Faith to Vote

                Our Heavenly Father has given citizens of the United States of America a special blessing.  We have the right to vote for the political representatives that govern the United States.  These elections take place every year with different political positions becoming available for election.  Every four years the president is up for reelection, making the fourth year arguably the most important election.  This year is one of those special fourth years, and the important steps to the presidential election are well under way.

                Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognize that God expects us to participate in the political processes of our government.  For those in the United States, this means voting in elections.  This often requires faith, so I felt it would be an excellent subject to address today, particularly since so many people that I know don’t vote. 

                You may wonder how voting is an act of faith.  Consider the people of the Nephites, whose account can be found in The Book of Mormon.  King Mosiah transferred the government from a monarchy to a government of elected officials similar to the United States government.  Several times after this, a portion of the population became wicked and desired to return to a monarchy with the wealthy wicked in command. 

                At one point in time the wicked wealthy, called kingsmen, became so numerous that the righteous feared these kingsmen would succeed in overthrowing the government in the next election.  So, acting on faith, the righteous prayed for help from God.  Then they went and voted.  And the wicked did not succeed.  Consider what would have happened had the righteous not had faith.  They probably wouldn’t have voted.  Then the wicked would have succeeded and taken over the government.

 This can be very similar to the world in which we currently live.  So many of us are concerned with the path the United States has taken.  We see the government rejecting God by casting Him out of schools at the request of those who don’t believe.  There are attempts to removing Him from Christmas.  And even our current president has claimed we are no longer a nation under God.  Wickedness runs rampant in our country.  And most of us recognize that many of the elected officials are pursuing a course away from the Constitution upon which our nation was founded. 

We still have the ability to vote, however, and remove those who seek to destroy our liberty from office.  Yet so many of us choose not to vote.  There are five reasons I’ve been given for why people don’t vote:  they are too lazy, they don’t know enough about the candidates or the issues, they don’t care, their vote doesn’t count, or they don’t like the republican or democrat that is running.  I want to address each of these arguments. 

                The easiest of these arguments to address is the claim not to know enough about the candidates or the issues.  If this is your excuse, I’m going to be brutally blunt with you.  This is an extremely lame excuse.  Do you realize how easy it is to find the information you need?  Candidates have their own websites.  News sources are more than willing to tell you about each candidate and issue.  There are debates and so many other ways to find out.  So be honest.  It’s not that you don’t know enough about the candidates or issues.  It’s that you are too lazy to find out or you don’t care.

                So let’s focus on being too lazy to find out.  Let me ask, do you hope and pray that our nation’s freedom will be preserved?  If not, where is your faith?  If so, then don’t you think you had better get over being lazy and practice the action part of faith?  That is, after all, what is required if you expect God to answer your prayers.

                So what about those that just don’t care?  To this I will again be brutally honest.  Are you foolish?  Consider the impact the political decisions of the last century have upon you.  We have the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Social Security and Medicare impact your income and your health.  We have the war on Terrorism.  There is the North American Free Trade Agreement.  And there are a host of other laws and acts that impact you.  These impact your wages, your retirement, your ability to get jobs and just what kind of job you will be able to get, your civil rights, and every other aspect of your life.

                Now consider what impact the political decisions of the next decade will have.  Depending on your age, they may impact your grandparents.  For many of us, these decisions will impact our parents.  But it is definite they will impact us.  Don’t you care about your income?  Don’t you care about your retirement?  Don’t you care about your health?  If you answered yes to even one of these, then how can you not care about voting?

                But, let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that you don’t care about yourself or your future.  What about your children?  The political decisions that take place today will have the largest impact on the youth of today’s world.  Do you care about them?  If you do, and I know you do, then you simply must care about politics because the future of our youth depends upon political decisions made today.

                Perhaps your argument is that you don’t like the republican or the democrat.  Guess what.  There are others to vote for.  You can vote for another candidate running.  You can write in a name.  It really doesn’t matter who you vote for just so long as you vote.  This is what is expected by God.  And if you actually demonstrate faith in Him, He will answer your prayers and look after the nation.  So vote on someone.

                But what if you believe your vote doesn’t count.  Well you are wrong.  It does.  There have been many times that just a few votes have made the difference between who was elected and who was not, even in our presidential elections.  So your vote could be the deciding factor.  Furthermore, how many more people think like you do?  How many others decide not to vote because they believe their vote doesn’t count?  It adds up.

