Sunday, October 24, 2010

THE QUESTION OF PRAYER – CONTINUED

As I have counseled with people and in moments of introspection, I have found that when people have decided to include Heavenly Father in their daily lives, although there are some who just can’t approach an unseen being, the majority who lack confidence in the prayer process are those who have a feeling that their prayers are not answered or they don’t know how to recognize answers if they have been given.

It seems that to one degree or another we all have a vision when we pray of Moses on the Mount approaching a burning bush and that God will speak to us with great force and clarity in response to our every sincere petition. How many messages have we missed because we were looking for a burning bush and therefore missed the simple sweetness of the still small voice?

One of the concepts we often overlook is that it is not God who is passing through mortality in order to learn and progress. As Joseph Smith was counseled in August of 1831, the Lord would not command nor compel in all things lest we become slothful and not wise servants. (Doctrine and Covenants 58:26) I have come to believe that we must do our research in due diligence (study it out in our mind), exhausting our available resources, which will include ongoing prayer, then after the best of our efforts, seek the Lords additions or subtractions. Reality has shown me that as I prayerfully and diligently struggle, keeping my shoulder to the task, I will be receiving line upon line leading to the correct solutions. Many times the final prayer is one of the offering of a grateful heart by one who has had his indebtedness enlarged. How often has the aid of Heavenly Father gone unrecognized while I have taken unneeded tangents because I neglected to see the lines being written one by one as I was struggling and seeking?

One of the biggest roadblocks which we place between ourselves and Heaven sent answers is that we are so in love with our own opinions and conclusions that any response which is being transmitted is muffled by the busyness going on in our own heads. It reminds me of observing political conversations where both parties are so busy formulating their next comment that they shut out the incoming words from the other end of the continuum. Thus when the two combatants separate they are left with the same opinion still. I wonder how much counsel has been lost in space because of the love I have for my own ideas and agenda?

Isaiah saw a day when people’s lives would be so occupied and whose houses would be so closely connected that they would not have time nor space to ponder or have a desire to pray. He saw people filling their lives with music, noise, and strong drink from the moment they woke until they retired at night. Even though while I was Stake and Mission President I thought I was anxiously engaged in a good work, I found that between my career and church responsibilities I was so busy trying to decide which fire in the forest I should dump the next load of water on or how I was going to help people keep their lots clear of weeds, that my eternal phone was normally off the hook during business hours. I will ever be grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who would often ring me up during off hours to keep me abreast of the ‘more important part’ I should be aware of. I came to look forward to the next 2 or 3 am call which would demand all my attention and require notes to be taken so that the counsel would not be forgotten as the demands of the next day tumbled upon me. It doesn’t take much imagination to come to a realization that most of us have missed many return calls from our Heavenly Father because we have been encumbered about by many things or just sleeping.

The scriptures speak of the need to have a clear signal which we recognize and therefore will be prone to respond to. All my life I have been able after hearing a voice on the phone one time, to recognize that voice whenever they would call again and identify the caller. It took me a long time to be convinced of the necessity of an answering machine which would identify callers. Prior to the invention of the printing press there was a dogma that the word of God would come only to those who had access to and could read the scriptures because these few had become familiar with the sound of His voice through the scriptures and therefore would recognize His voice when he chose to speak to His children. Although there are some problems with the dogma I do feel that familiarizing ourselves with scriptures can be a great aid in helping us recognize His voice and be alert to answers and instructions when His whisperings descend upon our minds. Is it possible that I have missed messages because they came to me as an uncertain sound because I have not paid the price to learn the intonations of his voice?

As the Book of Mormon draws to a conclusion we find a people who become so abominable that the Spirit of the Lord has been withdrawn and they are left to themselves without any communication with Deity. There is no doubt that the Lord has indicated that behavior and opening the communications from heaven have a great deal to do with one another. I think that Saul’s vision on the road to Damascus, Alma and his friend’s encounter with an Angel and the few other examples of someone in the depth of sin having their paths dramatically altered by divine intervention are demonstrations which by their rarity show us the uniqueness of such occurrences. For the vast majority of mortals we will rarely receive reassurances from heavenly sources while engaging in unseemly behavior. Once again, I wonder how many bits of light have been kept from my life because I was so submerged in darkness?

When I was young, for the most part I had little trouble accepting the fact that there were many people who could add to my small portion of knowledge. Almost greedily I sought to learn my ABC’s and 1 2 3’s but somewhere about the time of theorems and sentence structuring I started the process of becoming skeptical about what I was hearing from others and limiting who I would listen too. When a wiser person would have been expanding his stable of mentors, I was about the business of limiting those I considered worthy of my attentiveness. Luckily, before it was too late I woke and started to find some balance, where I would listen before I judged and try before I rejected. I don’t know if my life is typical, but I do know that having too healthful of an opinion of one’s own knowledge and point of view on subjects can weigh heavily upon one’s learning and progress. If Elder Hal Eyring is correct, many times the Lord will send His answers to our petitions through mortal angels. It would be well for me if I strip my pride so that it does not deter me from receiving heaven sent messages when these angels are sent and I hear them not, because my arrogance and single-mindedness blocks their message.

