What I Believe - Prayer

  

Prayer

Sometimes answers to our prayers come almost immediately and sometimes they seem to never come at all. But sometimes, if we're patient, the answer comes when and how we least expect it.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as with most faiths, I was taught to pray often. It is a teaching that I have come to rely upon. It has brought me relief, joy, peace. It has helped me get through the really tough times when I really didn't know what to do.

For example, this past Fall I was going through something that I really didn't see any way out of and I was truly at my wit's end. I wanted relief -- immediately! But I knew I had to be patient and put my faith in Heavenly Father and take each day as it came. And every day, several times a day, I prayed. I felt so helpless otherwise.

Some days He gave me little hugs of hope throughout the day in the form of various reminders that he was on top of my situation. Other days he was not so forthcoming and I had to hold on to what had filled me with hope and peace of mind the day before or maybe even a couple of days before.

Yet throughout I knew he was watching over me.

Then one day a miracle happened, something I didn't think could happen under the circumstances.

I am so very grateful for that miracle, for that tender mercy Heavenly Father showed me. Prayer has saved me more times than I can count. If you will pray about whatever is troubling you and do so with real intent and the faith of a little child, you will receive an answer.

This is what I believe.

Introducing - What I Believe Wednesday - Pattern

May 14 2014 marks the 30 year anniversary of the best decision I ever made, it's the anniversary of the day I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm really excited about this anniversary and I have decided that in honor of this great milestone in my life that I would like to begin sharing with my readers some of what I believe and what impact The Gospel of Jesus Christ has had on my life.

Every Wednesday I will share videos, personal accounts, and whatever else strikes me to celebrate the wonderful light and joy that decision has given to me.

To start this new feature off, I would like to share the following video:

Daily Bread: Pattern
Mormon Channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eMJ6ZDCAp4

I believe we still need this manna, this spiritual sustenance, and without it we often end up merely taking each day as it comes in a way that is far beneath our potential. During the times in my life when I have allowed myself to be distracted from prayer and other methods of spiritual sustenance, such as when I have felt overwhelmed by the day-to-day happenings of life, nothing has brought back peace and calm to my being the way refocusing my attention upon God has.

I think I might best equate this to a man who is having trouble crossing a footbridge because he has a great fear of heights. Every time he looks down he gets dizzy and has to stop, which makes his progress very slow and tiring. Across the bridge is his patient, loving and kind friend. His friend urges him to keep moving forward. He tells this poor, frightened soul to look only at him and place one foot in front of the other and as long as the man follows his friend's direction he has no problem crossing the bridge, but the very second he places his attention back on the scary height, he becomes paralyzed with fear and can no longer move forward -- not until, of course, he places his focus back upon his friend.

I believe God can and will help us get through any situation we may encounter -- even the most scary ones -- we just have to remember to keep looking towards him and we'll get there, eventually we'll reach our goal, our destination.

This is what I believe.

Proof of Heaven

I adore the way God can make each and every one of us on this earth feel as if we're the only child He has. And by saying that I am not ascribing to an existentialist point of view. What I do ascribe to, believe, is that He knows each and every one of us on this earth so very well that He knows exactly what to do in every aspect of our lives for our betterment.

Each and every day that I pay attention, don't allow fear, or some other negative emotion to interfere with my ability to access the Divine, something special, even amazing seems to come my way.

I am fond of Monarch Butterflies. It's something that has been with me since I graduated from High School and they gave a lovely presentation that day for all of us graduating seniors in which they showed us a beautiful monarch butterfly and told us that it represented New Beginnings. So now whenever I get to see a monarch butterfly it makes me smile and gives me hope for the future.

But sometimes, sometimes those little butterflies do some interesting things. They circle something, they do little loop de loops in the air, they land next to me or, sometimes, when I'm in the midst of a tense situation one will lazily float by to remind me that all is not lost and that these seemingly insurmountable worries and woes are, indeed, fleeting and much more easily resolved than I am allowing myself to believe at the moment.

Getting back to the initial point of this article I would like to refer you to a rather good book by Neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, MD, entitled: Proof of Heaven.

Now, I know that there are those out there who will stubbornly cling to the notion that there is no God and no Afterlife no matter who presents the case for God and the Afterlife. But I do believe that for those of you who have questions, wonder, or just plain doubt that these things can be true I believe you will find something in this book that will help you along the way.

Raymond Moody, MD, PhD, the famous doctor who has delved into and recorded the stories of many people who have died and come back through the years, says about the book Proof of Heaven: "Dr. Eben Alexander's near-death experience is the most astounding I have heard in more than four decades of studying this phenomenon..." and that must be saying a great deal considering just how many stories Doctor Moody must have heard through the years.

Yes, our Heavenly Father knows each of us so well that He knows exactly how to reach us even when we do allow fear, some other negative emotion, or even certain aspects of a higher education, to interfere with our ability to access Him. In other words, even when we stop reaching for Him, He never stops reaching out for us.

I hope someday, if you haven't already, that you will allow Him to touch your heart.

May God bless you.