Prayer

So, I impulsively bought this book:

21 Principles: Devine Truths to Help You Live by the Spirit. It is wonderful. Elder Scott is fantastic. (As a side note, the picture on the cover was painted by Elder Scott. Pretty cool.) 

I was down in Utah this past weekend for Katelyn's baby shower (only like two more months until I get a new niece!), and we we went to Deseret Books. I picked this up because I love list type books, and I love books by apostles. Perfect. I just planned on skimming it while I waited for the rest of the family to finish up. I decided that it was a book I needed in my life. 

Recently, I have been struggling with different things, been stressed by different things, and just overall have been feeling more depressed than I should. As I was reading through the introduction and the list of principles, I realized that I have not been following or relying on the Spirit and Heavenly Father as much as I should. I have kind of just been going through the motions of the gospel as of late. 

The first principle is what really hit home, and why I bought the book. I'll share it with you.

The Savior's injunction to "ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (3 Nephi 27:29) is a gate to spiritual guidance. I learned that gentle promptings will encourage us to make the right decisions. When carefully observed, these gentle impressions to our heart can be followed by specific counsel given to our mind. That counsel leads us to know what to do with greater precision. 

I have always had a problem with asking God for things. It stems from one of my first memories concerning prayer. I was 7 years old, I think, and I couldn't find my soccer jersey which I needed because I had a game in like 30 minutes. Of course, I thought, "I will say a prayer to find it, and I'll find it." So I said a prayer and didn't find my jersey until the next day. It was very upsetting to my 7 year old mind. That has always stuck with me when I go to ask the Lord for things or ask for help with problems. I always feel that if it something I want or think will be good for me, I will not get it. Whenever I read or hear this scripture, I kind of never really believe it, and it would also make me a little angry because I would think of my jersey experience. And guilty for feeling angry. Suffice it to say, it was not one of my favorite scriptures. 

So, prayer was and still is, at times, very hard for me. Reading Elder Scott's thoughts on this scripture helped me change this view by putting the verse in a new light for me. The verse is not just about asking for things or desires or help, but in asking for revelation and understanding. Then the things or desires or help will come (if it's the Lord's will, of course). Does that make sense? I feel like I'm not explaining it how I feel it in my mind. That as we seek for things in life, the first thing we should look for is revelation and guidance from God, and then we can know what to ask for and have the right desires that are in tune with the Lord's will. Right? That's what I took from it. But you all should read the book. Elder Scott does a much better job of explaining it. The point is that I don't look at this scripture in a negative light anymore. That I feel like I have a better understanding of prayer than I did, and it makes praying easier in a way (in some ways it's harder). 

I also realized that I need to be better at following the Spirit in my daily life. I kind of suck at it. Haha. Another reason why I got this book. That is my goal for life, learning to live by the Spirit in all things. It makes everything better. For reals. 

Anyway, sorry if this was somewhat convoluted. I stopped and started a few times in writing this post. But you all should read this book. It's wonderful, and I love Elder Scott. 

DDoG:

The ability to talk to the Most High God, and the fact that He wants me to talk with Him. And the fact that He has gifted me with the Spirit always if I keep my covenants. It's pretty amazing.

P.S. I updated this blog finally, nothing too exciting, but what are you going to do.