Lesson on Faith

Monday, July 8, 2013


There are many times in our lives when we sit down to pray and we wonder if our Heavenly Father really hears us. Sure we address Him by name and share our hopes and dreams, tell Him what's bothering us, what we would like to have or accomplish and what we are thankful for. But even when we think of all that, we still wonder if He actually hears us. I can think of a time even in the past few weeks when I've wondered if He hears me. Sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to a brick wall. We have to have faith, though, that He really does hear us. I think Alma 32:21 gives an excellent description of what faith is. And it says "Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen which are true."
We are not going to know why everything that happens in our lives happens. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. We really don't know much at all and that is why it is absolutely imperative that we rely on our Heavenly Father.
Without Him, we are nothing. Heavenly Father has set up a plan for us called The Plan of Salvation. It is also called The Plan of Happiness because that's what He wants each of His children to be - happy. From constant prayer, I know this to be true. We can know this to be true by looking at 1 Peter 5:7, which says "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
There is more to The Plan of Salvation than what a simple diagram could show. The diagram only shows you living in Heaven as spirit children, coming down to Earth, then dying and all. A major part that is not shown in this diagram is how we need to live our lives. People can say that we need to live a Christ-like life, but what does that really mean?
Heavenly Father, through revelation, has set forth Laws and Ordinances which help us while here on Earth and help enable us to one day return to live with Him. One such law would be the Law of Chastity which states that we should not have sexual relations with anyone but whoever you're legally married to or cause the arousal of the powerful emotions which should only be expressed in marriage. Laws such as these protect us. Heavenly Father has faith that we will follow these and we must have faith that these will help and protect us.
If you ever question what you are doing or about to do, you probably should not do it. But if you need to, you can pray to ask Heavenly Father. To receive an answer, you must ask with a sincere heart and you need to faithfully follow the answer you are given. In Moroni 10:4-5 it tells us, " 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
Heavenly Father has given us this wonderful gift of communication with Him and it really is special. We need to trust that He hears us and we need to have faith that He will answer us in His own time. That's what faith really is - trust.
Romans 8:39 "Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-messages-for-youth?v=2505987918001