Flooding and Prayer

My faith in God continues to grow stronger the more I humbly realize how little control I have over things and events.

There was a time when I believed that this equation was the best way to navigate life:
1. keep all the commandments
2. pray; thank God for my blessings
3. pray; ask God for blessings
4. if I stay obedient, I will receive the blessings I asked for

When I received blessings, in my mind, it was because God found me worthy and granted my requests when I asked him in prayer.

And when I didn't receive blessings I had asked for, it was because I was not worthy or it was because God had some other reason - perhaps there was something He wanted me to learn by not granting me what I had asked for.

My understanding of prayer has evolved over the years.  My perspective on prayer has gone from a "Christmas wish-list" concept and ask for many, many things, to one where I only ask for one thing, every single time.

If you are of the mindset of having a list of things to ask of God; anything from asking for help in finding your lost keys to asking God to cure a loved one who has cancer; then I would contend your prayers are answered maybe about 50% of the time.  You probably feel blessed when you receive what you asked for and you probably scratch your head and ask yourself "Is it I?" when you do not receive what you ask God for.

But what if I were to tell you there is a way to have 100% of your prayers answered, would you be interested?  I'll tell you further below how this is possible.  But first, we need to observe the world and universe.

In this first story, ask yourself if what Irene Corbett prayed for was righteous?  Was she worthy?  And lastly, why was she not saved.  And what about the missionaries?  Why were they spared and not she?

In the second story, which is a personal one, we learn of full-time missionaries serving in Guatemala.  They relayed their experience to me about how they were taught, constantly in Zone Conferences and one-on-one interviews with the Mission President, that if they strictly obeyed the rules, they would find people to teach and have success in baptizing souls.  They obeyed precisely; got up at 6am on the dot, and did everything by the book.  But their success the Mission President promised, was not realized.

The last story has to deal with the Houston Temple.  In 2015 and 2016, the Houston area saw heavy rains in May and April respectively.  The 2015 flooding was know as the Memorial Day flood and the 2016 flooding was known as the Tax Day floods.  Many members recounted stories of the temple being saved from the 2015 and 2016 floods and how it was a miracle.  But then August 2017 and Hurricane Harvey happened and the temple was flooded.  What did this mean?  Did God pass judgement on the Houston members?  Some members thought so, and they went so far as to say members were negligent in using the temple, so God took it away from them.  No one talked much about the temple flooding, but there were lots of positive stories of people travelling to Dallas and San Antonio to attend the temple in those cities.

Now back to my point about having 100% of your prayers answered.  There is only one thing you should pray for: to be content with God's will, no matter what happens.  Jesus taught this when he taught his disciples how to pray.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

We are to simply ask to have our will be aligned with God's.  It is God's will for us to live as long as He wants us to live and it is God's will that we live a life of virtue (forgive others, live with courage, justice, wisdom and temperance).

We are not to ask God to save our life or to protect it before we get on a boat.  We are not to ask for specific success in baptizing people.  We are not to ask that a building be saved from the elements.  All of these events are ultimately out of our control and are only known to God.  So instead of trying to change the will of God (events that happen in the world and universe), we ought to ask to be content and accepting of God's will - no matter what happens.  If you do this, and you do the work to be content with whatever happens and to be positive and happy (entirely within your power), then your prayers will be answered all the time.

To be clearer, let me cite a couple of Stoic philosophers:

Epictetus said, "Don't ask for things to happen as you would like them to, but wish them to happen as they actually do, and you will be all right." (Encheiridion 8)

Marcus Aurelius said of prayer, "A prayer of the Athenian people:
Rain, rain, dear Zeus: rain on the cornfields and the plains of Athens.
Prayer should be thus simple and open, or not at all." (Meditations 5.7).

Marcus also wrote, "Universe, your harmony is my harmony: nothing in your good time is too early or too late for me. Nature, all that your seasons bring is fruit to me: all comes from you, exists in you, returns to you." (Meditations 4.23)

If you pray simply, and if you align your desires to the will of God and His universal, cosmic, domain and all the events that happen therein, you will want exactly what God wants!  And what more could you possibly want than what God wants?  What God wants is good!

And so, this week, after spending three hours navigating the flooded roads in the sheets of rain on my commute home; and after watching the weather forecasts of more projected rain and knowing that our home flooded a year and a half ago; and knowing full well that our home could flood again - my sincerest prayer was not for God to protect my family and home from harm, but rather a prayer of "thy will be done."  Make no mistake about it - I want my family and home and possessions to be protected, but what I want more is to have my will be aligned with God's.  And so I'm not going to presume to ask or tell God how to do His job.  Rather, as a child, I ask Him to help me be content and to even love His will - no matter what.