                If this had happened to the people of the Nephites, they would have lost their liberty.  Are you prepared for those consequences if you decide not to vote simply because you believe your vote doesn’t count?  Are you prepared to lose your liberty?  Furthermore, where is your faith?  How can you trust and hope in God, believing He will defend your liberty, if you don’t have enough faith to believe your vote will count?

                Remember that the politics of Babylon denied the Jews from practicing their religion, as discovered in the book of Daniel in The Old Testament.  Political actions at the time of Esther almost resulted in the destruction of all the Jews, as found in the book of Esther in the Old Testament.  Political actions at the time of Christ resulted in His crucifixion, as recorded in the books of the New Testament.

                Political decisions of the leaders of the Jaredites resulted in the destruction of an entire nation, as read in the book of Ether in The Book of Mormon.  The Nephites were nearly destroyed many times by politics, as found in The Book of Mormon.  And so many other scriptural accounts record politics destroying nations and placing the righteous in bondage.

                Your liberty and your freedom are important to your ability to worship God.  Politics play a large role in that freedom and liberty.  It’s time for you to realize that you simply have to care enough about your spiritual welfare, and that of your children and grandchildren, enough to practice faith in God and vote.

Faithful Courage

                When people think of personality traits they hope to have, courage is probably high on the list.  Courage is a very interesting subject.  I’ve seen it defined as the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear.  Another definition I’ve seen states courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.  A third states courage is the ability to concur fear in order to do what is right.  When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints think of courage, they often have impressions of standing up for their faith in the face of adversity and persecution or courageously sharing their faith with those around them. 
                All of these definitions correctly define some form of courage that means something to various people throughout the world.  Today, however, I want to discuss a form of courage that often seems neglected in thoughts of courage.  It’s a form of courage that takes a great deal of faith.  I’ll introduce it through the story of Jonah.
              Jonah was called of God to go to Nineveh, a massive ancient city full of wickedness, to preach repentance unto the people.  Unfortunately, Jonah was a pretty critical person and didn’t believe the people of Nineveh deserved to hear the beautiful messages of repentance.  So he determined he wouldn’t go.  Instead he climbed in a ship headed to Tarshish, which rested in the opposite direction.
                As the ship sailed over the sea, the Lord called forth a mighty tempest.  The other passengers on the ship were afraid they would be sunk due to the severity of the storm.  Jonah knew the Lord had sent forth this storm as a result of his unrighteous choice.  So, practicing the often forgotten form of courage I wish to speak of, Jonah confessed to the others that he was to blame.  He instructed them to cast him into the sea so they may be saved.  He courageously accepted the consequences of his poor choice.
                Those who know the account know Jonah was swallowed by a whale, where he was left for three days and three nights to ponder upon his poor decision.  At the end of this time, the fish vomited Jonah up, and Jonah went to Nineveh to preach repentance.  The inhabitants of the city believed Jonah and repented. 
                Another great account of this form of courage rests with my older brother.  A few years ago, my older brother made a poor decision that got him in trouble with the law.  He was arrested and taken to jail.  As he prepared to face the court of law, he received a great deal of council from his lawyer and those close to him.  He knew he would be asked to declare himself innocent or guilty of the crime he was accused of.  He undoubtedly received a lot of council to plead “not guilty”.  He himself probably felt a strong pull to so plead.
                But my older brother knew he was guilty.  He knew the laws of God required him to confess his guilt.  And so as the day approached for him to enter his plea, he determined he would truthfully declare himself guilty.  Though he probably had a fairly good idea, he couldn’t be certain what the outcome of this declaration would be.  But he knew his standing before God would be harmed by lying before the judge.  And he knew telling the truth would be better for him in the long run.
                So my older brother, a man of great courage, exercised a form of courage most neglect.  He told the truth about his misconduct and courageously faced the consequences of his actions.  In the world we currently live in, this form of courage is quickly disappearing from the hearts of most of the children of God.  Most are afraid of consequences.  Schools are continuously decreasing the requirement for children to face the consequences of their choices.  Adults place the blame for their actions on anybody they can find.  Few, oh so very few, have the courage to admit when they have erred, and even less have the courage to face the consequences associated with that error. 
                I’ve been very fortunate in my life.  I’ve been able to witness this form of courage in at least three people.  My older brother has it; my younger brother has it; and my beautiful wife has it.  So I’ve been fortunate to witness many circumstances when this most noble form of courage has been demonstrated.  I hope their great courage will rub off onto me over the years so I, too, can learn to carry this noble characteristic.  After all, it is a characteristic the Lord our God would have us possess.
                Now you may wonder how this requires faith.  The truth is you must have faith, like my brother, that after you have courageously admitted your faults and faced the consequences, you will be in a better place in your life than if you hadn’t.  You will probably have doubts along the way.  The consequences may be long and difficult.  But you must ultimately believe God will reward you for your choice to righteously confess your faults.
                So, as you consider courage, remember the noblest form of courage that requires great faith.  Remember it takes great courage to admit your errors and face the consequences associated with them.  And strive to build this noble courage.

