Tag Archives: prayer

Have Miracles Ceased? Part Two

12 Sunday Sep 2021

Posted by in Heritage

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When I was a young missionary in Kaufbeuren, Germany, I experienced my personal Pentecost. Although I was baptized with water when I was eight years old, I don’t remember experiencing anything special. Sure, it was a momentous occasion and at a young age, I was aware of my desire to serve the Lord, but beside this, it was nothing remarkable. It wasn’t until just over a decade later in a small attic apartment on the other side of the globe when I knelt down in faith with a sincere prayer that I had been visited by the Lord as my answer. The room, although dark at night, seemed to fill with electrifying fire that consumed me. There is nothing on Earth that I can compare this experience with. There was nothing earthly about it. But for five, ten, or maybe fifteen minutes, I felt like every atom of my body was charged with waves of electricity. If I could use any word to describe this, it would be a quickening. I had been baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost. Over the course of about thirty years up until today, I have experienced a series of miraculous events that the world would describe as little more than supernatural.

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

For years and years I did not understand this passage. Yes, I understood it in my brain, but not in my heart. To illustrate this, I will share one experience. In this same town of Kaufbeuren, my companion and I had bought train tickets to another town. As we approached the large and long platform, I received a very distinct and powerful prompting to go and stand on a very specific spot on the platform just an arm’s length from the edge, which dropped off onto the train tracks below. I remember very clearly planting my feet firmly as if this decision was the most important decision of that day. My companion followed behind and then stood on my right side and there we waited shoulder to shoulder for the train to arrive. Then as the train arrived with all its loud mechanical sounds, a girl behind me lost consciousness and she slumped forward, falling down directly between my companion and me. Had we not been standing at that very spot when she fell, she would have fallen farther forward without anything or anyone to break her fall, and she would have been pummeled by the train.

God does not always explain things when He requires something of us. Like the wind that blows where it pleases, so is the Spirit. You cannot predict where the next breeze will come from or when or why, but it’s not until you see its effects around you that you discern its presence, such as when it caresses your face or some leaves blow in the air. Likewise, you don’t know when the Lord will next need to work through you for His purposes, but the difference between feeling a random breeze and the Holy Spirit working in you is the love that you are filled with when it works in you. You also have to be willing to be led without always knowing why, even if it’s somewhere you would rather not go. But if you choose not to be led in small, mundane ways, God will not work His miracles through you, particularly when He needs to accomplish great miracles.

Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

23 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by in Heritage

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While studying King Hezekiah’s relationship with the prophet Isaiah, I realized something else. Without God to uphold our hearts, we tend to fail every time He tests us. In other words, when God withdraws His Spirit and we feel abandoned, we discover the true nature of our own hearts.

2 Chronicles 32:31 ¶ Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

He had put his trust in God during the Assyrian invasion and was given an additional fifteen years of life. But when the Lord withdrew to test him, Hezekiah ultimately became accountable for the Babylonian captivity. When we feel abandoned, we all stray. Some of us become monsters.

“Well, if God doesn’t care, why should I?”

But He does care. That is why he steps away periodically. Like a parent who teaches her toddler to walk, He must step away. I remember when one of my sisters was a toddler and still learning to walk. My mother set her at one end of the living room on her wobbly legs and walked to the other end. My sister began to cry because Mom appeared to abandon her. Desperate to be near my mother, my sister began to take one step and then two. Crying and striving to reach Mom, she inched her way forward one wobbly baby step at a time. She has been walking and running ever since. What is the solution?

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

William Gurnall wrote that all our strength is fetched without doors, or in other words, outside of ourselves:

“Reason Second.  The second reason may be taken from the absolute necessity of this act of faith above others, to support the Christian in the hour of temptation.  All the Christian’s strength and comfort is fetched without doors, and he hath none to send of his errand but faith; this goes to heaven and knocks God up, as he in the parable his neighbor at midnight for bread: therefore, when faith fails, and the soul hath none to go to market for supplies, there must needs be a poor house kept in the meantime. Now faith is never quite laid up till the soul denies, or at least questions, the power of God.  Indeed, when the Christian disputes the will of God, whispering within its own bosom, will he pardon? Will he save? This may make faith go haltingly to the throne of grace, but not knock the soul off from seeking the face of God.  Even then faith on the power of God will bear it company thither: ‘If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean;’ if thou wilt, thou canst pardon, thou canst purge.  But when the soul concludes he cannot pardon, cannot save, this shoots faith to the heart, so that the soul falls at the foot of Satan, not able more to resist; now it grows more listless to duty, indifferent whether it pray or not, as one that sees the well dry breaks or throws away his pitcher.”–William Gurnal, The Christian in Complete Armor.

