Importance of Asking
Boa Tarde brothers and sisters. For all of you who don’t fluently speak Brazilian Portuguese that means good afternoon. I’d like to start off today by telling you a story. I want to tell this specific one because it's one of Gracie’s favorites and because it’s very simple and straightforward. There once was a girl who had ten lucky coins. She cherished these coins so deeply and made sure to admire them every single day. One morning, as she was going through her lucky coins, she noticed one was missing. Worry swept over her, “where could my coin have gone?” she questioned. She looked all over to try and find this coin, frantically searching in every nook and cranny. Yet all of this was to no avail. The little girl sat down, defeated. And in that moment she remembered what she had been taught to do when searching for something she could not find. She flipped around and offered up a prayer, a sincere question of where to find the coin. In that moment she thought of a spot she hadn't checked. To her delight, the coin was in fact there. The rest of the story tells of how she was so happy that she then called all her friends and family to come and see the miracle she had just experienced. This story is also one of my favorites, as the lesson behind it is so simple. Ask and ye shall receive.
Often times in our lives we are faced with adversity, unknown questions, and controversial morals. So what do we do in times like these, when it seems as though no answer is right? As the girl in the story did, we look to our Heavenly Father. We ask.
How do we ask then, how do we inquire of our father of the truth? In a talk by President Nelson titled “Sweet Power of Prayer” he references Alma’s teachings, saying, “ Alma said, ‘Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God.’” This quote tells of the power of prayer, which is the most sincere way of asking God our questions. Earlier in that same talk, President Nelsons remarks on how powerful, and useful this power is. He talks of how we don’t need any form of material or battery packs, or to pay a fee of any sort. Heavenly Father has given us prayer as a gift to be able to easily communicate with him. This talk is one of my favorites given by president nelson, as he then goes on to tell of one of his most powerful experiences of prayer, and receiving his answer. He tells a story of how he needed to perform an impossible heart surgery on a faulty heart. A prayer was offered up to know of the things to do to make the surgery successful, and President Nelson went into the surgery still not knowing the complete procedure he was going to use. Mid surgery, through revelation in his mind, President Nelson was able to accomplish the impossible. His final words in the story are powerful, as he states, “My assistant said, “It’s a miracle.” I responded, “It’s an answer to prayer.” Prayer is so incredibly powerful, and a gift given to us to commune with our heavenly father.
One of the greatest examples of using prayer to ask of God is that of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith found himself in that same place that we sometimes find ourselves in. That point where we have a yearning to know more about truth. And he did exactly what we have been told to do in those moments, exactly what he found to do in James 1: 5-6
“5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
It’s incredible to take a step back and really look at the impact of this fourteen-year-old boy’s question. Through his story, we see important truths in Heavenly Father's Gospel.
Heavenly Father wants us to ask these questions. Many people mistakenly believe that asking questions is a sign of doubt and weakness. When in all actuality he wants us to come to him in faith with our questions, seeking answers, because he knows that this is a step in the process of discovering truth and becoming truly converted. We see that Heavenly Father openly gave Joseph the answers and blessings that came with those answers. Heavenly Father was delighted in Joseph Smith and his questions, as he is with us too when we go to him. One of the foundations of the Gospel is revelation, and the easiest way to receive it is to sincerely ask Heavenly Father for it.
Joseph Smith is a great example for us, in that we see him receive the required information- that he lacked wisdom, and then acted on that. Joseph Smith’s desire to know the truth led him to the grove to ask Heavenly Father about what was truth. In a talk given by Elder Bednar titled “Ask In Faith” he lines out that same example of Joseph Smith, saying, “Pondering this biblical text led Joseph to retire to a grove of trees near his home to pray and to seek spiritual knowledge…Joseph’s questions focused not just on what he needed to know but also on what was to be done! His prayer was not simply, “Which church is right?” His question was, “Which church should I join?” Joseph went to the grove to ask in faith, and he was determined to act.” This is a requirement when asking in faith, as faith is not simply a passive belief, but an active effort. I love how Elder Bednar points out specifically that Joseph’s question was not just a curiosity, but one he planned on acting on. Taking Joseph’s experience, and learning from it is vital in our lives and a key to knowing how to ask for truth.