Praying in Faith Brings Results

        Throughout this past week, I was listening to a talk radio station that discussed an interesting question.  The station was discussing the Denver Broncos and the many prayers people offer to God asking that the team will win the second round of playoffs.  The host of the station asked, “Do prayers change God’s mind?” 
        Many people called in to address this topic.  Some called in arguing there wasn’t a god, and there was no point to prayer.  Others called in and said God’s will was already determined.   These people said the only point to prayer was to build a relationship with God, essentially implying there is no point in asking God for anything because He has already determined the outcome of everything.  One caller called in and said we can ask God for various blessings, but we only get those blessings if we know how to pray.  None of them seemed to understand the true power or purpose of a prayer of faith.  So I want to address this subject in today’s blog entry.
        A previous post has addressed the question of whether or not there is a God.  The answer is there most certainly is a God.  He is our Heavenly Father and is very much aware of us and our lives.  I will not go into further detail on this question in this post.
        I’ll instead start with the second set of callers.  There were many forms these callers used for their arguments.  But all of them came down to the same point.  God’s will determines everything in this life.  He has determined when and how everything will happen.  Prayer cannot change His will according to these people.
        This set of callers was partially right.  The primary purpose of this world is to help us learn and develop to become the best people we can be.  For many that means becoming like God.  In order to become like God, we need to develop a perfect will.  This means we must face difficult circumstances in order to learn to choose that which is good in the face of adversity.  For this reason we must face certain hardships and difficulties that have been predetermined by God.  No amount of prayer will prevent these hardships and difficulties.  However, prayer can make it easier for us to suffer through these occasions. 
       We may also face circumstances in which no amount of prayer will change the circumstances because the circumstances were brought about by poor choices on our part.  We have been given the agency to choose, as discussed in a previous post.  This agency gives us the ability to make bad decisions.  When we make any decision, right or wrong, the choice brings consequences, good or bad.  If we choose poorly, we must suffer the consequences.  Faithfully repenting and praying for help with the consequences will bring the help of God in carrying the burden of the consequences.  But it is less likely that the consequences will be removed.
       Thus we can see that there are times when asking God for things in prayer won’t change the outcome that has already been set.  We cannot change God’s will.  For our own growth we must face the predetermined circumstances.  Yet faithfully praying can help lighten the load of the burdens we face in these times. 
       But prayer does more than bringing help in bearing the burdens we face.  Prayer can also result in a different outcome than the one achieved without prayer.  Our Heavenly Father has many blessings He is willing to give us.  Some of these blessings will come about because of righteous acts.  Some will come about because they are a part of our learning process.  And some we will only gain if we have the faith to ask for them.  Our Heavenly Father wants to give us these blessings, but has made a requirement for them a simple prayer of faith.  In these circumstances prayer can change the outcome.
       So God’s will does determine everything.  Yet, at times, faithful praying can result in different outcomes than a lack of prayer would.  At other times prayer can make it easier to endure the circumstances we must face, but will not change the actual circumstances.
       The last caller stated prayer can change the results only if we know how to pray.  This isn’t true.  It is true that praying for something contrary to the will of God will not yield results.  It’s also true that at times our wording can make a difference.  After all a specific question may bring a different answer than a broad question will.  But the only constant requirement to prayer is that it is done in faith.
       I love prayer.  I can testify to you that it is a powerful tool that impacts our lives.  It brings us help.  It brings us guidance.  It brings us blessings.  And it brings us closer to our Heavenly Father.  So pray in faith, and trust that God is listening and stands ready to give you answers to your prayers.