The strength to flee temptation comes only from God. And that strength comes only through prayer. Without prayer, we fail. How strong are we when God steps back to test our hearts?

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the night hour.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Jesus Christ suffered intense agony for six hours nailed to the cross while the effects of countless lashes had ripped his flesh, thorns had pierced his brow, spikes had pierced nerves in his extremities, hunger and thirst afflicted his body, and gravity made it all the more unbearable. But He did not waver from his mission. He had spent the entire night before in Gethsemane praying and also suffering. Prayer was His constant companion. He was no stranger to an entire night of prayer. He was no stranger to forty days of praying and fasting. But imagine for a moment, if He had stepped down from the cross, being abandoned or, rather, forsaken by His Father to become a monster and to smite the Romans who inflicted so much pain on Him and to make all the high priests wither as dried reeds, or to become as chaff that disappears in the wind and to strike down all those who mocked Him while He suffered intense agony. Only a monster would do such a thing. But Jesus was not a monster. Though capable of destruction of cosmic proportions, as demonstrated by the great flood during Noah’s day, or the pestilences inflicted upon Pharaoh in Moses’ day, Jesus Christ, the God of all creation humbly, meekly, and willingly suffered all things of His own will. Without His Father to uphold His heart, Jesus Christ upheld us all. He, and He alone carried all our guilt.

agony

Returning to Hezekiah, consider finally the following commentary:

“God left him to himself in it, to try him, v. 31. God, by the power of his almighty grace, could have prevented the sin; but he permitted it for wise and holy ends, that, by this trial and his weakness in it, he might know, that is, it might be known (a usual Hebraism), what was in his heart, that he was not so perfect in grace as he thought he was, but had his follies and infirmities as other men. God left him to himself to be proud of his wealth, to keep him from being proud of his holiness.

It is good for us to know ourselves, and our own weakness and sinfulness, that we may not be conceited or self-confident, but may always think meanly of ourselves and live in a dependence upon divine grace. We know not the corruption of our own hearts, nor what we shall do if God leave us to ourselves. Lord, lead us not into temptation.

3. His sin was the his heart was lifted up, v. 25. He was proud of the honour God had put upon him in so many instances, the honour his neighbours did him in bringing him presents, and now that the king of Babylon should send an embassy to him to caress and court him: this exalted him above measure.

When Hezekiah had destroyed other idolatries he began to idolize himself. O what need have great men, and good men, and useful men, to study their own infirmities and follies, and their obligations to free grace, that they may never think highly of themselves, and to beg earnestly of God that he will hide pride from them and always keep them humble!–Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 2 Ch 32:31.

In our individual journeys to seek His face, we must pray and pray often. Yesterday’s prayers are not sufficient for today, for as the Apostle Paul declared, we stand in jeopardy every hour! And when that sweet Spirit of the Lord deliberately withdraws from our hearts, which leaves us feeling empty and desperate, in order to test us, it is then that we truly discover who we are without Him. It is imperative that we learn to be godly without Him to uphold our hearts, else we might find ourselves, like that son of morning, fallen from heaven and cast down to Earth because of our pride and lust and vanity.

Isaiah 14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of the viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

 

 

Pray and not faint

15 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Gospel Doctrine

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Today we live in a world of automation and instant gratification. Where once it took up to a minute to dial someones telephone number on a rotary phone, today we’re connected at the push of a touch screen icon. Even with the age of the internet and wireless technology we can transfer money between accounts in a matter of seconds. There is no need to wait minutes for a dial-up connection or for an internet page to load. One click and in the blink of an eye, today the page is loaded and ready to browse. You can connect with anyone around the world in seconds where once it required a written letter via air mail that would take between two to three weeks for a single correspondence. Even few people grow their own food when you can go to the nearest burger joint for a meal in under two minutes. We have spoiled ourselves rotten.

We tend to have this same mentality with prayer. We desire something, which in our finite wisdom we think is good, and ask it of our Father in Heaven. We tend to ask with superficial sincerity, with not much more than uttering a couple phrases, as if we were going to withdraw an instant blessing from a heavenly account and not give much more thought after our petition, thinking we’ll get what we prayed for within the next day or week. And when the answer doesn’t come as we expect, we give up asking and rationalize that there is always a reason for everything. That much, however, is true.