Asking in faith is also something that means more than just asking a question and hoping for an answer. Heavenly Father wants to bless us with answers, and those blessings are predicated upon us asking. President Gordon B. Hinckley proclaimed, “Believe in the power of prayer. Pray to the Lord with the expectation of answers.” If we follow that admonition and expect answers, we must meet God’s expectations of our asking. We must ask with real intent, and a desire to act no matter the answer given. This is the faith part of asking in faith. Elder Bednar says later in his talk, “The object of our prayers should not be to present a wish list or a series of requests but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is eager to bestow, according to His will and timing. Every sincere prayer is heard and answered by our Heavenly Father, but the answers we receive may not be what we expect or come to us when we want or in the way we anticipate.”
This quote is probably my favorite from the talk as it lines out something I believe to be so incredibly important when asking in faith. When asking in faith, we are not just asking in hopes that we will possibly have our questions answered. We are instead asking in faith, knowing that they will be answered at some point, and that whatever the answer is, we will faithfully believe to be the most valuable and correct answer. Often times we find ourselves not asking questions, or not even considering the thought of praying about answers. We do this for many reasons, but one of those is the fear of receiving an answer that contradicts our hopes for that answer. This line of thinking is not only wrong of us but damaging to our conversion. As I stated earlier, true conversion is forwarded by asking in faith, not by avoiding this asking altogether. Just as Joseph Smith went to the grove expecting to receive an answer pertaining to which church he should join, and instead becoming the key player in God’s plan for the restoration of his gospel here on the earth, we too must be ready to acquire whatever knowledge Heavenly father wishes to give us and act on that with a sincere heart and active mind.
In conclusion, I would like to talk about asking in faith in relation to my mission. As I have prepared to go and serve my mission, I have done a lot of asking in faith myself. And I would like to share an experience with you. From the moment that I opened my mission call and saw that I would be speaking Portuguese, I became a little bit nervous. I knew I wanted to learn a new language and was excited to get the chance to, yet the more I thought about it the more I realized the struggle that might come with bearing my testimony in a different language. I did not want to get down there and not be able to teach the gospel to the people needing it there. And so one night I decided to get down on my knees and offer up a prayer. I asked for help in knowing what to do to be able to learn the language, and what I needed to do to best teach in Portuguese. I left the prayer with feelings of comfort, yet not anything that really eased my worries. The next day was rather uneventful, and I remember this because it gave me lots of free time to worry about my current language dilemma. I had work that night, and remember sitting out making sandwiches when a group of people came in talking. One of them got up and started to tell me what they wanted. But while he was telling me I heard the rest of them talking to each other and while they weren’t speaking English, I could understand for the most part what they were saying. This being only a week or two after I had looked at the language came as a surprise to me. I asked where they were from in hopes of maybe understanding the situation, and they all proceeded to tell me of how they were from Brazil, and surprisingly close to my mission area. I then had the opportunity to converse with them for a minute where I got to ask all sorts of questions. I went home that night with feelings of wonder. My worries were all gone and I had had my prayers answered. I know for a fact that there are people down in Brazil right now who are looking to the lord now, asking for him to give them the truth. Asking in faith for some sign, or help in seeing where life’s purpose is. I know there are people who are needing help, physically and emotionally, people who need someone to minister to them. And I am so grateful for this opportunity to be able to teach and help the people of Piracicaba Brazil. I bear my testimony that I know the power of prayer is a gift from God, one he wants us to use to receive answers. I bear my testimony that I know Joseph Smith asked with sincerity and received the answers he was needing to receive. I bear my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
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