Faith to Ask for the Little Things

                For today’s blog entry, I wish to share a story that took place two weeks ago.  My family and I were preparing to move ten hours away from our current home.  We knew this would be quite a feat since we would need to drive in order to get our belongings to our new home.  We knew our two cats would be very upset for the trip and that our baby, who hates car rides, would likely be crying for much of the trip.
                I had resigned myself to the fate of the trip.  I was certain this long drive was going to be a stressful one filled with a crying baby, a frustrated wife, and terrified meowing cats.  My wife, on the other hand, showed her faith in her Heavenly Father and decided to pray for help.  So, as we knelt in family prayer just before departing on our journey, my wife offered a prayer asking our Heavenly Father to help the cats and the baby remain calm throughout the journey.
                My thoughts were not very faithful thoughts.  I remember thinking something to the effect of, “That’s not going to happen.”  I was still certain we were in for a terrible trip.  It wasn’t that I had forgotten the power of God.  I certainly knew He could perform such a miracle.  The problem was I had forgotten how much He cares about even our smallest concerns.
                But our Heavenly Father does care about even our smallest concerns.  So it was that He heard my wife’s prayer and responded.  The cats were frightened and meowed vigorously for the first hour or so.  But they then calmed down and relaxed for the remainder of the journey.  Our baby also decided the trip wasn’t a bad one.  She spent most of her time happy and playful or sleeping.  Close to the end she started getting restless, but this was nothing compared to the amount of fussing I had expected.  Indeed my wife’s prayer had been answered according to her desires.
                This isn’t the first time, or the last, that Heavenly Father has answered simple pleas for seemingly small matters.  I’ve had my seemingly meaningless prayers answered many times.  I’ve been able to find my wallet at times only after I pray for guidance to find it.  I’ve been guided to places I’m trying to get to after requesting some help from my Heavenly Father.  I’ve been able to make it on time to scheduled appointments when I should have been late simply because I’ve asked for the help of my Heavenly Father.  And the list goes on endlessly of small matters I’ve received divine help with.  And I know the same goes for my wife.
                Now the response we get isn’t always the one we desire.  There have been times I’ve requested help when it seems I don’t get it.  I have a story that illustrates my point.  When I was a young boy, I was given a toy truck as a gift.  I loved the truck and loved playing with it.  I remember it being my prized possession.  One day I went to the sandbox to play with it and decided it would be fun to bury it.  I did so just in time to be called in for dinner.  I thought I could leave it and come back later to dig it up, finishing the imaginary story I had going on in my mind.
                But tragedy struck.  When I came back to the sandbox, I discovered I couldn’t find my prized truck.  I prayed and prayed for guidance, but couldn’t find the toy.  I remember looking for that truck many times in that sandbox and never finding it.  To my young mind this set of circumstances became a valuable lesson.  I learned that temporal possessions are very fleeting.  It doesn’t take much time for our prized worldly possessions to disappear.  My young mind decided this occasion was given to me by God to teach me that I should cherish the things of God, not man.
                You may think that a laughable matter.  But I can testify that my Heavenly Father knew this would be what I chose to learn from the circumstances surrounding the loss of my prized truck.  He knew this is a valuable lesson that would serve me well throughout my life.  And He knew it would be far more valuable to me than finding the truck would be.  Oh, sure, I’ve forgotten it at times and had to be reminded.  But having learned it so young has made it easier to remember throughout my life.  Knowing this would be the case, Heavenly Father acted in my best interest and didn’t help me find my truck.
                These kinds of circumstances have happened often in my life, as well.  I haven’t always made the best of the times Heavenly Father has chosen not to give me the answer I wanted so I would instead have the opportunities for growth I needed.  But even in the times I’ve chosen not to make the best of the situation, the lessons I learn prove invaluable.  So sometimes we get the answer we hope for because we don’t have a lesson to learn from not getting this answer.  Other times God knows we need to learn something, and our answer isn’t the one we hoped for.  But He always hears and gives the right answer.
                The lesson is that, no matter how small our concern is, God is listening to our pleas of faith and will respond in whatever manner is best for us.  For our own good, we may not receive the answer we desire.  But He is listening and responding nonetheless.  If we don’t get the answer we want, we can choose to practice more faith and find out why.  If we do we will learn valuable lessons that guide us to a better path than what we expected to be on.  We will be stronger individuals and find ourselves closer to our Heavenly Father.
                So ask for the little things in faith.  Then have the faith and humility to accept the answer you receive, whether it’s the one you wanted or not, and learn what you need to learn.  And in time you will find yourself far happier than you imagined.

