A couple of months ago I learned a very powerful principle from a great teacher. He was able to clearly point out the link between Obedience and Faith. In his own words he said:PROCESS OF DEVELOPING FAITH
"Our faith grows as we are obedient. To paraphrase Elder Bruce R. McConkie, faith and the power of the Holy Ghost come as gifts from God. They are always given when righteousness is present and the greater the degree of obedience to God’s laws, the greater will be the endowment of faith and the greater will be the influence of the Spirit. Joseph Smith taught that faith to accomplish great things grows out of being in harmony with God’s laws. If we obey with exactness the commandments, we are in a position to call on the powers of heaven, through faith, to help us accomplish our righteous desires.
Exercising faith to draw on the powers of heaven will make
it possible for us to achieve righteous desires. It has been said that a righteous desire is
more than a mere wish. It is a
motivating conviction that moves one to action.
To that end it would be helpful to:
(1) write down the righteous desire in the form of a goal being as
specific as possible; (2) decide a time when this goal will be accomplished;
(3) consistently pray about this goal and tell the Lord what effort and
sacrifice will be made to reach it; (4) specify the plan of action to accomplish the goal; (5) Think about and concentrate on this goal
consistently; and (6) work steadily toward achieving this goal.
Faith growing out of obedience comes when we focus
relentlessly on achieving our righteous objectives. We must set our goals in harmony with the
Spirit and then work without ceasing and constantly focus our thoughts and
efforts on achieving these righteous goals.
When our mind is in harmony with the will of God because of
righteousness, then our work will be the Lord’s work. “And if ye are purified and cleansed from all
sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be
done. But know this, it shall be given
you what you shall ask.” (D&C 50:29-30)
Joseph Smith said “When a man works by faith he works by
mental exertion instead of by physical force.” (Lectures on Faith, 7:3). Mental
exertion includes being fully conscious of our thought process and training
ourselves to scrutinize our thoughts and to replace thoughts that detract from
faith with thoughts that increase our faith. “Let virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly, then shall thy confidence wax strong in
the presence of God and . . . the Holy Ghost shall be thy constant
companion.” (D&C 121:45-46) To exercise mental exertion, we must have power
and dominion over our mind. The full
power of the mind is only realized when it is specifically focused and
directed, when our “minds become single to God.” (D&C 88:67-68) When our minds become focused on accomplishing
our purpose and reaching our righteous goals, we will be able to unlock the
powers of heaven. "
In sum, the first drops of oil in our lamp of faith is obedience- obedience to the laws of God. May the Lord bless you and keep you as you develop faith through obedience.
I have had many experiences in my life where my faith has grown through obedience. One of the most powerful experiences occurred when I chose to be obedient by following a prompting I received through the Holy Ghost. It was a very hectic week and I felt overwhelmed. There was a dear lady in our church who I did not know well and who was going through chemotherapy for leukemia. She had just come home from the hospital, was sick, and was scared to be home alone. I received a mass email asking if anyone would go sit with her at her home. I pushed it aside rationalizing that there was no possible way I could add one more thing to my list. Plus, I didn't know her. Surely someone else who did would step up. I got ready and left the house to start my long todo list. As I was leaving my neighborhood a prompting came so clear that I was to turn around right then and call her to offer my services. I was nervous and scared to go visit someone I didn't know. But I also knew I needed to be obedient. From that day a beautiful friendship grew and my faith was strengthened. I now know that God knows each one of us. He knows what we need and who to place in our lives to help us. She has now passed on but left me a great legacy of a woman of faith, honor, meekness, and humility. I will be forever grateful for the blessings of obedience.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that Keri. Our faith truly grows as we obey the impressions we receive from the Holy Ghost.
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