Faith

So at church on Sunday, the lesson in Sunday School was on the talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland called Lord, I Believe. I did a write-up on this talk for class so it was neat to see other's views on it and add my own insight into the lesson. Elder Holland starts out with scriptures in Mark 9:22-24. These scriptures tell of a father who brings his son to Christ, desperate for his son to be healed. This was the response: "

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”¹

Even though the father had just a little belief, he said right away "Lord I believe", putting in every bit of faith he did have so his son would be healed and then admitting that his faith is limited. As we continue reading this account, Christ heals the boy. This account in the scriptures and Elder Holland tells us that just having that little amount of faith is good enough to start with. We don't need to have a perfect faith nor know for sure everything in the Gospel is true right away, as long as we act on just that little bit of faith. One of my favorite quotes in this talk is 

"In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited." 

I have learned in life that as we hold fast to what we already know and to that little faith we have and continue to nourish it, it will grow. The sunday school teacher made a point that we don't know everything yet, and that there is no instruction manual on how to raise children or how to have a successful marriage or how to live life perfectly, but I had a thought; While there is not an instruction manual for all that written by man, there is one inspired of God, the Scriptures. While they are not a full instruction manual like one you would get on how to put that crib together, the Scriptures give us parables, inspiration, personal revelation, to help us along the way. The point of this life is not to always be given all the answers, but to use the teachings in the Scriptures to help us figure out the answer and then go to Heavenly Father in pray to confirm it is the right answer. All we need is just that little faith to start with and it will eventually grow as we exercise it.

I shared an experience today with the boys I nanny, which reminded me of the lesson yesterday. They asked me about  Joseph Smith and how the Prophets are chosen. When giving a mini lesson on Joseph Smith and the first vision, it came to my mind that Joseph had just a belief that if he followed the teachings in the James 1:5-6 that says:

^aIf any of you lack ^bwisdom, let him ask of God, that ^cgiveth to all men liberally, and ^dupbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

 But let him ^aask in ^bfaith, nothing ^cwavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

he would receive an answer. All it took was just that starting faith and belief that God lives and that He will answer when we come to Him in faith and ask. That is all we need to start with, whether we are in need of strength to help us through a trial, or we have a question, or we want our faith strengthened and want to know for ourselves what is true; as long as we have just that small belief, Heavenly Father will answer us. We do need to remember though that sometimes He doesn't always answer us in the way or when we want or expect. 
I have a testimony that if we exercise the faith we have, it will grow, no matter where we are starting out with it, it will grow, just as a seed that is planted will grow if it is nourished.

Strength

Today I had the opportunity to go to Autumn Hills elderly home to help give the church service by being one of the speakers. I felt the Spirit sooo much there and while I was giving my talk I felt it so strong that I ended my talk sooner then planned because I wasn't going to be able to talk much longer without crying(I'm emotional I guess lol). My topic was strength. This has been a big topic for me recently and I felt I should not only share my thoughts about it in my talk, but I should share it here.

Matthew 11:28 says

"Come to me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

Christ suffered for not only our sins, but also for our pains and sorrows so He knows exactly what we are going through, which means we can go to Him in humble prayer and ask Him for help, for the strength to carry on. Our heavy loads are not for us to bear alone, and we cannot do it alone. In my life, I have learned this time and time again. Just because we think we can do it by ourselves and things seem to be going well, does not mean we're really making it or progressing in the right direction. 

The Lord will give us strength, whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual, if we go to Him and ask. He wants to help us succeed in this life and when it seems like we are on the right path, but it doesn't seem like He's walking beside us, like the poem Footsteps, He is carrying us, giving us rest, until we have the strength to walk on our own two feet beside Him. We must have the faith though as well that He will give us that rest and help us bear our burdens and act on it. We cannot just expect to be given strength and rest if we are not doing our part as well, if we are just looking for a free ride through our trials without really learning and growing from them.
 Even if we cannot see His hand in our life right away doesn't mean He's not there; a prisoner in a concentration camp carved on a wall the following: 

We need to learn how to recognize Him in our lives, and sometimes in order for us to learn that, Heavenly Father will be there, but He won't "speak", He will put His hand in our lives, help us bear our burdens, and leave it up to us to realize that He has been there the whole time. I know that if we are feeling weak physically, spiritually, or emotionally, and we go to the Lord in humble prayer, with pure intent to use our strength for good, He will give us the strength we need to carry on. Maybe not right away or in the way we think, but He will give it if we ask. 

I have been through a lot recently and I have strong testimony now of the power of prayer and I know without a doubt Christ is always there, knocking, wanting to help us, wanting to give us the strength we need when we feel like we can't keep going, we just have to open the door and let Him in. I know He is my Saviour, my Redeemer, and as I follow Him on the straight and narrow path and open the door to Him, He will help me in my times of need and give me the strength to keep going and not fall into Satan's traps. I know that He loves me, that He loves us all and He wants us all to succeed, He's knocking, we just need to open the door and let Him in. These are my thoughts on strength and my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.