Practicing Faith in the New Year

                Happy New Year!  This is a wonderful time of year that can teach us more about hope and faith.  Many people celebrate the New Year by making new goals and commitments.  For many people, these are goals they’ve set many times but have yet to fulfill these goals.  Yet here they are another year setting the same goals.  Others have fulfilled their goals and set new ones for the coming year.
                Whichever category people find they are in, it still requires faith to set new goals for the New Year.  After all what good is a goal or commitment if you don’t hope to succeed.  So it is that year after year millions of people exercise faith by setting new goals for a new year.
                The first thought that came to my mind as I started contemplating a blog entry for the New Year was the many other times in our lives when we make new commitments and goals.  For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this takes place on a regular basis.  We recognize that we have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.  As such we are constantly making new goals and commitments based around our relationship with Him.  These new goals and commitments quite often come in the form of covenants (two-way promises in which we covenant to behave in a certain way in order to receive the blessings promised by our Heavenly Father for proper obedience to the laws of Heaven upon which the covenant is based).
                The first of these covenants takes place when we are baptized to become disciples of Jesus Christ.  At this time we make promises to take upon ourselves His name and live as He lived.  This means we promise to succor those in need of help, uplift those how have heavy hearts and minds, care for the poor and the needy, look after widows, and genuinely care for the other members of the human race regardless of their ethnicity, gender, political affiliation, or background.  This is how Jesus Christ lived His life, and this is how we promise to live when we are baptized.  Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the privilege of renewing this covenant and being cleansed of the sins we repent of every week by partaking of the bread and water that represents His sacrament.
                Another wonderful opportunity for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make covenants with our Heavenly Father takes place at the time we go to the temple.  At the temple we make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father again.  Many of these covenants direct our lives towards closer discipleship with our Savior Jesus Christ, requiring us to live a life more in accordance with the way He lived His life. 
             The covenants made in the temple are covenants to live in accordance with celestial laws such as the law of chastity, which serves as a commitment to refrain from any physically intimate relationships unless they are solely between a man and a woman lawfully wed as man and wife.  The Family: A Proclamation to the World was issued by the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1995 to proclaim to the world what the sacred celestial laws of chastity include.
                Another set of covenants made by male members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes place over the course of many years starting at the age of 12.  This sacred oath and covenant is connected with the Holy Priesthood of God.  This priesthood gives to those who hold it the power to serve His children in the manner in which God would serve His children.  It provides the ability to heal the sick and afflicted, perform in the sacred ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to conduct meetings under the authority and direction of Jesus Christ.  Section 84 of The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints outlines the oath and covenant taken by those who hold this priesthood, while several other sections of the same book of scripture outline the various duties of the offices of this priesthood.
                There are many other opportunities for covenants with God.  At the same time, there are an infinite number of opportunities for people to make commitments and goals.  Whatever the covenant, commitment, or goal is that you are making, there is an important thing to remember:  it is always best to include the Savior Jesus Christ.  If you are making goals that don’t align with righteous desires, such as a goal to steal from a bank or break the laws of chastity, you won’t be able to get His help.  But in all other cases, Jesus stands ready to assist you in the goals and commitments you make. 
                You may find you are required to struggle through difficult times before He steps in to help you.  You may find failure confronts you many times before your faith brings you the help from Heaven that you need to finally succeed.  You may find God allows things to get worse before He finally steps in to bring you the aid you need.  After all, Jesus didn’t come to His disciples upon the sea until after they had struggled all night.  But He will come and He will give you the aid you need.  You may count on that.
                So as you make your new commitments and goals for the year, or renew your old ones from last year, remember to include Jesus Christ.  You need His help in order to increase your chances of success.  And remember to practice faith until you succeed.  If you do these things, you will find success in whatever goal you set, just so long as it doesn’t violate celestial laws.