Pray for the Spirit
As you go forward doing missionary work with The Total Mind Shift, it is essential
that you understand and accept your dependency on the Holy Ghost – the Spirit. The Spirit will guide you in all your
actions, it will guide you to those who are prepared to hear and receive your
message, it will give you what you must say and do to best allow the Spirit to
influence people. Through the Spirit you
will teach with power and authority. You
have been promised this sustaining association with the Spirit. This communion with the Spirit is revelation.
Joseph Smith said, “Salvation cannot
come without revelation; it is in vain for anyone to minister without it”
(History of the Church, 3:389). You will succeed in your work as you learn
to receive and follow personal revelation. Joseph Smith also taught that
revelation is vital for your daily work: “This is the principle on which the
government of heaven is conducted—by revelation adapted to the circumstances in
which the children of the kingdom are placed” (History of the
Church, 5:135).
God loves you and all His children.
He is anxious to support you in your practical and specific challenges. (PMG p.89)
The challenge to missionaries, and everyone for that matter,
is to continuously: look for, feel,
recognize and then follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. To do this starts by doing your best every
day to never offend the spirit; in actions, thoughts and words. Effective personal scripture study, personal
worthiness and sincere prayer are important to increase your ability to do
this. Continually looking for promptings
is an act of faith after prayerfully requesting such guidance. Feeling the spirit requires sensitivity to
the still small voice that can easily be discarded as a fleeting hunch or dumb
idea. The ability to recognize spiritual
nudges is enhanced with practice and experience. Following the promptings can
require courage and is also an act of faith but promptings can stop if you
refuse to follow them.
“And ye shall go forth in the power
of my Spirit, preaching my gospel…and inasmuch as ye shall find them
that will receive you ye shall build up
my church in every region…And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if
ye receive not the Spirit ye
shall not teach.” (DC 42:6,8,14)
And ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye
shall be endowed with
power…” (DC 43:15-16)
From this it is evident that the power of the Spirit is
given unto you by the prayer of faith.
The Spirit is necessary because the Holy Ghost will loosen your tongue,
bring things to remembrance and make you a powerful teacher in the Lord’s way
while it testifies of the truth of your teachings in the hearts of those who
receive you. Prayers should: (p. 93 PMG)
2. Request
Guidance. Pray specifically for the
guidance and help of the Holy Ghost - where to go and what to do.
3. Express
Understanding. Recognize that your
Heavenly Father knows what you need better than you do.
4. Debrief.
In your prayers at night, give the Lord
an accounting of your day’s activities. Then
review with Him your plan for the next day. Listen for the promptings of the
Spirit.
5. Ponder. Pray
about and ponder the scriptures. The scriptures open the window to revelation. We talk to God through prayer; he talks to us
through the scriptures.
6. Believe. Believe in and trust that God will answer
your prayers.
In the Bible Dictionary we learn that answers to our
questions or trials or requests are not forced upon us but are given only
subsequent to your knocking and asking through prayer. The agency of man is thereby maintained. And, requests in prayer should be in
alignment with God’s will not simply our selfish desires.
“The object of prayer is not to
change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings
that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our
asking for them… Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in
Christ’s name at all; they in no way represent His mind but spring out of the
selfishness of man’s heart.” (BD p. 753)
One of my favorite scriptures that enlighten my
understanding of the kind of spiritual power we can have as missionaries is a
description of Ammon and his companions. They were just missionaries as you and I
are. But, they had the spirit of
prophecy and the spirit of revelation and when they taught, they taught
with power
and authority of God.” (Alma 17:3)
This was a result of much prayer and fasting.
In any success you receive in missionary work, you are
dependent on the Holy Ghost. The Spirit will guide you in every aspect of your
work; finding, teaching and conversion to baptism. Your faith must be in Jesus Christ regardless
if you are confident or lack confidence.
You must rely on the spirit not your own talents and abilities. You should stay alert every day to look for,
feel, recognize and then follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Ghost is the Silver Bullet. By its
influence, I hope we will astonish the members in our Mission with the growth
similar to that recorded in the Book of Mormon during the time of Nephi, the
son of Helaman.
“25 And so great was the
prosperity of the church, and so many the blessings which were poured out upon
the people, that even the high priests and the teachers were themselves
astonished beyond measure.
26 And it
came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and
uniting to the church of God, many souls, yea, even tens of thousands.” (Hel
3:25-26)
President Robinson
No comments:
Post a Comment