Back to the Basics: Prayer

At the moment I'd like to go back to the basics.  Not the basics of 'Mormonism' alone, but to the basics of all Christianity:  Prayer.  I do not know of a Christian religion that does not pray to God.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no different.

What is prayer?  For the answer I turn to 'Guide to the Scriptures' as published by the Church of Jesus Christ.  "A reverent communication with God during which a person gives thanks and asks for blessings."

One definition of 'reverence' is "deeply respectful."  If we think of prayer as a deeply respectful communication with God during which a person gives thanks and asks for blessings, then we can see that prayer is more than simple spoken words.  Prayer can be spoken or silent.  Quoting again the guide to the scriptures we read, "A person's thoughts may also be a prayer if they are directed to God."  God knows our thoughts (see Matthew 12:25, Luke 6:8, etc.) and therefore we can pray through thoughts.  The Book of Mormon teaches, "He commanded the multitude that they should cease to pray, and also his disciples.  And he commanded them that they should not cease to pray in their hearts." (3 Nephi 20:1)

Why should we pray to God?  To answer this question I turn to the LDS Bible Dictionary.  "As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part."

I love the record of St. Matthew because it shows this:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
"Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
"Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
- Matthew 7:7-11 -

God is the father of our spirits.  He knows what we need and how to give it to us, we simply need to ask him in faith, as St. Matthew has written.  Before this life we lived with him as his children, and if we live according to his commandments we will live with him again after this life.  (Learn more about that here.)

I like to think of it this way - Do you remember going on a vacation for the first time without your parents?  Or you can even think of it as moving out of home for the first time.  Most people in these situations want to call their parents to talk with them, share the exciting times and get guidance.  Likewise, the parents await to hear from their kids in these circumstances to share with the child in their excitement and to offer their guidance.  Prayer is no different.  We are a long way from our spiritual father and he is willing to talk to us if we are willing to talk to him.  He will share in our excitement, misery, or pain.  He will give us guidance and counsel as needed.

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Mormonism Music - Spencer Mangum

In a recent post I wrote about why music is important to Mormonism.

*You can read this post here:  A Song of the Righteous.

Today I would like to spotlight a single musician that means a lot to me personally.  His name is Spencer Mangum and he writes his own arrangements of LDS Hymns.  I may spotlight his music every so often on this blog, and to start off I use this song:  I Need Thee Every Hour.  His version is a piano instrumental, but I will provide the lyrics to this lovely hymn nonetheless.

Hymn #84 - I Need Thee Every Hour

I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord.

No tender voice like thine can peace afford.

I need thee, oh, I need thee; Every hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior; I come to thee!

I need thee every hour; stay thou nearby.

Temptations lose their power when thou art night.

I need thee, oh, I need thee; Every hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior; I come to thee!

I need thee every hour, in joy or pain.

Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I need thee, oh, I need thee; Every hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior; I come to thee!

I need thee every hour, most holy One.

Oh, make me thine indeed, thou blessed Son!

I need thee, oh, I need thee; Every hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior; I come to thee!

*More music by Spencer Mangum can be found here.

Mormon Mothers

I want to make this post in appreciation to mothers, more particularly with the women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Many people criticize Mormonism because they say women do not have any important roles in the religion.  Elder Quentin L. Cook, in his General Conference address titled 'LDS Women Are Incredible!' has said, "Much of what we accomplish in the Church is due to the selfless service of women."  In the same address Elder Cook said the following:

"Sisters have key roles in the Church, in family life, and as individuals that are essential in Heavenly Father's plan... We pointed out that the most important organization on earth is the family, where 'fathers and mothers are...equal partners.'  Neither one is financially compensated, but the blessings are beyond description."

This morning I was reminded of a wonderful story from the Book of Mormon.  The story is often referred to as "The Stripling Warriors" story.  Before I say more I will share the story of the young warriors.

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Some background:
In the great war going on in this part of the Book of Mormon there are three groups to know about:  The Lamanites, the Nephites, and the people of Ammon.  Years before this war a missionary by the name of Ammon, a Nephite, went to the Lamanites and converted them and brought them back to the lands of the Nephites.  These converts are separate than the Nephites, however, because they vowed to never fight a war again so long as they lived.  After they made the promise to night fight the Lamanites, out of anger, came against them and killed many of them, until the remainder of the people were able to flee to the safety of the Nephites.

