Just Talk

After Alma recounts the events of his conversion to his son Helaman, he goes on to give him advice on how to conduct his life. As part of this advice he says, "Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord: yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever" (Alma 37:36).

I love that verse and feel like it sums up everything there is to know about conducting our lives. If we love the Lord constantly, and direct all of our thoughts to Him, we can't go wrong. In other words, if we just talk to Him all day long we will be in good shape.

Simple? Yes, but powerful.

The Soul's Desire

The Good News! today is about prayer, and I’d like to share one of my very favorite quotes on prayer with you. This came from Elder John A. Widtsoe, who was an apostle from 1921 to 1952. Every sentence is packed with meaning and instruction. He says, “Prayer is a request for further light, protection or whatever else is desired. Prayer is the first and greatest means of reading God's messages, for by intense prayer man gradually places himself in tune with the infinite so far as his request is concerned. Those who do not ask, naturally do not establish an understanding relationship with the unseen world, and no message appears. The Being of higher intelligence, to whom the request is directed, may or may not grant the prayer, but some answer will be given. Prayer has been said to be ‘the soul's sincere desire.’ Only when it is such will the fullest answer be obtained, and it is doubtful if such a prayer is ever refused. No prayer is unheard. The place and time of prayer are of less importance. Morning, noon and night, prayer is always fitting. However, it is well to be orderly, and to beget habits of prayer, and certain hours of the day should therefore be set aside for prayer, both in private and in the family. Frequent and regular prayer helps to remind man of his dependence on a Being of higher intelligence in accomplishing the great work of his heart. A man should pray always; his heart should be full of prayer; he should walk in prayer. Answers will then be heard as God pleases. Seldom is a man greater than his private prayers.”

“To become properly tuned with the guiding intelligent Being, one must not pray in a stereotyped way. A man must give himself to the matter devotedly desired in the form of prayer, and then support it with all his works. Prayer is active and not passive. If a thing is wanted a man must try to secure it. Then, as a man devotes all of himself to the subject of the prayer, his attitude becomes such as to make him susceptible to the answer when it shall be sent. Prayer may be said to be the soul's whole desire.”

(A Rational Theology [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1915], 76‑77.)

The Process of Revelation

In the account of the Jaredites we read of the time that the brother of Jared was building barges to take he and his people to the Promised Land. It is a story we are all familiar with, but one that has been misinterpreted often. In the account we are told that the Brother of Jared encountered two problems with these barges that he didn’t know how to solve. When this is taught it is too often explained that the lesson of the story is that we should think things through and then take our plans to the Lord for approval.

But that is not what happens here. The Brother of Jared recognizes that there are two problems. The barges are so air tight that the inhabitants will not have enough air, and they are dark inside. So he goes to the Lord and asks how to solve the problems. The Lord immediately tells him how to fix the air problem. He tells the Brother of Jared to make holes with coverings in the floor and in the ceiling of the barge then when they need air they can open the top hole to let air in and if water gets in with the air they can open the bottom hole and push it out. Air problem solved.

The Lord then asks the Bother of Jared how he would like to solve the light problem. But even then He tells the Brother of Jared that windows won’t work and neither will fire. With these qualifications in mind and with the invitation from the Lord given to come up with a solution, the Brother of Jared then determines that if the Lord will touch 16 stones he has molten out of rock, it will solve the problem. He makes the stones, takes them to the mountain top, and asks the Lord to touch them. The Lord obliges and the stones provide light for the journey.

The important thing to note here is that the experience does not begin with the Brother of Jared thinking everything through and solving the problems. It begins and ends with prayer. The Brother of Jared takes his concerns to the Lord and is given one answer and told to think through the other problem. While it is good for us to use our own intellect and try to work out our own problems, every step of that process needs to be accompanied by prayer. If we are truly yoked with the Lord, He will be part of every thought and every solution, not just someone we turn to at the end for the stamp of approval.

More Truth Tools

The Good News today is that there are more

Truth Tools than what we talked about yesterday. In the Doctrine and Covenants 59:4 we are told that the reward for those who are seeking Zion, in other words seeking to be pure in heart, is that they will be ”crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few.” Most of us don’t think of commandments as blessings, but the commandments are Truth Tools—amazing Truth Tools that "crown" our lives if we let them.

