Prayer

James 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upabraideth not; and it shall be given him."

We have read and memorized this scripture a million times as members of the LDS church. This passage of scripture is what prompted Joseph Smith to go pray in the Sacred Grove.
We learn about prayer at an early age, as early as we can talk (so long as you grew up in the church).

What I love about prayer is that it is so simple, yet, also so complex.

Praying is easy. It's constructed like a conversation.
A greeting.
A "talk about the good things in my life" segment
A "talk about the hard things in my life" segment
A farewell.

But it's also so much more than that.

We often think that offering a prayer is for God, that He needs to hear from us.
But prayer wasn't designed for God. It was designed so that we could hear from and talk to Him.
He already knows us perfectly. He knows our thoughts, hearts, life, etc. He doesn't need to get to know us.
He gave us the gift of prayer so that we could seek counsel, comfort and strength from Him.

We should feel honored that God has given us a way to talk to Him. He's the ruler of the universe.

But that also shows how much He loves us and that He wants us to succeed.

So if we are praying, we should also expect to hear answers.

A lot of times we expect to hear answers while we are on our knees, and sometimes it does happen this way, but most of the time they don't. A lot of the time answers will come while we are out living our lives. They can come through feelings, thoughts, other people, dreams, etc.
But what if they don't come at all?
This often worries and frustrates a lot of people.

Be grateful for silence. Silence is a sign that He trusts you to make the decision. In a way, it is a vote of confidence for you.
If you are sincere, He's not going to let you go too far down the wrong path when you make a mistake.
The purpose of this life is to grow and  to learn, and that won't happen if He is giving us all the answers on a silver platter.
We'll become spiritual spoiled brats who can't do anything on our own if that's the case.

So be thankful for prayer and be thankful for silence when it does come.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Anxiety

I'm one of those people that can overthink anything.
If I think about any one thing long enough, I start to worry about it. I'll get anxiety over almost anything and it is draining.
Not only is it draining, but it's also very uncomfortable.
Sometimes stress out so much that I'll get clammy and my breathing becomes much shorter. Sometimes it feels like someone is pressing a hot rag against my whole body, making me feel closed off. Sometimes I feel like my mind is at war with itself and it won't stop wheeling at full speed. I can't unclench my fists. My muscles are locked tight.

This is not a good feeling.

Charles Spurgeon said, "Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but it only empties today of its strength"

This feeling is not coming from God. God does not want us to feel weak.

In 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 it says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

I love this verse.

Just this last weekend I had sort of a brain meltdown. I become overly anxious. Something didn't feel right.
I was happy, but I was also being introduced to old and new stimuli and it was stressing me out. It was making me question the peace I had felt before.

Doing what I only knew how to make myself feel better, I decided to read some scriptures and say a prayer. Instead of the busy chatter that had been filling my mind, I began to think about the feelings God brings.
 I realized my feeling of initial peace is what was from Him. The feelings of wrongness and worry was not Him. I don't think it was God trying to tell me that I am headed down the wrong path. Instead, I think that was Satan trying to deter me from what I already knew.
Perhaps that was Satan's attempt to distract me; it was definitely a feeling I did not like.

God didn't make us a cowardly people, He built us to be both strong and peaceful. That's what he promotes.
So if you feel like you're at a disequilibrium, know that if you're following the Lord's path you will only find peace. Trust me, it's a good feeling.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Getting Dressed

We get dressed for lots of reasons. For school, church, interviews, bed, war, weddings etc.
If you think about it, each type of dress is preparation for something or someone. It's as if everything we are getting dressed for is for some sort of ritual.

In Ephesians chapter 6, it talks about putting on the armor of God.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

 Growing up, we always dressed a figure in battle gear in order to represent this concept. I've always connected this passage of scripture with fighting and protection. However, this week I made a new connection. Symbolically, we are getting dressed with truth, righteousness, preparation, faith, salvation and your testimony. This what we also need in order to be in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father is a King.

Traditionally, before you enter the presence of a King, you would need to be dressed in certain robes. Jesus Christ is helping us with this special attire. He will be bringing us into the presence of our Father, and He intends for us to be properly dressed.

I invite you to think about this as you get dressed for certain events from now on.
Don't forget to be awesome!

You can't choose consequences.

Growing up in the bible belt meant that a lot of people I associated with, was not of the LDS faith. When the discussion of Mormonism was brought up, the "rules" we have almost always followed.
No alcohol.
No sex before marriage.
No coffee.
No smoking.
No swearing.
Etc.

A lot of people seem to be under the assumption that we can't break a rule, otherwise we'll be kicked out of the church. Or that if you did those things, you were a bad Mormon.
This felt unsettling to me for a long time. I wasn't sure how to answer these assumptions. It was difficult for me to explain that these "rules" were not the core of our religion.
The church is there to welcome people from every manner of life, no matter how "good" or "bad" you are. The church is a place for people to make themselves better, no matter where they are at on the "righteous" scale.
It's not that we can't do any of those things, we totally can, it's the consequences that you can't choose.
For example, every member of the church is allowed to choose whether they drink coffee. We don't kick people out of the church for breaking that rule. They are there so you don't have to suffer the consequences of things, like addiction.

In Acts 27, Paul is goes on a perilous voyage. Before departing, Paul foresaw into the future and determines that this voyage would be a disaster and warns the people to not leave. Despite Paul's warning, the voyage continued because all of the conditions seemed to be perfect.
In verse 14-15 it says, "But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive."

They lost total control of the ship. That was the consequence of their actions.
They had the option so sail or not, Paul didn't take that away from them, but since they went against what he advised, they had to suffer those consequences.

I think that's why a lot of members follow the rules we have. It's not because we'll get kicked out of the church, it's because we don't like the consequences.
You are always free to make your own choices, but you're not free to make your own consequences.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Two Roads

Sorry this will be kinda short!

I know I've mentioned this before, but we all go through trials. They are supposed to make us stronger, but sometimes they don't feel that way. A good explanation of what the purpose of trials are can be found in Romans 5:3-5 

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Basically it is saying that tribulations are there to allow us to make a choice, the higher road or the lower road. 

The higher road allows for Godly attributes, such as patience, experience, hope, and not feeling ashamed.

The lower road allows for Satanic attributes, such as impatience, regret, despair, and being ashamed. 

Sometimes in the midst of our trials we feel as if we aren't good enough for anything. That we have no strength and can't fix our own problems. This is not true! Choose the higher road and don't feel ashamed if you're struggling. God wouldn't want you to feel that way. He wants you to feel hope.

Don't forget to be awesome!