December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

etween her and her parents would be sporadic at best.
Her father was concerned that there would be times she
would need advice or comfort and he would not be there
to give it. He pondered on the many situations, emotions,
and needs she might encounter while away and then wrote
a number of letters covering each situation. These he
sealed in envelopes, labeling each one. When she left, she
took her father’s counsel and love with her. The scriptures
are like those letters. Our Father in Heaven has placed
within their pages many answers. They contain certain conclusions
and wisdom. They can direct us how to act. They
can settle many questions. In this way the scriptures fulfill
the Lord’s promise that “before they call, I will answer; and
while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24).
Responding to the Lord
One of the greatest lessons I have learned from the First
Vision is the need to act on the answers God gives us. The
Lord can shape and transform our lives when we are willing
to respond. But when He answers, will we believe? Can
we meet the challenges the answer may bring? Are we willing
to testify of the truths we receive? Will we follow the
Lord’s counsel? Our responses to these questions largely
determine the life-changing efficacy of our communication
with our Father in Heaven.
The Lord’s answer to young Joseph Smith put him on
the path that eventually led to Carthage, but the Lord
knew the future prophet would pay that price. In spite of
a lifetime of severe persecution, the Prophet Joseph Smith
“continued to affirm that [he] had seen a vision” (Joseph
Smith—History 1:27). He wrote: “Why does the world
think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had
seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and
I could not deny it” (Joseph Smith—History 1:25).
The Lord taught this principle to Oliver Cowdery when
he revealed: “Behold, I have manifested unto you, by my
Spirit in many instances, that the things which you have
written are true; wherefore you know that they are true.
“And if you know that they are true, behold, I give unto
you a commandment, that you rely upon the things which
are written” (D&C 18:2–3; emphasis added).
Our willingness to act with faith before the answer
comes helps to bring the desired assurances of our Father
in Heaven. The Lord once asked the brother of Jared,
“Believest thou the words which I shall speak?” When the
brother of Jared responded, “Yea, Lord, I know that thou
speakest the truth” (Ether 3:11–12), the Lord granted his
request.
We worship a personal God who is our Father. Let us
approach Him with the deepest respect, for as Isaiah
wrote, God is He “who hath measured the waters in the
hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span,
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a
balance” (Isaiah 40:12).
Yet this God of majesty is pleased when His children
individually and humbly approach Him “evening, and
morning, and at noon, . . . and cry aloud” (Psalm 55:17).
He delights in answering them, for “he heareth the prayer
of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29). ■
S. Michael Wilcox is a member of the Draper 16th Ward, Draper
Utah Stake.
HELPS FOR HOME EVENING
Invite family members to tell what they know about Joseph
Smith’s first prayer. Talk about possible answers to the two
questions in the second paragraph.
Use the section headings to introduce the main points of
this article. Ask family members to tell what they have learned
by experience about receiving answers to prayer.
Show a stone and some bread. Ask family members what
they think these objects have to do with prayer. Review the
author’s mission call story. How did he compare these objects
to prayer? Read Luke 11:11 and 2 Nephi 26:24 and share a
similar experience from your life.
ENSIGN DECEMBER 2004 27