I grew up in the Church, but as a teenager
I worried that I didn't have a testimony because I was looking for a big
Alma-type experience. For me, the first thing I was positive I had a testimony
about (and this was after I was married) was I gained a testimony that prayers are
answered. Many of the answers/mini-miracles I received fit into a category I
labeled in my mind as “possible coincidences” or “can be explained away.” But
then I also had some answers/mini-miracles that had no other possible
explanation than an answer to prayer or tender mercy. Then one day I realized
how important Hebrews
11:1 was to my testimony. The JST version reads: “Now faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” All of those
answers to prayers, became evidence that there was a God.
In the Book of Mormon, Jacob said it this way:
“Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations
and the spirit of prophecy; and
having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in
the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of
the sea.
“Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may
know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of
men, that we have power to do these things” (Jacob 4:6–7).
Unfortunately the memory of those blessings fade. As President
Eyring taught: “great
faith has a short shelf life.” I
believe this is why we are commanded to keep a journal so we have a record of
all the evidence.
Back in the October
2008 General Conference I learned something from Elder Neal A. Anderson I
had never thought about before. He said:
Several years ago a friend of mine had a young daughter die in a
tragic accident. Hopes and dreams were shattered. My friend felt unbearable
sorrow. He began to question what he had been taught and what he had taught as
a missionary. The mother of my friend wrote me a letter and asked if I would
give him a blessing. As I laid my hands upon his head, I felt to tell him
something that I had not thought about in exactly the same way before. The
impression that came to me was: Faith
is not only a feeling; it is a decision. He would need to choose faith.
In addition, Richard C. Edgley in October 2010 General
Conference said:
Be
aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort.
It does not come as the dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, “Come unto me”
(Matthew 11:28) and “Knock,
and it shall be [given] you” (Matthew 7:7). These are
action verbs—come, knock. They are choices. So I say, choose faith.
Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown
and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism.
But there is in Christ's question, "Who touched me?"
a deeper significance than could inhere in a simple inquiry as to the identity
of an individual; and this is implied in the Lord's further words:
"Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out
of me." The usual external act by which His miracles were wrought was a
word or a command, sometimes accompanied by the laying on of hands, or by some
other physical ministration as in anointing the eyes of a blind man. That there was an actual giving of His own
strength to the afflicted whom He healed is evident from the present instance.
Passive belief on the part of a would-be recipient
of blessing is insufficient; only when
it is vitalized into active faith is it a power; so also of one who ministers
in the authority given of God, mental and spiritual energy must be operative if
the service is to be effective.
Whether seeking for knowledge of scientific
truths or to discover God, one must have faith. This becomes the starting
point. Faith has been defined in many ways, but the most classic definition was
given by the author of the letter to the Hebrews in these meaningful words: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.” (Heb.
11:1.) In other words, faith makes us confident of what we hope for
and convinced of what we do not see. The scientist does not see molecules,
atoms, or electrons, yet he knows they exist. He does not see electricity,
radiation, or magnetism, but he knows these are unseen realities. In like
manner, those who earnestly seek for God do not see him, but they know of his
reality by faith. It is more than hope. Faith makes it a conviction—an evidence of things not seen.
All
but a prophetic few must go about God's work in very quiet, very unspectacular
ways. And as you labor to know him, and to know that he knows you; as you
invest your time—and your convenience—in quiet, unassuming service, you will
indeed find that "he shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in
their hands they shall bear thee up" (Matthew 4:6). It may not come
quickly. It probably won't come quickly, but there is purpose in the time it
takes. Cherish your spiritual burdens because God will converse with you
through them and will use you to do his work if you carry them well.
Dieter
F. Uchtdorf, “Point of Safe Return”, April.
2007
We need a strong faith in Christ to be able to repent. Our faith has to include a “correct idea of [God’s] character, perfections, and attributes” (Lectures on Faith [1985], 38). If we believe that God knows all things, is loving, and is merciful, we will be able to put our trust in Him for our salvation without wavering. Faith in Christ will change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with God’s will.”
We need a strong faith in Christ to be able to repent. Our faith has to include a “correct idea of [God’s] character, perfections, and attributes” (Lectures on Faith [1985], 38). If we believe that God knows all things, is loving, and is merciful, we will be able to put our trust in Him for our salvation without wavering. Faith in Christ will change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with God’s will.”
As
the prophet Enos learned, it means letting others’ testimonies of the gospel “[sink] deep into [our] heart[s].” 23 Let us
review some of the elements of Enos’s profound, faith-building experience:
·
First, Enos heard the gospel truths from his father, just as you
are hearing them in your families and in this conference.
·
Second, he let his father’s teachings about “eternal life, and the joy of the saints” 24 sink deep
into his heart.
·
Third, he was filled with a desire
to know for himself whether these teachings were true and where he himself
stood before his Maker. To use Enos’s words, “My soul
hungered.” 25 By this
intense spiritual appetite, Enos qualified himself to receive the Savior’s promise: “Blessed are all they who do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” 26
·
Fourth, Enos obeyed the commandments of God, which enabled him
to be receptive to the Spirit of the Holy Ghost.
·
Fifth, Enos records, “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.” 27 It wasn’t easy. Faith did not come quickly.
In fact, Enos characterized his experience in prayer as a “wrestle which [he] had before God.” 28 But faith
did come. By the power of the Holy Ghost, he did receive a witness for himself.
We cannot find Enos-like faith
without our own wrestle before God in prayer.