The time came though that the Lamanites were about to take over the Nephites in many of their strongholds.  These people of Ammon, with compassion, were ready to disregard their vow to never fight a war so that they could help their Nephite friends in battle.  The Nephites did not want them to break their promise though, and the answer was the sons of these Ammonites.  The sons had not made the promise that their fathers did, and they came out to join the Nephites to fight the Lamanites.

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And now I go to the account as recorded by Helaman (the captain over these boys) in the book of Alma chapter 56.

"Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?
"And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.
"For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me:  Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.
"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
"And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying:  We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

After their great battle Helaman writes:

"I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain.
"But, behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength;"

Quite often, and appropriately, people recount this story to show the power of the faith of these two thousand young men.  Through their faith they were able to go into one of the most intense wars of the times and come out without a single one of them being killed in battle.  But I wish to change the focus of this story slightly this once to the mothers of these men.

As mentioned earlier, the parents had covenanted to never to fight again.  As a result many, if not most, of the fathers had been killed by the Lamanites.  These two thousands boys were raised by their mothers.  This most assuredly was tough for both the kids and the mothers, but those mothers knew what was important to teach their kids and they were not afraid to do so.  The outcome was that an entire generation was raised in immense faith.  This was faith strong enough to preserve every last one of them even in the face of war.  Mothers, past and present, have a wonderful power and do a great work.

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Missionaries of Mormonism

I am certain that many of the readers of this blog are not only people unfamiliar with or outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but many of the readers may be members of the church.  Maybe some of you have an understanding of what the church explains, of what 'Mormonism' is, and some of you may not.  With that knowledge I do my best to write about these topics in a way that everyone understands.  Coming to mind right now are the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

"With marvelous new methods of communication, ever larger proportions of the audience for our conferences are not members of the Church - yet.  So we must speak to those who know us very well and those who know us not at all.  Within the Church alone we must speak to the children, the youth and young adults, the middle-aged, and the elderly.  We must speak to families and parents and children at home even as we speak to those who are not married, without children, and perhaps very far from home."
- Holland, An Ensign to the Nations, April 2011 -

That message of Elder Holland's was given in explanation to the talks given by General Authorities of the Church, but I feel it also applies to missionaries and even members of the church as a whole.  But in this post I wish to speak specifically on missionary work.

Nearly every Christian religion has missionaries.  Simply put, a missionary is a person sent to an area to teach those people about what they have (religion, education, medical help, etc).  Missionaries are not foreign in this world.  Religious missionaries are not foreign either.  Just like other religions, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has missionaries as well.

There are different types of missions that people can serve in the Church.  The most well-known is called a "full-time" mission.  A full-time mission is a proselyting mission.  The missionaries that serve this type of mission do so for 18 months (for girls) and 2 years (for boys), beginning at age 18 (for boys) and 19 (for girls).  They are often known for the way they dress.  Here is an example:

These missionaries are sent to an area of the world, as an apostle directs them, to live with other missionaries.  In their assigned area they teach people interested in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about what it is that members of the Church believe.

A second type of missionary are the "couple" missionaries.  These missionaries are married couples, that serve in an assigned area like the full-time missionaries, but they serve with their spouse rather than an assigned companion.  Some of these couples teach about the Church in interested people's homes, but some couples do other work for the Church.

And the third type of mission is called a "service" missionary.  In most cases those that service this kind of mission are those that are honorably excused from a full-time mission due to health or other reasons, but still want to serve for the Church.



And finally I will finish with one last question and answer:  Why do members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spend so much time and money to serve missions?  I know I cannot answer for all people that do this, but I can give my own answer.  Simply, it is joy.  Lehi taught his kids that "men are that they might have joy," (2 Nephi 2:25) and that is the great push behind missionary work.  The gospel taught by the Church brings us happiness and we simply want to share that happiness with whoever wants it.

If, after this post, you have additional questions concerning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormonism or missionaries, you can do a couple things:
1. Leave a comment with your question(s).
2. Ask a missionary yourself here.

Mormonism: A Song of the Righteous

I love music and have yet to make a post concerning this subject, and so I must now do so.  From what I have seen and heard, music is a big part of many religions.  Sabbath meetings often start and end with music.  This is not singled to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  But it is music in Mormonism that I wish to talk of today.

