"At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.
So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally."
Joseph Smith—History 1:13-14
These are some interesting verse talking about the prophet Joseph Smith before he became the prophet. I like that the scriptures give us a glimpse of some of them beforehand like this. We learn about Nephi as a young man, Samuel, Moses, Abraham, and others. A little of how it all happened. And I think that for a lot of them, and for a lot of us, this is something that happens during our personal conversion process. For whatever reason it is for the individual, we all get to the point where there is something that is of significant importance to us, and we need God for the answer... no one else can possibly provide it. And whether we've prayed or not in the past, we suddenly have the motivation and the desire to pray with greater fervor and greater intent than ever before.
For the prophets, their experiences with God led them to change their lives completely. Often leaving everything they knew and starting over. Dedicating their lives to God, even as they had just started to know him. And I think that this is an opportunity for us as well. Whatever leads us to really talk to God on that deep level, the fact that we've actually connected with God and discussed life is amazing. Answers to prayers are miraculous. Too often we feel certain in the moment, and then later start to doubt, or find our problem solved and then forget how it happened.
Today, let's pray with fervor and intent. Let's remember how miraculous it is just to connect with our Father in Heaven, and try not to shrink back or doubt after taking those first steps. Let's instead keep communicating, and get to know God a lot better than we do. :)
So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally."
Joseph Smith—History 1:13-14
These are some interesting verse talking about the prophet Joseph Smith before he became the prophet. I like that the scriptures give us a glimpse of some of them beforehand like this. We learn about Nephi as a young man, Samuel, Moses, Abraham, and others. A little of how it all happened. And I think that for a lot of them, and for a lot of us, this is something that happens during our personal conversion process. For whatever reason it is for the individual, we all get to the point where there is something that is of significant importance to us, and we need God for the answer... no one else can possibly provide it. And whether we've prayed or not in the past, we suddenly have the motivation and the desire to pray with greater fervor and greater intent than ever before.
For the prophets, their experiences with God led them to change their lives completely. Often leaving everything they knew and starting over. Dedicating their lives to God, even as they had just started to know him. And I think that this is an opportunity for us as well. Whatever leads us to really talk to God on that deep level, the fact that we've actually connected with God and discussed life is amazing. Answers to prayers are miraculous. Too often we feel certain in the moment, and then later start to doubt, or find our problem solved and then forget how it happened.
Today, let's pray with fervor and intent. Let's remember how miraculous it is just to connect with our Father in Heaven, and try not to shrink back or doubt after taking those first steps. Let's instead keep communicating, and get to know God a lot better than we do. :)
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