Be sure to check out my new blog “The Second Coming of Christ” for an in depth look at prophecies related to the Second Coming and discussions about getting spiritually and physically prepared.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Mighty Prayer

Interesting question. If God took a day off would anybody notice? At first glance we may only be able to look at this as a hypothetical question, but let us start at the beginning, well the beginning as we know it, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made” (Genesis 2:2) What do we consider this resting to be? Did God take this day off? Both anciently and modernly this day of rest was turned into a day of worship. Now how do believers give this day off to God? We pester him more than any other day! Think about it. In a typical meeting how many thoughtless prayers are uttered?

Big breath. Heavenly Father we thank you for this day, and all our many blessings .Another big breath. Bless us with your spirit, Bless the Missionaries, Bless the Gordon Hinckley guy. Bless BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Now these meetings are held all over the world. I can only begin to wonder how many prayers like this are said on any given Sunday. Would it make any difference if we said these prayers or not? If at the end of a day for some strange reason did not follow the traditions of our Fathers to pray so travel home with no harm or accident, would anybody get hurt?

I believe that as long as people are praying and they believe there prayers are getting answered than they are correct. The power of positive thinking. So if God took a day off they really wouldn’t notice. This statement can well be made for 99 out of 100 prayers. But I also believe that there is a way that prayers can be heard and this is what the Scriptures talk of when they speak about a mighty prayer.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

If God took a day off, would we notice?

So what I guess this comes down to is how involved is God in our lives. It seems like one Sunday I'll go to church and the speaker in sacrament meeting will stand up, read Alma 34:17-27, and tell me about how I need to pray to God about everything. God cares about everything I'm doing and nothing is too trivial. Another Sunday I'll go to church and the speaker in sacrament meeting will tell me about how they were trying to decide which of two jobs to take and that they just couldn't get an answer. Finally they "got an answer" and the answer was, it doesn't matter. Both jobs are just fine, you decide. Then the speaker goes on to talk about how there are somethings that just don't matter to God and then comes the inevitable example, "like what you're going to have for breakfast. God doesn't care. You just have to make that decision on your own."
Am I going to the same church here or what? Pray to God about everything. No, Don't pray to God about "stupid" things. What are "stupid" things? I know these are kind of two extremes but hopefully they illustrate my point. How involved is God?
Myself I tend to lean toward the second example. I think God definitely gets involved when he needs too. But aren't we here to progress. How can I do that if he is always involved. Don't I need to learn to do things on my own. I guess I take the weight lifter/spotter approach. If the spotter is the one lifting all the weight, the spotter is the one getting stronger. But if the spotter is there just to put a finger on the bar now and then when the weight lifter needs a bit of help, then it is the weight lifter that is getting stronger. I look at us as the weight lifters and God as the Spotter. If we are ever going to get stronger, we need to be lifting the weight most of the time.
So what do you think? How involved is God in this world. If God took a day off, would we notice? Would we notice on a personal level? How about the world? Would everything just quit functioning?