ^awords;

neither ^bneed ye suppose

that I have not caused more to be written.

2 nephi 29:9-10

Another blessing of things that he has revealed is the Book of Mormon to support and build on the principles of the Bible.

"And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be ^arevealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth."

2 Nephi 27:11

When we are ready, Heavenly Father has more to reveal to us! 

"Now ^athese things are ^bwritten unto the ^cremnant of the house of Jacob; and they are written after this manner, because it is known of God that wickedness will not bring them forth unto them; and they are to be ^dhid up unto the Lord that they may come forth in his own due time.

 13 And this is the commandment which I have received; and behold, they ^ashall come forth according to the commandment of the Lord, when he shall see fit, in his wisdom."

Mormon 5:12-13

So why does Heavenly Father do this?  Because he is the greatest teacher of all and knows what we can handle and what he wants us to learn.

"For behold, thus saith the Lord God:

I will give unto the children of men line upon line,

precept upon ^aprecept, here a little and there a little;

and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts,

and lend an ear unto my counsel,

for they shall learn ^bwisdom;

 for unto him that ^creceiveth I will give ^dmore;

 and from them that shall say, We have enough,

from them shall be taken away even that which they have."

2 nephi 28:30



Article of Faith #7

#7  "We Believe in the gift of tongues, prophesy,

revelation,

visions,

healings,

interpretation of tongues

and so forth."

This Article of Faith is a lot to do with the miracles that are all around us.  But we believe in these miracles!

"...exhorting all men to come unto God,

the Holy One of Israel,

and believe in prophesying,

and in revelations,

and in the ministering of angels,

and in the gift of speaking with tongues,

and in the gift of interpreting languages,

and in all things which are good;"

Omni 1:25

We can also aquire the gift of revelation for our children and for ourselves.

"But this is not all;

they had given themselves to much prayer,

and fasting;

therefore they had the spirit of prophecy,

and the spirit of revelation,

and when they taught,

they taught with power and authority of God."

Alma 17:3

An example of a healing from the Book of Mormon:

And Alma said: If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed.

And he said: Yea, I believe according to thy words.

And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ.

And when Alma had said these words, Zeezrom leaped upon his feet, and began to walk; and this was done to the great astonishment of all the people; and the knowledge of this went forth throughout all the land of Sidom.

(Alma 15:8-11)

And the gift that is well known for missionaries of the church as well as to anyone that is trying to understand and interpret the spirit.

 "And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues."

(Moroni 10:16)



We are now on to Article of Faith #4.

"4 We believe that the

first principles and ordinances

of the Gospel are:

first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ;

second, Repentance;

third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins;

fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

This article of faith starts out with 2 different words. Principle and Ordinance

A Principle is something that we believe in.  Something on which we can build on.

Faith and Repentance

An Ordinance is the act in which we make a promise.  When we excercise the principles, we desire to make those promises with God and we do that through the ordinances.

Baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost



2 Nephi 31:10-12

" And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me...

And the Father said:

Repent ye, repent ye,

and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son. 

And also, the voice of the Son came unto me saying:

 He that is baptized in my name,

to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost,

Like unto me;

wherefore, follow me,

and do the things which ye have seen me do."

These are the things that we do to find peace and joy in our lives.  God has told us that this is the way that will help us find Joy in this life and in the next life as well.  We develop the principles of Faith and Repentance. We work on those and then that brings the desires to be baptized, forgiven of ALL sins, and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost as our constant guide.