More often than not, most people pray hoping for an answer, but seldom, if ever truly praying with faith. There is a distinct difference between praying with hope and praying with faith. Most who pray may not doubt God’s ability to grant requests, but they seldom exercise faith long enough to wait for the right answer. When Jesus Christ walked on the stormy Sea of Galilee, Peter petitioned the Savior to bid him come out onto the water with Him. He hoped that the answer would be yes. Jesus Christ granted his petition but it was not until Peter exercised faith to take that first step, defying the laws of a natural world that he was able to do it. It wasn’t until the storm shook Peter’s faith that he began to immediately sink, even while in the very presence of and within the grasp of his divine mentor.

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

When people pray for an answer, they may believe that God has the power to grant their request, but seldom do they believe that He will. What, therefore, separates those who receive answers from those who don’t? The primary answer is faith. Faith is evidenced by a person’s actions, not hopes. Peter’s example above illustrates this point. Consider also a Gentile by the name of Cornelius, who was a Roman Centurion, which we read about in the New Testament. It was his humble prayer accompanied by fasting that changed his life. After having fasted for four days, proving his determination to gain an audience with heaven, his petition was answered by a visit from an angel and soon after by the apostle Peter. I have no doubt that Cornelius would have continued fasting for as long as it took for heaven to take notice.

What is it about fasting that focuses or amplifies the power of prayer? By depriving our physical bodies of nourishment, we subjugate the flesh to the spirit. And when we have gained mastery of our physical body by the good desires of our spirit and our heart, the “veil” that separates our mortal world from the eternal and heavenly  sphere becomes thinner, making communication with heaven more powerful.

Lorenzo Snow, a young missionary in Italy, was faced with a dire situation. A young boy was sick on his death bed, surrounded by grieving family members. Snow knew that he had the priesthood power as the apostles of old did to heal this boy, but he first had to know the will of the Lord. Sometimes it is appointed to us to leave this mortal world. But if not, then petitions are granted. The next day, Lorenzo fasted and went alone to pray outside the town, alone in the mountains. He was determined not to move until he had received an answer, whether it was yes or no. He struggled six long hours in fervent prayer until finally his answer came. He returned to the home of the boy with the approval from God, and with his priesthood authority, laid his hands on the boy and healed him.

Seeking first the Lord’s will is another key that separates those who receive answers from those who don’t. Furthermore, we must accept that the answer is not one we will always want to hear. Sometimes, the answer will be no. When Jesus Christ bled from every pore in Gethsemane, He prayed that His bitter cup be removed. He had had enough and wanted to stop. Yet He knew what His Father’s will was and because of His love for his Father in heaven, he continued, “not my will but thy will be done.” And so He finished what He started and became the Savior of mankind.

If we truly received the answers to all the prayers we ever uttered, I think our world would be in much greater chaos than it is today for it is because of free will that God allows us to manage ourselves for the most part. But for the few who truly receive answers, it is because of hope and their exercise of faith AND because they have come to understand God’s will, especially in the matters of their own personal lives, AND aligning their own will with that of God’s that they receive answers.

Sometimes prayers are answered immediately if expedient in the Lord at the time. Such was the case as I shared in a recent entry, A humming bird and a prayer. It has not always been the case. I have literally prayed for hours before finally receiving a definitive answer. And sometimes, most of the time, the answer is no. We also have to accept the fact that God sees beyond the horizon. His wisdom and foresight is infinitely greater than our own. I have come to accept this in my life as I continually refine my own desires and I align them with His will and His work.

His ultimate desire for each of us is to bring us back into His presence. And so He has given each of us a set of trials, weaknesses and obstacles to overcome so that we become mindful of Him and continually turn to Him for guidance. For many, however, especially those who do not understand how the Lord operates, it becomes a bitter experience, which leaves them cynical and doubting.

But for the humble followers, the meek believers who endure patiently, with longsuffering and love for others, who follow Christ’s example and way of life, who by these virtues become more Christlike, answers come more readily, typically because they are offered, not on behalf of themselves, but on behalf of and for intercession of others, for they have become true servants of their fellow man, concerned not for their own personal gain, but for the welfare of others.

Moriancumr received all that he desired:

Ether 1:43 And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth. And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me.

Nephi also had received answers to great questions:

1 Nephi 16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers…
19 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.

Enos also received an answer to a prayer:

2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.
3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.
4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?
8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.

Enos had faith. He hoped that he would receive an answer. He knew that God could answer. But it was his exercise of faith, knowing that God would answer, to stay on his knees until he received an answer, which he finally did just as Lorenzo Snow, Nephi, Moriancumr and many others throughout history who proved themselves worthy of divine attention.

