D&C 46:7 -- On Asking and Considering

"But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally; and that which the Spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving, that ye may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of devils, or the commandments of men; for some are of men, and others of devils."

D&C 46:7

I wonder sometimes if we spend most of our lives settling for less spiritually... not because we can't have a close connection with God, but because we assume we can't, and we don't ever ask for that, or work for it.

God commands us to ask... and that is a huge thing.  It shows us that God is willing to give, that he wants to know our needs and desires, but more than that, that he wants us to have opinions and figure out what we want. :)  Too often we think that the ideal is wanting nothing, fearing that we will be "bothering" people, or that wanting things is greedy or something... and you know, if we're manipulating people and stepping on them to get what we want, then yes, we've definitely gone too far, but God doesn't ask us not to want things.  He asks us to share what we have with others.  The ideal is to figure out what we want, and are willing to work for, and ask for it.  Not just physically, but I think especially spiritually.  What kind of relationship do we want with God?  How close do we want to be to the spirit... how familiar with the scriptures, etc.   God wants us to ask him in all things, and then to act on those things, working with God to bring good things to pass.

I also like that prayer and thanksgiving seem to be protections against asking for the wrong things... being seduced by the dark side. :)  Today, let's pray and give thanks first, and then let's ask God for what we need and what we want, and talk that over with him as well.  It's going to require figuring ourselves out a little, and figuring out who we want to be--but that's good.  It's part of the process of salvation, right?  Let's join with God in holiness of heart, walking uprightly and consider that long-term goal as we think about what to ask, and who we want to become. :)