Counsel With the Lord

"Prayer becomes more meaningful as we counsel with the Lord in all our
doings."


"We are promised that if we pray sincerely for that which is right and good
and in accordance with God’s will, we can be blessed, protected, and directed
(see 3 Nephi 18:20; D&C
19:38)."

Elder Bednar, Pray Always

What could we need more, in these uncertain times, then to be "blessed, protected, and directed."

3 Nephi 18:20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.

D&C 19:38 Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof.

Alma 37:36 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.

(the butterfly at the top of the post is called the Mormon Butterfly. I wonder how it got that name?)

Prophet's Prayers

The prayers of prophets are childlike in their simplicity and powerful
because of their sincerity.

Elder Bednar

Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire

I am studying Elder Bednar's talk, Pray Always. Although I have read and listened to it a few times already- some sections hit me this morning that I hadn't REALLY noticed before- about praying for others- below are the quotes for the talk that I really liked.

Praying for others with all of the energy of our souls increases our
capacity to hear and to heed the voice of the Lord.

Speaking of Lehi:

The vision came in response to a prayer for others and
not as a result of a
request for personal edification or guidance.

Do our spouses, children, and other family members likewise feel the power
of our prayers offered unto the Father for their specific needs and desires? Do
those we serve hear us pray for them with faith and sincerity? If those we love
and serve have not heard and felt the influence of our earnest prayers in their
behalf, then the time to repent is now. As we emulate the example of the Savior,
our prayers truly will become more meaningful.

I feel like I learned something new this morning. I am going to have a renewed focus on praying for others.

Thanksgiving Thursdays

I have been reading this talk the last few days:

Pray Always
Elder David A. Bednar Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In it, he challenges us to pray with greater thanksgiving:

As we strive to make our prayers more meaningful, we should remember that “in
nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those
who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments” (D&C 59:21). Let me recommend that periodically you and I
offer a prayer in which we only give thanks and express gratitude. Ask for
nothing; simply let our souls rejoice and strive to communicate appreciation
with all the energy of our hearts.

I am going to start having "Thanksgiving Thursdays"- where- on Thursdays, I don't ask for anything, I just give thanks.

Well- you say, what if you REALLY need to ask for something? Sure- that could happen- but it would have to be big- check out his example:

During our service at Brigham Young University–Idaho, Sister Bednar and I
frequently hosted General Authorities in our home. Our family learned an
important lesson about meaningful prayer as we knelt to pray one evening with a
member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Earlier in the day Sister Bednar
and I had been informed about the unexpected death of a dear friend, and our
immediate desire was to pray for the surviving spouse and children. As I invited
my wife to offer the prayer, the member of the Twelve, unaware of the tragedy,
graciously suggested that in the prayer Sister Bednar express only appreciation
for blessings received and ask for nothing. His counsel was similar to Alma’s
instruction to the members of the ancient Church “to pray without ceasing, and
to give thanks in all things” (Mosiah
26:39). Given the unexpected tragedy, requesting blessings for our friends
initially seemed to us more urgent than expressing thanks.
Sister Bednar
responded in faith to the direction she received. She thanked Heavenly Father
for meaningful and memorable experiences with this dear friend. She communicated
sincere gratitude for the Holy Ghost as the Comforter and for the gifts of the
Spirit that enable us to face adversity and to serve others. Most importantly,
she expressed appreciation for the plan of salvation, for the atoning sacrifice
of Jesus Christ, for His Resurrection, and for the ordinances and covenants of
the restored gospel which make it possible for families to be together
forever.
Our family learned from that experience a great lesson about the
power of thankfulness in meaningful prayer. Because of and through that prayer,
our family was blessed with inspiration about a number of issues that were
pressing upon our minds and stirring in our hearts. We learned that our
gratefulness for the plan of happiness and for the Savior’s mission of salvation
provided needed reassurance and strengthened our confidence that all would be
well with our dear friends. We also received insights concerning the things
about which we should pray and appropriately ask in faith.

So- is anyone with me?

The Spiritual Creation

Every day (OK- about 5 days a week)- I take my kids to the gym. near the gym the local hospital has been building a large new wing. It started off as a whole, then we saw a frame, and little by little - day by day- my girls would say, "look at the building!- is it done, Mom?"- "nope- not done yet-"- and week by week would see it change, - walls- roof, paint... "Look at the building! is it done, Mom?" "Nope, not done yet."
There is a lot involved in the construction- it all started with a hospital board, no doubt explaining to an architectural firm, what they needed- it then became a plan on paper- probably years prior to it becoming a reality.
The Lord's method of creating was not all that different- he too, started with a plan- a "spiritual creation"- prior to the actual physical creation.

In Genesis chapter 2, verse 5 we learn that the plants were created before they were in the physically in the earth.

The book of Moses is even more clear, in chapter 3, verse 5

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. • • •

In Moses chapter 6, verse 51- it says: I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.

The Doctrine and Covenants, section 29- verses 31 and 32- For by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal—

First spiritual, secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work.

In the Sunday School class that I attended on Sunday, the instructor indicated that perhaps Genesis 1 was referring to the spiritual creation, and Genesis 2 was telling of the physical creation- I had never thought that was the case- and did a little research- this is what I found:

Complicating the issue further for some Latter-day Saints is the idea that Genesis 1 may not be an account of Creation by another author but may, in fact, be an account of another creation, Genesis 1 being, in their minds, the account of the spiritual creation and Genesis 2 of the physical creation. But a close reading of the scriptures indicates otherwise. [Gen. 1; Gen. 2]
If Genesis 1 is an account of the spiritual creation, then Genesis 1:26–27 would be the account of the creation of the first man in the spirit—“the first-born of every creature,” the premortal Jesus. [Gen. 1:26–27] (See Col. 1:15; D&C 93:21.) The Moses account, however, shows that this cannot be so:
“And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image. …
“And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him.” (Moses 2:26–27.)
Since Jehovah was there when the man referred to in Genesis 1:26–27 was formed, the spiritual creation obviously had already occurred. [Gen. 1:26–27] The object of their creative intent could only have been Adam, the first earthly man. Thus, the creation being described in Genesis 1 is the physical and not the spiritual creation.
The conclusion is that the Bible offers no account of the sequential process by which all things were spiritually created, although it does offer a reference to the spiritual creation in Genesis 2:5. [Gen. 2:5]
Joseph Fielding Smith said: “The account of the creation of the earth as given in Genesis, and the Book of Moses, and as given in the temple, is the Creation of the physical earth, and of physical animals and plants. … There is no account of the Creation of man or other forms of life when they were created as spirits.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., comp. Bruce R. McConkie, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56, 1:75.) Keith Meservy, “Four Accounts of the Creation,” Ensign, Jan 1986, 50

In the most recent conference, Elder Bednar used the spiritual creation, as a lesson that we can from:

The patterns used by God in creating the earth are
instructive in helping us understand how to make prayer meaningful. In the third
chapter of the book of Moses we learn that all things were created spiritually
before they were naturally upon the earth.

Meaningful morning prayer is an important element in
the spiritual creation of each day—and precedes the temporal creation or the
actual execution of the day.

I loved the idea- the analogy- of the spiritual creation of my day.