Throughout written scripture we read over and over where we should “pray and not faint.” What this simply means is to be ever drawn to our Father in heaven in prayer, that our thoughts always be directed to Him. To faint means to falter, to give up, to lose hope, to lose courage.  Nephi sums it up this way:

2 Nephi 32:8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.
9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

According to Vines Dictionary of NT Words, page 400, enkakeo (Greek word for faint), means to “lack courage, lose heart, be fainthearted.”

It is all to easy for us to become distracted by the shiny things of the world, to become idle, idolatrous, lazy, indifferent, etc. But if we remain focused, especially when we pray with righteous desires, and if we never doubt, as James in the New Testament warns, we will always receive an answer. But we must prove ourselves ready and willing to act upon that answer. Where much is given, much is required.

So how should we pray then? For me, I find that I need a quiet time of the day, usually in the very early hours of the morning (usually between 1 to 5 AM or so) on weekends where I can be alone in silence, and can focus and ponder my life, my struggles, my desires, etc. and where I can peacefully search the scriptures. It is during this time that I can prepare myself mentally and spiritually to approach the Lord in prayer. Sometimes I will go to a quiet corner of my home, where I like to read by the window or I will go outside on a swing chair. The greater the matter that I take up with heaven, the more time I give myself to be alone. Sometimes an entire weekend alone isn’t enough. But with enough solitude, the proper state of mind and heart, preparation and fasting, I know that I will get an answer. One of my greatest desires, if not the greatest, has yet to be granted. But I know that my feet are on the path to being granted this desire. It is partly the reason that I have created this blog. I only hope that along the way, I will have shed a broad enough light that many others may benefit from it.

A hummingbird and a prayer

28 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Just Marc

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I really try not to put a big light on myself as a person and I don’t care what critics and naysayers think about me. But I do not shy away from holding up my light rather than hiding it under a bushel. The light that I hold up is my Savior, Jesus Christ, and what He has done for me in my life. And maybe one day, I will share everything that I have seen and heard, but today I feel impressed to share one small experience.

It was May 6, 2008 when I was in my garage doing some work, as well as in the yard getting my sprinkler system fixed. I heard something, which startled me and when I looked up I saw a hummingbird hovering around the ceiling. It was the rapid flapping that had caught my attention. It flew back and forth trying to find a way out. The garage has a twelve foot high ceiling so the top of the main garage door opening, which was shielded by the open door, which hung above me, was a good four feet below the ceiling line.

It darted back and forth and it didn’t take long to realize that there was no way it would find it’s way out. I grabbed my snow shovel and lifted it up to try and guide it in the right direction, but all I managed to do was frighten it. Still I tried gently coaxing it for a while, hoping that I could get it to fly low enough to see the giant 8’x16′ garage door opening and fly outside. It just wasn’t working. I kept trying to think of different approaches, but there simply wasn’t one that wouldn’t hurt it or even scare it more.

I know that the Lord is aware of all His creatures including this little hummingbird. I figured the simplest, though not necessarily the easiest way to do this was to take it in my hand and walk outside with it and release it. I prayed to God and I told Him that I couldn’t think of any other way to help it. Anything that finds its way into my garage eventually dies from the heat in the summer and I didn’t want the the hummingbird to die, too, so I asked for help. I needed this little bird to trust me.

Just as soon as I had prayed, the hummingbird landed on a wire hanging above the motor of my garage door opener. It sat there and just looked at me. I knew this was my chance. I slowly climbed up on the hood of my car and crawled up the windshield towards it as it looked straight at me. By now I was just a few feet away from it. I reached past the garage door motor and wrapped my hand around its little body. I braced myself, being in a awkward position, to keep from falling or sliding off my car and with my other hand I gently unwrapped its tiny feet from the wire as it did not seem to want to let go.

I was elated as I looked at the little guy just barely poking its head through my fingers. I couldn’t get over how tiny it was inside my hand. I carefully climbed back down my car and walked outside as it peeked through my fingers. It was a beautiful iridescent green in color. I opened my hand and watched it fly away. It was such a cool experience! I was thankful that God answered my prayer and I know that He cares about all of His creatures, even as tiny as a hummingbird. Because of this and many other personal experiences, I know that anything that we ask of God is granted us, if it is expedient in Him, if we ask in faith. Not all prayers are answered as quickly. I’ve literally spent hours at a time on my knees praying before finally receiving an answer. This particular experience at this particular point in my life reassured me that God is aware of me.

Edit: It’s been over a year since I published this post that the Lord taught me why He gave me this experience. Like the hummingbird, I have always struggled to be attentive. And although I am a tiny part of this world, I am not insignificant. Most importantly, it has taught me the importance of being still so that I can know God. I have learned to recognize His hand in my life. That little hummingbird, prone to getting itself into trouble is me.