"Heavenly Father, Are You Really There...?"

The words of a children's hymn often stick with my heart.  "Heavenly Father, are you really there?  And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?"  ("A Child's Prayer").  I have felt His love often.  In the dark when I was afraid as a child, in my heart as I prayed for comfort during a time of trial, or in the middle of the day when I see hundreds of other people and wonder if I really matter to him.  It comes as a quiet and gentle reassurance, He is there.  He does answer our prayers.  Just as a young boy, Joseph Smith, prayed to find God, we too can.  We are His children and "everyone that asks, receives; everyone that seeks, finds, (3 Nephi 14:7-8), that is His promise.

What Is Your Desire?

Lately, I have been thinking about some of the things we heard from the apostles just a week ago.  One topic in particular was about our desires.  I have been thinking about my desires and how that has shaped me into who I am at this moment.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, "Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming" (Desire). 

One desire I have is to improve my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  Daily communication, or prayer, is essential and even vital to gaining and maintaining a relationship with Him.  I struggle, like almost everyone else does, with making morning or evening prayer heartfelt and meaningful.  At times we may even doubt, but what I have come to find is that our Heavenly Father is always listening.  Our sincere prayers do not fall upon deaf ears or idle hands.  He is ready and willing to answer, our receiving is a matter of our sincerity and real intent (Enos 1:3-4).

Just Like Playing Ball...




  Today's blog is coming to you from the best Canadian I know, my brother from another mother...Elder Bohnet! (That will also explain why he chose Steve Nash as the basketball player).  Have you ever been watching a basketball game and been like, man that guy is such a good shooter. I have played basketball a little and I think I'm a... decent shooter, and I know the work that goes into becoming a good shooter. When we are watching the game we only see the what that person has become, we don't always see how they got there. It takes a long time practicing, a lot of frustration, at times, and some excel quicker than others. Those who push through the rough days and keep going are the ones who become something great.

This is true in our own spirituality. I often look at others and think wow, that person is really spiritual. They didn't become like that overnight. I'm sure that it took hours of study and prayer. I'm sure sometimes they felt hopeless and that there prayers were not being answered. If we push through those hard times and diligently seek out our Father in Heaven the answers will come. A Book of Mormon prophet said, "And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst," (Alma 32:42). The key is to be patient, diligent, and have faith. If we do, we can come to know spiritual truths and feel the joy and satisfaction that comes from living the Gospel.