On Sunday I was able to go to Relief Society and the lesson was on journal writing. That too, is something I have been thinking about and wanting to improve on.
For me I felt little confirmations that the goals that I have set right now are good things and I need to continue moving forward with them. It feels good to know my Heavenly Father is happy with me and what I am doing.
I think we can have those little confirmations more often in our lives. I realized as I looked back at my brother's email he heard Heavenly Father say thank you in return to him. We can know if our sacrifices, our goals, and our actions are acceptable to God. I decided I need to ask more in my prayers before I make decisions, during, and after. When I was studying this a little bit I came across a talk given by Elder John H. Groberg titled "What Are You Doing Here?" given in 1979 at a BYU Devotional.
It started with a scripture found in 2 Nephi 32:9
"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that they performance may be for the welfare of they soul."
That is perfect. Elder Groberg reinforced it by saying "that is powerful doctrine. It is powerful because it is true. Everything we do should be done for the Lord; and we ought to make sure that it is what he wants us to do." I agree. :) And it's easy to think something is not important, or it doesn't apply when doing this, but in Doctrine & Covenants 29:34 we learn "all things are spiritual to the Lord." So we definitely should be including Heavenly Father in all our actions and He will help us know what we should be doing, and if he is pleased with what we accomplish.
So what is a way to help us do that? Elder Groberg said in our quest to discover our callings in life, the first and foremost thing we can do is follow the Savior. Learn of him. Learn what he did, then do it. He gives 5 helps to improve our relationship with the Savior.
1. Get yourself worthy and keep yourself worthy to honestly hold a temple recommend.
2. Get a patriarchal blessing and study it often, carefully and prayerfully.
3. Read the scriptures prayerfully each day.
4. Pray diligently and fervently at least every night and every morning.
5. Start doing something...
It's a great talk and he goes more into depth on how these things can help. Regarding the last point he says,
"I remember reading a poster once that said, 'A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are made for.' I think that applies to our lives. We may pass through troubled times, but if we constantly seek nothing but physical security, we're probably not doing what we should. We need to seek the spiritual security of knowing we are doing the Lord's will. Sometimes that will not give us all the physical security we may desire, but it will give us all we need."
One last scripture found in 2 Nephi 32:1,3
"And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning which ye should do after ye have entered by the way. But behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts? ... Wherefore, ... feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."
I know I want to know I am doing the Lord's will. I have felt those little confirmations before and I would love to have those more in my life. I know as I look for those confirmations and work to develop my relationship with Christ and include Him more in my life I will have a better idea on what things I should be doing and have the peace, faith, assurance, and motivation to keep moving forward.
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