Prayer

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we don’t have one person who gives talks or sermons to us each week during our sacrament meeting.  The speakers are selected from the members of the congregation who are asked to prepare a talk.  I was recently asked to speak.  The subject of the talk was to be based upon a recent speech given at General Conference.  The speech was Spiritually Defining Memories s by Elder Neil L. Anderson.  I thought I would also share it here.

My Talk on Spiritually Defining Moments

During General Conference this year we celebrated 200 years since Joseph Smith’s First Vision.The vision was so powerful that amidst attacks from others, this 14 years old boy would testify of the experience again and again throughout his life stating, “I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did, in reality, speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true. … I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.”

Joseph Smith continued to testify of Jesus Christ and God the Father till his untimely death.  Joseph wrote he as turned himself over to his captors at Carthage Jail, knowing that he would not return, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men.”.

Elder Neil L. Anderson called this our “spiritually defining experiences”. He says,“There is a lesson for us in the Prophet Joseph’s example. Along with the peaceful direction we receive from the Holy Ghost, from time to time, God powerfully and very personally assures each of us that He knows us and loves us and that He is blessing us specifically and openly. Then, in our moments of difficulty, the Savior brings these experiences back into our mind.”

My Experience

One experience stands above others that I think back to when times are tough and I’m doubting.

I was in my room reading several years when I suddenly felt the desire to pray.  I knelt down and started to pray.  I don’t remember if I got much further than addressing God when I felt the most overwhelming sense of love from my Heavenly Father.  As I basked in the heavenly love, there was little more that I needed to say.  I simply said “Thank you” and closed my prayer.

With this experience I can completely identify with Elder Anderson when he said, “When personal difficulty, doubt, or discouragement darken our path, or when world conditions beyond our control lead us to wonder about the future, the spiritually defining memories from our book of life are like luminous stones that help brighten the road ahead, assuring us that God knows us, loves us, and has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to help us return home. And when someone sets their defining memories aside and is lost or confused, we turn them toward the Savior as we share our faith and memories with them, helping them rediscover those precious spiritual moments they once treasured.”

Though my experience was such a spiritually defining moment, it is still several years old. We are entitled to personal revelation and companionship from the Holy Ghost on a daily basis.  We just need to make sure we are positioning ourselves to be receptive when the Lord sees fit to bless us.  Elder Anderson says, “We hear Him in our prayers, in our homes, in the scriptures, in our hymns, as we worthily partake of the sacrament, as we declare our faith, as we serve others, and as we attend the temple with fellow believers. Spiritually defining moments come as we prayerfully listen to general conference and as we better keep the commandments.”

An Invitation

We have recently heard President Russell M. Nelson say: “I invite you to think deeply and often about this key question: How do you hear Him?  I also invite you to take steps to hear Him better and more often.”

Embrace your sacred memories. Believe them. Write them down. Share them with your family. Trust that they come to you from your Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son. Let them bring patience to your doubts and understanding to your difficulties. I promise you that as you willingly acknowledge and carefully treasure the spiritually defining events in your life, more and more will come to you. Heavenly Father knows you and loves you!

Image Credit: Dallas Golden