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.

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)



The missing piece!

I remember reading this story to the kids that I worked with back in Utah.  We usually discussed how different people are.  But I saw this on a friends facebook page and watched it with a whole new look on the story. 

Now, I don't know how many of you people who are converts to the church felt this way as you were trying to figure out which church was right for you.  We try to mold into other churches, sometimes to make us right for them, or them right for us.  But The church that allows you to grow to your full potential and excepts you for who God made you to be, is the church that will bring you the greatest joy, happiness, love, and sense of belonging. 

If you would like to learn more of how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helps you to grow into who God wants you to be,

check out mormon.org and click to meet with the missionaries! 

This church has felt like home to all those that come in, so come "home". 

I KNOW

So, I don't have a great analogy today with anything that I have seen, but I was sitting in this chair and was trying to decide what I wanted to blog about.  The only thing that kept coming into my mind was to testify.  Write out your testimony.   So here you go.

I know that God exists. I know that He loves each and everyone one of us.  I know that He is my Father.  I know that He is happy when we obey, and sad when we disobey.  I know that He wanted us to come to this earth, and that He wants ALL of us to return to His presence through baptism and keeping the commandments.

I know that His Son Jesus Christ lives.  I know He loves us.  I know that He performed the atonement for me because He loves me.  I know that the Atonement is there to allow us to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to right any wrongs that happen to us in this life, and to allow us each to return to live with our Father in Heaven.

I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God.  That he had the faith it took to go in to that grove of trees and kneel down and ask God himself which church was true.  And that God the Father came down and His Son, Jesus Christ, and told Joseph Smith that none of the sects were true and that he, Joseph Smith, was to be a prophet.  A prophet that is called by God himself to lead and direct His children back to Him.  To bring back those ordinances and covenants we need to do to enter God's presence.  Joseph Smith did translate the plates that contained the Book of Mormon through the power of God.  

I know that the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints has been restored to the earth and that it is the same church that Jesus Christ established when he was on the earth.  I know this because I have asked God, my Eternal Father, and He has told me it's true in my heart and in my mind.




I know this clip is a little long, but it is SO amazing!  These are the testimonies of Apostles of Christ.  Apostles are to represent Christ and testify of Christ.  In the Bible dictionary it states:
"The calling of an apostle is to be a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ in all the world, particularly of his divinity and of his bodily resurrection from the dead."

So, grab a cup of hot chocolate, or a little bag of popcorn, or some of that Christmas candy you got and take the time to be uplifted as you listen to apostles of the Lord testify of Jesus the Christ.