One of the most powerful of the Truth Tools is prayer. When the negative feelings begin to swell within us calling upon God can dispel them. Another Truth Tool, Forgiveness, works not only on the negative emotion being generated by the offense we are holding a grudge against, but when we forgive and let go of the bad thoughts, we find that other negative feelings melt away also. Forgiving others works in the soul like taking a warm shower works on the body. You may get in the shower because your feet and hands are dirty, but your whole body gets cleaned and it feels so good.

Repentance, fasting, and the Sacrament are also powerful Truth Tools. When we take the time to analyze our lives and identify what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong and then go to the Sacrament Altar ready to sacrifice the things we are doing wrong and commit to do better the coming week,

we are empowered. Sin generates negative emotion and feelings

and when we give up the sin the negative feelings go with it.

In short, these and other commandments are really an enormous blessing in our lives.

They are Truth Tools that allow us to rid our lives of the negative feelings that push us into the Pit of Illusion and allow us to live in Truth where peace, joy, happiness and love abound. As D&C 59 goes on to say, “He who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (23).

Prayer Power

I have been reminded lately of the great power of prayer, and it has reminded me of how grateful I am to all of you and the many others who prayed for me when I had brain surgery and again when I went through radiation. Prayer works and the combined prayers of many people calling upon God from their foundation of love and faith works miracles.

Having so many people praying for me was also an education. I knew about prayer. I believed in prayer, but I had no idea that I would be able to feel the sustaining power of prayer so tangibly. It reminded me of the story of Moses as he stood on the mountain watching his people battling in the valley below. When he lifted his hands the Israelites prevailed, but his hands grew tired and fell with weariness and the Israelites began to flounder. So Aaron and Hur held Moses' hands up and the Israelites won the battle.(See Exodus 17.) That's what it felt like--as if someone was holding me up so I  could win the battle.

Thank you and keep praying for one another and for those who are in need. Prayer works! It lifts, it comforts, it brings about miracles.

The Power of Tradition

Yesterday D1 shared a story with me that I want to pass on. For years they have awakened their family at 6:00 in the morning for family prayer. It is so much a tradition that it is habit.

Well, awhile back D1 was awakened at 3:00 in the morning by a sick child. Again, over the years, the “tradition” has evolved that when this happens she takes care of the sick child, washing him up, getting him something for the sick tummy, etc. while her husband takes care of cleaning up the soiled bedding. So when she was awakened she began to care for the sick boy and called to her husband to take care of the bedroom. She finished helping her son but when she took him back to bed there was no sign of SIL1 (son-in-law 1) so she stripped the bed and did what needed to be done all the time wondering where her husband was.

Finally she got her son in bed and went back to her bedroom, thinking her husband must not have gotten up. But SIL1 was not in bed. She began searching through the house and finally found him in the living room, kneeling at the couch. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Didn’t you call me to get up for prayer?” he replied.

She was laughing so hard she had a hard time going back to sleep. But the story has a great message about the power of habit and tradition in our lives. Too often we only think and talk about breaking bad habits, but good habits can direct our lives and the lives of our children in wonderful ways.

Prayer Power

I got one of those calls yesterday—a call from my mother asking me to pray for my niece who suddenly began having seizures. BBS (Before Brain Surgery) I would, as soon as I could, dutifully pray when a call like this came, and I would think about the person and the situation hoping for the best. But ABS (After Brain Surgery) when calls like this come, I drop everything immediately and pray with all my heart that all will be well and that the person will feel the prayers and love of others as much as I did.

The healing for me was a wonderful miracle. The love and the tangibility of other’s prayers was a delightful surprise. That feeling sustained me while I waited for the miracle. That feeling kept fear at bay. That feeling warmed and comforted me. And I know that feeling was part of the healing. Prayer works. It is real. We should all be praying for each other because life is meant to be a community affair. None of us will make it to the Celestial Kingdom without helping someone else get there, too. There are many ways we do that, but prayer is part of all of them.

Thanks again for all of your prayers when I needed them. I still can feel the strength they gave me. And pray for my niece, Jessica, who lovingly offered to cut her long, strawberry-blond hair to make a wig for me when Grizelda plagued me.