The First Presidency has included a preface message in the LDS Hymn books.  This message expresses the importance of having music in three areas of life - Church meetings, the home, and our personal lives - and so it is these three areas that I wish to focus on.

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Music In Church Meetings
From the First Presidency preface we read:
"Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings.  The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord."

This is not new.  Even the apostles in the Bible used hymns for similar purposes.  In Colossians it is recorded, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16)

Hymns carry a message of Christ.  They talk of Christ, they rejoice in Christ and they preach of Christ.  It is for this reason that the Lord told Joseph Smith, "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me," (D&C 25:12).

When a faithful follower of Christ sings a song about Christ does not this sound like a prayer unto him?  When congregations sing these songs they help each other come spiritually toward God.

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Music In Our Homes
Again returning to the Presidency message we find the following:
"Ours is a hymnbook for the home as well as for the meetinghouse.  We hope the hymnbook will take a prominent place among the scriptures and other religious books in our homes.  The hymns can bring families a spirit of beauty and peace and can inspire love and unity among family members."

This morning I came across a story that shows this.  The story is told by Elder Dallin H. Oaks:

"Last spring some of our children and fourteen of our grandchildren had a family outing in the mountains.  One of our activities was a meeting to share experiences and testimonies.  We gathered at the appointed time, but the little people were only gathered in body.  The large spirits in those little bodies were clamoring for more of the exciting outdoor activities they had been enjoying.  The cabin where we met was too small to contain them, and it seemed as if a dozen restless children and their outcries were ricocheting off the walls in every direction.  Grandparents will appreciate the apprehension I felt at trying to sponsor something serious in that setting.
"Suddenly the instinctive wisdom of young mothers rescued our efforts.  Two mothers began to sing a song familiar to the children.  Others joined in, and within a few minutes the mood had changed and all spirits were subdued and receptive to spiritual things."
- Worship Through Music, October 1994 -

Through spiritual music siblings can put down their disputes, and families can be brought together in happiness.

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Music In Our Personal Lives
Back to the Presidency:
"In addition to blessing us as Church and family members, the hymns can greatly benefit us as individuals.  Hymns can lift our spirits, give us courage, and move us to righteous action.  They can fill our souls with heavenly thoughts and bring us a spirit of peace."

Elder Oaks has stated that "Sacred music can help us even where there is no formal performance.  For example, when temptation comes, we can neutralize its effects by humming or repeating the words of a favorite hymn."

Spiritual songs can bring our very thoughts back to the will of the Lord.  Through music we can invite the Holy Ghost to dwell with us.

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Trials and Tribulation

Yesterday I went to Institute.  For those that do not know, Institute is a school of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is a place for those that are not a part of the Church to learn what 'Mormonism' is all about.  And it is a place for those that are a part of the Church to learn even more about 'Mormonism.'  While studying in the Book of Mormon yesterday someone pointed something out to me that I had not noticed before in this way.  We were reading in the book of Mosiah.

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The Background Story:
There are two groups of people at this time, the Lamanites and Nephites.  The Nephites in the north and the Lamanites in the south.  A number of people of the Nephites decided to try and get back one of their cities, called Lehi-Nephi, in the south that the Lamanites had taken over many years previous.  They made a truce with the Lamanites and began to live in Lehi-Nephi.

A generation passed by.  The first king of this small group of Nephites had died and his son, Noah, became the king.  King Noah was against everything religious.  When some of the people in his city began teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ King Noah sent his army to kill them, but they took off into the wilderness.  Just after that time the Lamanites returned to Lehi-Nephi and defeated the armies of Noah.  They agreed to spare the lives of Noah's people if the people would give the Lamanites half of everything they had.

In time the Lamanites came across the religious group of Nephites that had fled into the wilderness.  They then began to rule over these Nephites.

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And now to the point of it all:
Here are two groups of people that are now in bondage to the same people.  So let's now read the account as found in the Book of Mormon.  First one group, and then the other, and then we'll compare.

Group 1:
"And it came to pass that the people began to murmur with the king because of their affliction; and they began to be desirous to go against them to battle.  And they did afflict the king sorely with their complaints; therefore he granted unto them that they should do according to their desires.
"And they gathered themselves together again, and put on their armor, and went forth against the Lamanites to drive them out of their land.
"And it came to pass that the Lamanites did beat them, and drove them back, and slew many of them."

