megaberg.Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Lord, Teach Us to Pray
"And let us wait quietly before the Lord, for He will strengthen and strengthen us and we shall not suffer if we patiently wait for Him; yes, He will guide us in the way in which we should go, and when He has caused us to rest, then we shall be strong again." (D&C 11:24)
I was hanging out at a church on Monday and listening to a lesson from a man who really has a gift of teaching (and I know that because he had a conference this week with BYU). As he was teaching on this passage from D&C 11, he said that the word 'wait' in this verse means to patiently wait upon God, to patiently wait for the day of the Lord, to patiently wait on the Spirit, to patiently wait on the Savior. While I think that's a really good explanation, it's not the one I've come to myself. I came to it because in my own mind, I've been praying for the day of the Lord. I've prayed for His visitation on my life. I've prayed for His coming to my rescue when I am overwhelmed with the burdens of life. I've prayed for His call to my life. I've prayed for His instruction, His guidance, and all of these things which make me a testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and a follower of Him.
What I realized in my own praying is that I've been praying for the day of the Lord, and I have not been praying for the day of my Lord. I am awaiting the Lord to strengthen me, guide me, strengthen me, guide me, and that all-important thing which is the day of His coming for me. In the meantime, I'm willing to wait for the Lord; and I'm willing to patiently wait. And this is something that the Lord is teaching me, because it's teaching me that I need to be able to wait and rest while I do wait.
I love that passage because it reminds me that even when we're out there in the world, we still have a purpose, we still have a goal. We are stewards of the Father and, while we're here, we're going to live in accordance with the will of the Father. We have a heavenly goal and that goal isn't to fulfill the desires of our hearts, but to do what is pleasing to Him. And the same can
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