Living in Truth in California

Last night went very well. I was supposed to speak at 7:00 but there was a baptism in the room at 6:30 so we couldn't get in to set up. I was so delighted to watch everyone involved--they were Living in Truth! The missionaries decided that after the baptism they would move to another room for the confirmation. The people in charge of setting up for our class weren't the least bit vexed. One woman said, "We may have to start a few minutes late, but that won't hurt anything!" As soon as the baptism crowd left the Relief Society room, several people of their own accord helped turn the chairs back to the front of the room and a very knowledgeable man set up the screen and projector and we were ready to go on time! It was actually exciting to see people living in Truth at the very time we were talking about it. People are wonderful and it is such a blessing for me to get to meet and know so many of them.

Now for today! I will be teaching the other three sessions (4 snd 1/2 hours) of the Living in Truth workshops in one day. I've done that much teaching in a day before, but not since the surgery and radiation. I'm praying for a miracle--that I have the stamina to physically make it through this.

Life as a Prayer

The scriptures advise us to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Most of us think of prayer as folding our arms and bowing our heads, or kneeling down and talking to God about what we need and what we are grateful for. But prayer is as much an attitude as it is words. After encouraging the people to pray without ceasing, Paul tells them, “In every thing give thanks.” Again we might think of this as stopping what ever we are doing, bowing, and verbally expressing thanks in prayer. But there are other ways to give thanks.

Try an experiment. Whatever you do today fill you mind and heart with thoughts about how grateful you are for that thing or something connected to it. For example, when preparing a meal think about how grateful you are for the food or how grateful you are to have two hands that work. While cleaning your house, think about how grateful you are for a house that is a haven from the world, or think about the wonderful modern tools that make cleaning so easy. When doing even the grossest jobs such as changing a dirty diaper, think about what a privilege it is to serve one of God’s children by doing for them what they cannot do for themselves. Whatever you are doing all day long, think of what you are grateful for—think constantly about the great blessing it is to be an instrument in God’s hands to serve others and to do His work on earth.

After a day of this, meditate for a few moments on what happened to you. Review the events of the day and how different you felt when concentrating on gratitude. One thing you will notice is that by being constantly grateful your life itself became a prayer.

When It Rains, It Pours

We've had another set back around here. My one-year-old grandson, Josh's son, was just taken to Primary Children's Hospital. He's had a terrible rash and fever for several days. The doctors suspect a very rare disease and 7 of 10 people who contract it die from it. I'm asking for your prayers again. Prayer works!

I am so thankful for the things I've learned about living in Truth or I wouldn't be making it right now. I'm staying Anchored and feel at peace.

So Far So Good!

I went to the ophthalmologist Monday and my eye sight is very good. At this point there is no damage to the optical nerve from the radiation that we know of, and every day that passes makes it more and more unlikely that there will be any. I am still very, very tired, but I’m functioning and I’m stronger than last week. That’s good! Each day gets a little better.

The doctors told me they have to wait 3 to 6 months to do the follow-up MRI to see if Grizelda is gone, but the pressure in my head is so much less that I know something is happening already.

In short, things are looking good. I appreciate so much your faith and prayers. I couldn’t go through all this without you! I’ve learned that in the past I’ve grossly underestimated the power I have to influence the outcome for someone else. I’ve sometimes found myself thinking, “Oh, I’m just one little person. What difference can I make?” or “What can my one prayer do?” I promise you I will never think such thoughts again. I’ve FELT your prayers and been sustained by your faith. And I know that each and every prayer added to that sustaining power. There is an amazing synergy when lots of people pray for the same thing.

It seems so inadequate. All I can say is thank you! Thank you so much and keep praying. I’ll be praying for you, also!

Learning Patience!

The night before my craniotomy last December, I was given a beautiful blessing in which I was told that I would eventually be made completely whole but that I needed to be patient. Four or five times in that blessing I was reminded that patience was very important. So after the surgery when the healing seemed so fast and miraculous, I was puzzled. Many times the thought went through my head, “Why was I admonished to be patient? This took very little patience.” And then a gnawing feeling that the ordeal wasn’t really over would spread through me. Well, now I know why I was told to be patient! As a matter of fact, I am learning all kinds of lessons about patience.

I’ve never been good about patience. Growing up I always searched and found my Christmas presents before Christmas. (I hope Mom doesn’t read this!) In Primary when they had us plant seed of "faith" in a cup and take them home to watch them grow, I'd dig them up every day to see if they were growing. (Needless to say, they didn't!) I loved to read, but I’d make it to about the middle of a novel and then impatiently turn to the end of the book to see what was going to happen. (That ruined the rest of the read.) I’d force a situation by jumping to conclusions too soon or trying to manipulate events. (That over anxiousness always caused more problems than I want to recount.) In short, I’ve never been good about waiting which I now realize is really that I’ve never been good about letting God unfold events in His time. I also now realize that letting God unfold events in His time is what it means to trust Him.