TO BE CONTINUED…

11 comments:

  1. Con gozo y gratitud leo cada semana tus pensamientos y los medito en mi mente .
    Gracias.
    Armando Gomez

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  2. Thank you, Brother Riley. I appreciate your timely thoughts on prayer.

    Sherri Bewsey

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  3. Thank you. It was perfect timing for today. :) Peace has returned once more. :)
    Carol Bahouth

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  4. Very interesting. Thought you might like to read some of my thoughts recently. Similar to yours.

    Lisa Rouzan

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  5. I enjoyed this one. Thanks!

    Mary Moorehead

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  6. President Riley: It was great to read your message this week. I want to thank you and Sister Riley for your outstanding service and love. It is nearly 20 years since we arrived at the Bogota airport and you carted us back to the mission home. So many experiences that seem like they just happened yesterday!

    My mission was a great experience--a spiritual launching pad. I feel like I still have a lot of spiritual development to do; many of your words here resonate with me. Thanks for sharing.

    My wife and I now have 4 kids that range from 13 to 5. We have been married over 15 years. Life happens so fast; I recently have taken special effort to enjoy each day (and not get so caught up in the "busyness" you discussed.

    Anyway, please say hello to your wonderful spouse for me. Have a great day!
    Love
    Greg

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  7. Thank you, Brother Riley. Just what I needed…literally your words were an answer to my prayers. I was able to see a different perspective on my petitions and direction.

    Sherri Bewsey

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  8. Pres. Riley: It also strikes me as interesting that encounters (e.g., responses to prayers) are not always transparent. Consider the Lord calling Samuel and Samuel running to Eli and saying here I am; for thou callest me – three times. In other words, the identity of the speaker was not transparent. Also consider St. Teresa who experience the spirit of the Lord but at first (until speaking with St. John of Cross) did not know exactly what she had experienced – except that it was powerful and it was blue. I also doubt that a Zorgstrian or Hindu that experiences the “Lord” thinks that what he has experienced is the God of the Old Testament or Jesus. The bottom line seems to be that encounters with the divine often call for interpretation.

    Blain Andrus

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  9. Bill,
    I love and look forward to your weekly missives, so you must never misunderstand my responses as anything other than my own naivety and dearth of understanding, certainly never disrespect.
    There are two things in this issue that gave me pause, or should I say, paused me again? First, "As the Book of Mormon draws to a conclusion we find a people who become so abominable that the Spirit of the Lord has been withdrawn and they are left to themselves without any communication with Deity." Believing God to be omnipresent and all-loving by nature, and always consistently so, I always took this, as I take all scripture, to be a lesson preserved for my instruction and not to inform me about the history of a long gone people. The lesson I get, pardon this brief explanation of a complex lesson, is that I may choose through my consistent behavior (choices) to deafen my self to God's voice and numb myself to his presence to the point that I, through my own willfulness, not by His will for me, no longer have any awareness of Him at all. I may by an act of my own will become a purely and completely "natural man." A spiritual psychopath so to speak. As far as "a people" goes, we are not only influenced by but become one (in a sense) with those who influence us.
    Continued
    Paul Maddox

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  10. Second, "Prior to the invention of the printing press there was a dogma that the word of God would come only to those who had access to and could read the scriptures because these few had become familiar with the sound of His voice through the scriptures and therefore would recognize His voice when he chose to speak to His children. Although there are some problems with the dogma I do feel that familiarizing ourselves with scriptures can be a great aid in helping us recognize His voice and be alert to answers and instructions when His whisperings descend upon our minds." Now I am truly about to be a broken record: I agree with you completely that the scriptures are a valuable resource for any literate person seeking a closer knowledge and relationship with God. In fact, the writings of men who we have reason to believe have found a close relationship with God can only help us in our own quest for a knowledge and relationship with Him. Hence your teaching of the talks of the Apostles, and study of men like Dalai Lama. We should use every resource available to us. I also strongly believe that God will respond to any of His children who truly seek Him, regardless of their station in life. I believe that this is, has always and will ever be so. God's revelation of Himself through scripture is simply one way of the God Who is ever and always present and available to reveal Himself to His children. I hold that one's limitations of opportunities in life can impose no obstacle to God in His ability to communicate with him should he seek God consistently with all his heart. We of the word are sometimes too inclined to confuse it at times with The Word. I suspect you agree.
    Paul Maddox

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  11. Brother Riley,

    Thanks for sending these. They help me to think about essential things in new or forgotten ways. I miss being in class and hope to be back soon. These thoughts are wonderful additions to my week, especially when I don't get to hear you in person. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, knowledge, insight and experience. The older I get, the more I welcome that.

    Gratefully,
    Kathy Drasso

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