Drawing Closer to God, "Where is Your Faith?"

Our Savior wants us to 

really love Him to the point that 

we want to align our will with His.

    There arose a great tempest, and the waves beat over into the ship.  Those who were in the ship were filled with fear because of the danger, but Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow.  And his disciples came unto him, and awoke him, saying, "Master, master, save us, else we perish."  And Jesus arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still."  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And he said unto them, "Where is your faith?"  

     Neal A. Maxwell said, “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. It is a hard doctrine, but it is true. The many other things we give to God, however nice that may be of us, are actually things He has already given us, and He has loaned them to us. But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him” (“Insights from My Life,” Ensign, Aug. 2000, 9).

     The father of Vaiba Rome, of Papua New Guinea, was also taught that he could turn to his Father in Heaven in times of need. He and his fellow villagers could survive only through the crops they grew. One day he lit a fire to clear his portion of the village farmland for planting. However, the fire had been preceded by a long hot period, and the vegetation was very dry. So his fire began to spread to the grassland and bushes, and in the words of his son, “a big monster of fire” resulted. He feared for his fellow villagers and the possible loss of their crops. If they were destroyed, he would be subject to village justice. Being unable to extinguish the fire, he then remembered the Lord.  I now quote from his son, “He knelt on the hill in the bushes and started to pray to Heavenly Father to stop the fire. Suddenly there appeared a big black cloud above where he was praying, and it rained so hard—but only where the fire was burning. When he looked around, there was clear sky everywhere except where the flames burned. He couldn’t believe the Lord would answer a simple man like him, and he again knelt down and cried like a child. He said it was the sweetest feeling” ("Drawing Closer to God," Ensign, Nov. 2013).

     My father had an element of faith in prayer that still amazes me many years after his passing. I don’t use it very often, nor did he, but it is very powerful when you do.

My dad had great faith that Father would change the weather for him. I saw it happen many times throughout my childhood. When I was a young teen we had gone to work one Saturday on the stake farm. It was a cloudy day, and as we began to work it began to rain. It was not only making the day miserable, but it would make the sugar beets spoil after they were out of the ground because mud clung to them. The brethren running the farm looked around and announced that we were going to stop. We had had an opening prayer a few minutes earlier where the weather was specifically mentioned. My Dad leaned toward me and whispered something about “they didn’t believe in the power of their own prayers”. He closed his eyes. He stood there in the field as others were trudging to their cars. I knew he was praying about the weather.

I was really hoping it would keep raining.

A few cars had pulled away as the clouds grew lighter and the rain stopped. It was still threatening, but a little patch of sunshine settled over the field. People returned and we worked all day in the sun.

Many years later Dad and Mom invited us to a picnic on July 4th at their home. I got up and it was almost a monsoon outside. I called Mom and asked if the party was still on because their house wasn’t big enough to have the party inside. She said, yes the party is still on. Your dad is outside mowing the lawn.

As we drove to their home it was raining hard. A few miles out I could see one donut hole in the dense clouds. Sun was streaming through it like the second coming. As we got closer I realized it was directly over Dad’s house, maybe a block in size. His house and those on every side were sunny. We ate, played games and were just done chatting when the first sprinkles hit our heads. We stood and gathered into the house as the deluge resumed.

I know that my Dad had unusual faith in this thing. Maybe his was a gift of the Spirit that few people have. But, I also know that he didn’t stop praying until he received an assurance that his request, his need or desire had been granted, or declined by Father. He just needed to know His will, and then he stopped praying and proceeded to act upon the outcome he had requested.  (from UnBlogmysoul, © July 2012, John M. Pontius, all rights reserved. Non-commercial reproduction permitted.)

     Where is my faith?  Striving to align my will with God's will brings true happiness.  As a ship crossing the ocean has to make several course corrections before it arrives at its final destination, so must I endure well as I continue to make daily course corrections in my life.  Life is a precious time for all of us.  God bless and take care!