I used to think believing in Christ was the same as trusting Him. But I now know differently. Everything happens for a reason, and by trying to force or manipulate life myself I was refusing to trust. I thought I knew better than God what was best for me! So this time I am determined to be patient. Grizelda is with me again for a reason, and whatever the reason it is important for my growth and development. So my greatest concern right now is that I learn the lessons God wants me to learn. He knows what I need and He loves me. Whatever happens is for my best good. I just need to be patient and trust in Him.

Using Our Call Button

I am home now! We had a wonderful vacation and it was so fun to see three of my daughters and ten of my grandchildren! The best part is that we completely missed the huge snow storm. Today the sun is brightly shining on a colorful spring world. Who could ask for anything more?While we were gone one of my two Utah grandchildren, five-year-old Eli, became very sick and was hospitalized because he was so dehydrated. His nurse explained to him that if there was anything he needed all he had to do was push the button with the nurse emblem on it and she would help him.

For the next while he eagerly eyed that “magic” button but refrained from pushing it. Then, while his mother was on the telephone, he reached over and pushed it. “What can I do for you?” a voice asked, and Eli replied, “Would you please bring me a surprise.” So she did. She brought him a little, silver car to play with.

I laughed about that when I first heard it, but since then I’ve thought more seriously about it. There’s a lesson in there for me. Our Father in Heaven has repeatedly instructed us that “whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matt 21:22). We always have a “button” that we can “push” and ask for whatever we need even if it is as trivial as a “surprise.” The Lord loves us and nothing is too menial or trivial to take to Him. We don’t even need to wait until we need something to pray for. Some of the most empowering prayers occur when we simply express our thanks to God for the things He has given and done for us or when we talk over the experiences of our day with Him as we would a good friend.

Prayer connects us to God just as the hospital button connected Eli to the nurse, and God hears and answers our prayers just as the nurse heard and responded to Eli.

Just Ask

All of us have heard the wonderful verses of scripture (James 1:5-6) that motivated Joseph Smith to go into the grove to pray. We’ve heard them so often that sometimes we fail to really pay attention to what they say. We hear the verse and think “We are to pray in order to learn,” but don’t even notice the rest of what is taught. But there is much more!

In verse five we are promised that God will give to all people (not just to Joseph Smith and not just to prophets, but to all of us!) liberally, which means “marked by generosity.” And despite what we ask or how often we ask, he will not upbraid us. Upbraid is a word we don’t hear much anymore. It means to criticize severely or to find fault with. In other words, we can ask God and He will not criticize us or fault us for asking.

That is very comforting to me. Anything I want or need to know—it doesn’t matter how big or small a concern or questions—I can ask God about and He will not reproach me or scold me. Never! In other, more positive words, I have a Father who wants to teach me everything He knows. I can’t take it all in at once, but question at a time, line upon line, I can learn from Him. All I need to do is ask.

Mighty Prayer

One of Jesus’ disciples once asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” In response the Savior gave the people what we now call the Lord ’s Prayer and then went on to teach with a parable. In the parable a man receives unexpected company and has nothing to feed his guests. Frantically, he knocks on a friend’s door and asks for some bread. The friend is already comfortably bedded down for the night and calls out that he can’t come to the door.

But the man persists in knocking, and we are told that though the friend wouldn’t go to the door simply because he was a friend, he finally goes to the door because of the man’s “importunity” (Luke 11:5-10).

Jesus is teaching about prayer and obviously we get the message that sometimes we need to be persistent in praying for what we need and want. But there is something more here. The word importune means “to request or beg for urgently.” Persistence is definitely part of this definition, but in addition we get the feeling that Jesus is explaining that prayer is not just words, prayer also involves emotion.

Sometimes our prayers become routine—just spoken words. But prayer means that we are engaged in the thoughts and intents of our prayer with all of our mind and our heart. The scriptures call this mighty prayer. What Jesus is teaching us here is that mighty prayer is not something uttered; mighty prayer is something felt.

Sheep and Goats

At one point in Jesus’ ministry, the mother of James and John came to worship Jesus and he asked her what she wanted of Him. She answered, “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom” (JST Matthew 20:21).