This account makes me think of the "fight or flight" theory.  They couldn't run because of the Lamanites surrounding their city, and so they fought back.  But in fighting back they lost many lives.  But their story continues.

"And it came to pass that their continual cries did stir up the remainder of the people of Limhi to anger against the Lamanites; and they went to battle, but they were driven back again, suffering much loss."

They decided they had to fight again.  They were desperate to get out of here and thought it must be done through war.  But they lost many lives again.  And now the story continues again.

"Yea, they went again even the third time, and suffered in the like manner; and those that were not slain returned again the the city of Nephi.
"And they did humble themselves even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of bondage, submitting themselves to be smitten, and to be driven to and fro, and burdened, according to the desires of their enemies."

*This account was taken from the book of Mosiah chapter 21 verses 6-13.

Group 2:
"And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God.
"And Amulon [the wicked ruler over them] commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death.
"And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.
"And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying:  Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage."

*This account was taken from the book of Mosiah chapter 24 verses 10-13.

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Now the comparison:
Group one took the "fight or flight" state of mind, and because they couldn't run they attacked.  But the attacking did more harm than good for them.  The second group realized that there is a third option.  It is not simply "fight or flight," but "fight, flight, or pray."  The very same thing that happened to the first group happened to the second group.  But they prayed first and then went out and worked.

And now we must consider the outcomes, not just the way they went about things.  The first group lost many lives, possibly thousands, because their reaction was to fight against their oppressor.  The second group was saved from their situation by the hand of the Lord because they prayed for God's assistance and then did what the Lord told them to.

That is what this is all about.  These two great stories in the Book of Mormon show how to deal with rough situations.  We can fight back and face the damage that may happen to us, or we can pray for help and then do what the Lord tells us to do to get out of there.

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Learn more about The Book of Mormon or request a free copy.

Back to the Beginning of 'Mormonism' - Prayer

When people hear the word 'Mormonism' they often think first of Joseph Smith.  That makes sense in a way, as Joseph Smith was the prophet that restored the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but we must remember how "Mormonism" started.  As a teenager Joseph, not of any church, wanted to know which church he was supposed to be a part of.  He found way to the answer through the words of the ancient apostle James:

"If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."
-James 1:5,6-

More times than not, after this scripture is read people tend to move on to how Joseph prayed to know the truth and then the other things that came about from the Lord through Joseph Smith.  But, unlike most people, I'd like to stop here and focus on this scripture itself.  There are two verses, so lets take one at a time.

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

In his mortal life Christ told us more than once to "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9).  The Lord does not want us to live in ignorance.  When we are in need of wisdom or guidance or any other assistance he would that we ask God.  James is plainly telling us here that we can pray to God for answers and will receive them.  Some have said something similar to:  "This was written two-thousand years ago and does not apply anymore."  To reply to this I go to the words of Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews.  Paul writes:

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
-Hebrews 13:8-

If Christ could do it in the past, he can do it in the present.  If he can do it in the present, he will be able to do it in the future.  That is what Paul is trying to teach here.  And so, applying this to James' scripture we know that God can answer any prayer, liberally and without upbraiding (reproach), just as he has done in the past, and just as he will in the future.

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James 1:6
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

To gain the needed wisdom mentioned in the previous verse we need to ask with faith that we will receive our answer.  But how does a person receive the faith necessary to do this?  This is a common question, and a good one.  I will answer this, in part, using words from the Book of Mormon.  Alma and Amulek, two prophets of the Book of Mormon, tried to teach this very same thing.  Here is a portion of their words:

"Now, as I said concerning faith - that it was not a perfect knowledge - even so it is with my words.  Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.  But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."
-Alma 32:26,27-

No one is expected to have perfect faith to begin with.  As Alma spoke, "even if ye can no more than desire to believe" then work with that.  He goes on to compare faith to a seed, something that Christ has done in the New Testament.  Faith is very similar to a seed.  Begin with a desire and work with that.  As you gain a testimony from that desire, as small as it may be, you then have something bigger to work with.  And as the seed of faith grows your ability to work with faith grows, until you can do what James has written:  "ask in faith, nothing wavering."

Summing it all up, we can see that God will answer our prayers and give us the needed guidance and wisdom, so long as we ask in faith.