If God wants me to be sick or to have cancer, then I want that too.

If God wants me to be wealthy and healthy, then I want that too.

If God wants my wife or children back, then I want that too.

If God wants me to flood (again), then I want that too.

I want what God wants.

Now, does that mean I sit back and don't act?  No!  I have my free will and I act within my span of control.  God granted me and everyone else, the ability to think and reason and act.  But as for events out of my control - that is the domain of God and I only want what He wants.

Willing Heart

After reading my cousin's wife's post about Helman 6:36, I wrote some additional commentary on my Book of Mormon Inspection blog ... you can read the whole entry here.

This is what I added:

Hardened vs. Willing Heart

This morning, I read a blog post by my cousin's wife about her thoughts on Helaman 6:36. She had some really good insight into this verse. So I read Helaman 6:36 as well as the preceding two verses.

Mormon contrasts the hardened Nephites with the willing Lamanites. Helaman 6:34-36 says, "And thus we see that the Nephites did begin to dwindle in unbelief, and grow in wickedness and abominations, while the Lamanites began to grow exceedingly in the knowledge of their God; yea, they did begin to keep his statutes and commandments, and to walk in truth and uprightness before him.

"And thus we see that the Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites, because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts.

"And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words."

She cross-referenced the word "willingness" to Exodus 25:2 and 2 Corinthians 8:12. Then she noted that "willingly" in Exodus 25:2 is cross-referenced to the Topical Guide entry of Initiative. She comments, "Do I take the initiative to ask and find out what the Lord wants, rather then wait till the last minute and decide to follow him when things get difficult, or complain and make excuses? I have experienced both scenarios and I can say that I have felt the blessings of taking the initiative and being willing. Not only do I experience great blessings but my faith is strengthened."

Regarding taking the initiative in keeping the commandment and following the will of God, there are two people who are great examples of keeping this counsel … President Henry B. Eyring and our current stake president Gary Riding.

When President Eyring was called to the Apostleship, there was an article in the September 1995 Ensign that talked about his life. There are two sentences I remember from this article. In talking about his father Matthew Eyring said, "My father has told us that there are two things that he prays for every night. The first is, ‘What blessings do I have that I am not aware of?’ and the second is, ‘Whom can I help?’ And,” Matthew adds, “Dad says there has never been a day that his prayers haven’t been answered.” (Gerald N. Lund, “Elder Henry B. Eyring: Molded by ‘Defining Influences’,” Ensign, Sep 1995, 10)

I am such a laid back person that I’m afraid I feel pretty content with what I have been blessed with. But after rereading part of that quote and also what my cousin's wife said, I wonder how many blessings the Lord has for my family and me that I have not asked for. In her post she says, "I think sometimes it is easy to say, "I don't want any more or I have all that I need." I have met many people who have said this. When we have a willing mind, then I believe our minds are enlightened and the power of the Spirit is able to expand our learning and knowledge."

The other person who I think takes the initiative is our stake president Gary Riding. I have heard him speak on more than one occasion of how he prays for guidance from the Lord. Like President Eyring, he specifically asks the Lord what he needs to do that day … who he can serve. Then he would proceed to give examples of how his prayers have been answered.

One example of his that I remember is when he was jogging through the park and came across a man who seemed to be in mental anguish. President Riding felt inspired to stop and talk to the man. I don't remember all the details, but I think the man was having some marital and other problems in his life. A missionary moment ensued and the man was later baptized. After President Riding finished his talk, the man stood up and testified how his life was changed because of President Riding's prayers and his willingness to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

So I guess the personal application here is that I need to be more earnest in my prayers, have a willing heart … be willing to accept the Lord's will and then do it, and then be diligent in seeking the Lord's will through daily and constant prayer. Then I need to recognize and heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost through the course of the day. And in order to recognize those promptings, I need to listen. In the July 2008 Ensign in another article about President Eyring, he teaches, "The key to hearing those answers and knowing that God has an interest in our lives, he says, is to develop a listening ear. “We’ve got to be quiet and listen. In my life, when I have failed to receive a clear feeling or have missed the voice of the Spirit, it is because I was too busy, too noisy inside, and too full of my own world.” (Robert D. Hales, “President Henry B. Eyring: Called of God,” Ensign, Jul 2008, 8–15)