Jesus answered, “Ye know not what ye ask” (Matthew 20:22).

At first it would seem like James and John’s mother was asking a very reasonable thing. Wouldn’t every mother like her children near Jesus? But later, in Mathew 25:33, the Savior explains that when the Son of Man comes in glory, He is going to separate the righteous which he compares to sheep from the wicked which he compares to goats. “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.” So what James and John’s mother unknowingly asked for is that one of her sons would be among the righteous and one among the wicked.

There is a great lesson in this for me. I must be careful what I ask my Father in Heaven for and remember that when He says no, it could be that I have actually asked for something that would not be good for me!

Time to Practice What I Preach

Dear blog friends,

This past week I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Today we were told that the tumor is in the worst possible place it could be. It is behind my left eye and if they go in to take it out it will almost certainly cause blindness. For the same reason, they also can't do a biopsy. Because it can't be biopsied, we don't know if it is benign or malignant, but either way it has to come out because it is growing and eventually that will cause blindness.

Tomorrow I will be going through more tests and meeting with more doctors. There are four options and at this point none of them is good. Please pray for me. I trust with all my heart in my Heavenly Father. I know He is with me and that He will guide me. I also know that the prayers of many bring about miracles. I'm counting on one of those miracles. I love you all.

Be Careful What You Pray For!

The mother of James and John, two of the chief apostles to the Lord, one time approached the Savior with a request.

“What wilt thou?” The Savior asked.

“Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.” she responded.

“Ye know not what ye ask,” Jesus explained and then went on to prophesy of that the brothers would experience some of the same things he did, but that it was not his decisions as to who would sit on his right side and on his left. Only the Father could determine that. (See Matthew 20:20-23)

Matthew doesn’t record for us the mother’s response, was she disappointed, sad, upset that her request had not been granted, or did she understand what a mistake she had made in asking? You see, elsewhere in the scriptures we learn that the righteous will be on the right hand of God and the wicked will be on the left. As we are taught in the book of Alma, “For the names of the righteous shall be written in the book of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand” (Alma 5:58. See also, Mosiah 26:23).

So what James and John’s mother asked for is that one of her sons be among the righteous and one be among the damned. As Jesus said, she didn’t know what she was asking!

This story makes me wonder how many of my requests are like this? How many times have I prayed for something that actually would not be good for me? It makes me stop and ponder, but most of all it increases my trust in my Savior. He died to save me. Surely now he is also going to lead and guide me into all righteousness–even if I am asking for something else.

Our Relationship to God

One of the most important things we can do in this life is to come to know who we are (see Romans 8:17) and act accordingly. This doesn’t mean that if asked the question we can answer, "I am a child of God." It means that you feel like a child of God. You feel like an heir! In other words, somehow the information has moved from being an idea in your head to a feeling in your heart. You KNOW you are God’s child and identify yourself as such. One thing that has helped me understand this is prayer. When I consciously think about my Father in Heaven and talk with Him rather than at Him, I feel more connected to Him. In addition, when I have finished pouring out my heart to Him, instead of jumping up and running on to the next task I pause and give Him time to speak to me. In this way I sense a very real connection.
I taught my children to do this when they were younger and one night as I was saying prayers with five year old Anissa, I began to review this principle with her. "Remember," I said, "to wait a few minutes after you. . ." At that point, Anissa put her little hand in my face to stop me from speaking. "No, Mom!" she said. "You don’t have to tell me that because once when I listened Heavenly Father said, ‘I love you."
As we learn who we are, the next step is the exemplify. Simply put, we act like a child of God at all times. We are princes and princess of the God of the universe! As we dress, speak, and act like children of deity, we are examples to those around us.
Ministering this knowledge grows out of exemplifying it. In any interaction with another of God’s children we should treat them as the royal beings they are. Sometimes this is difficult because they aren’t acting like God’s children. But the amazing thing I’ve discovered is that when I treat people as special, they soften and act differently. It has become a delightful endeavor for me to find something to complement sales people, telephone solicitors, servers in restaurants, or other service people for. I’m sure they take a lot of abuse from people and it has been so fun to watch them "brighten" when I complement them or simply treat them with the respect a child of God deserves.
It is a mind set and at first it is difficult to constantly remind ourselves of who we are and who others are. But as it becomes habit, amazing things happen. This is especially true when we remember that the people in our families are not "ours." They are God’s and he has entrusted them to our care.