Faith

Talks

Quotes

The fourth article of faith specifies that we must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  But believing in Jesus’ identity as the Christ is only the first half of it.  The other half is believing in his ability, in his power to cleanse and to save – to make unworthy sons and daughters worthy.  Not only must we believe that he is who he says he is, we must also believe that he can do what he says he can do. -Stephen Robinson Believing Christ pg 9.

You can have fear or you can have faith. – Stanley Williams

Joseph Smith said, “Where doubt and uncertainty are, there faith is not, nor can it be.  For doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time, so that persons whose minds are under doubts and fears cannot have unshaken confidence, and where unshaken confidence is not, there faith is weak.”  (Lectures on Faith.)

It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.”  – Gordon B. Hinckley

Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness.  It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God’s laws the greater will be the endowment of faith. – Elder Bruce R. McConkie 

Darkness cannot be taken into a lighted room anymore than doubt can be created in the heart where faith exists.  (Delbert L. Stapley CR Apr. 1970 p. 47, col. 2)

Replace worry with hope – Don’t let yesterday hold tomorrow hostage. – Neal A. Maxwell

If you pray, why worry, if you worry, why pray?  – Rita Rashad

Sure, it takes a lot of courage

To put things in God’s hands –

To give ourselves completely,

Our lives, our hopes, our plans;

To follow where he leads us

And make his will our own –  

But all it takes is foolishness

To go the way alone.

– Kline

Anything that erodes humility and submissiveness is a threat to faith – Richard C. Edgley

Keep a diary of faith-promoting experiencesso that during future hard times you can look back and bear testimony to yourself of God’s love.

To have faith:

1 – Know God lives

2 – Know Him, attributes, character

3 – Make sure our lives reflect His teachings and are harmonious with his will

 – Joseph Smith

Faith is based on truth and is preceded by knowledge.  You can’t have faith in infant baptism because it isn’t a true principle. 

Faith is greater than belief.  Even devils believe in Christ and have a knowledge of him.

Disappointments and the realities of life can weaken your faith and even make you question earlier miracles in your life.

All that I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all that I have not seen. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Shortly after I was called as a General Authority, I went to Elder Harold B. Lee for counsel. He listened very carefully to my problem and suggested that I see President David O. McKay. President McKay counseled me as to the direction I should go. I was very willing to be obedient but saw no way possible for me to do as he counseled me to do.

“I returned to Elder Lee and told him that I saw no way to move in the direction I was counseled to go. He said, ‘The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning.’ I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: ‘You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you.’ – Boyd K. Packer

Your beliefs don’t matter until their truthfulness or falsehood has eternal consequences. 

I prayed and asked the Lord to give me the schedule for the next ten years of my life so I could write it in my daily planner.

Faith in Greek means trust or confidence.  Faith is trust and confidence that God will bless our obedience.

The reason God wants us to love him is that we attach ourselves to things we treasure. 

Faith circle is inside of hope circle.  Each time you increase faith, you increase hope.

When there’s a will, there’s a way

When it’s HIS will, there’s a way

If it’s not his will, there may not be a way

Faith is not trying to do something regardless of the evidence.

Faith is daring to do something regardless of the consequences. – Sherwood Eddy

In the world today there is so much sadness, uncertainty, pessimism, and fear. We live in a time of turmoil. Earthquakes and tsunamis wreak devastation, governments collapse, economic stresses are severe, the family is under attack, and divorce rates are rising. We have great cause for concern. But we do not need to let our fears displace our faith. We can combat those fears by strengthening our faith. (Nelson, April 2011)

Because of the conflicts and challenges we face in today’s world, I wish to suggest a single choice—a choice of peace and protection and a choice that is appropriate for all. That choice is faith. Be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort. It does not come as the dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, “Come unto me”  and “Knock, and it shall be [given] you” These are action verbs—come, knock. They are choices. So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism. (Edgley, April 2011)

D&C 6:36 Look unto me in every thought.  Doubt Not.  Fear not.

Psalms 46.10 Be still and know that I am God

An engineer of a huge freight train was asked how he dared speed through the night with such a limited view of the track ahead.  Well, he said “my headlamp lights the track for 200 yards, so I just travel that 200 yards with the faith that when I get to the end of it I’ll see the next 200 yards.

Imagine yourself a living house.  God comes in to rebuild that house.  At first, perhaps you can understand what He is doing.  He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense.

What on earth is he up to?

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of; throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.

You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace.

C. S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity

Russel M. Nelson has said, “Many blessings will be yours in this life, among your children and grandchildren. You faithful Saints do not have to fight life’s battles alone. Think of that! The Lord declared, “I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.”

 Later came this promise to His faithful people: “I, the Lord, would fight their battles, and their children’s battles, and their children’s children’s, … to the third and fourth generation.”

Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.  Like weeds in a garden.

The bumblebee can’t fly.  By all the laws of aerodynamics, it’s body is too bulky for its wings; but the bumblebee doesn’t know it, so it flies.

Faith is not knowing what the future holds, but who holds the future.

5 loaves and 2 fishes – needed to feed 5,000 people.  Christ said “Give it to me.”  Disciples handed them to Christ and asked him to bless them.  He made it be enough.  When we have limited talents and abilities, and we are asked to do a task or fill a position, we hand whatever we have to the Lord and ask him to “bless it.”  It will always be enough.

When you fear you are drowning in life’s situations….don’t worry….your Life Guard walks on water.

Faith, to be faith, must center around something that is not known.  Faith…must go beyond that for which there is confirming evidence.   Faith…..must go into the unknown.  Faith…must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness.  If everything has to be known, if everything has to be explained, if everything has to be certified, then there is no need for faith. 

Richard C. Edgely said, “There is much that I do not know. I do not know the details of the organization of matter into the beautiful world we live in. I do not understand the intricacies of the Atonement, how the Savior’s sacrifice can cleanse all repentant people, or how the Savior could suffer “the pain of all men.”  I do not know where the city of Zarahemla was, as referred to in the Book of Mormon. I do not know why my beliefs sometimes conflict with assumed scientific or secular knowledge. Perhaps these are matters our Father in Heaven described as the “mysteries … of heaven” that will be revealed at a later date.

But while I don’t know everything, I know the important. I know the plain and simple gospel truths that lead to salvation and exaltation. I know that the Savior did suffer the pain of all men and that all repentant people can be cleansed from sin. And what I don’t know or don’t completely understand, with the powerful aid of my faith, I bridge the gap and move on, partaking of the promises and blessings of the gospel. And then, as Alma teaches, our faith brings us to a perfect knowledge. By moving forward into the unknown, armed only with hope and desire, we show evidence of our faith and our devotion to the Lord.”

There was once a wise China man.  He owned a beautiful black stallion.  One day his horse ran away and his neighbor said, “I am so sorry – that is too bad that your horse has run away.”  The wise China man replied, “How do you know that it is bad?  About two weeks later the stallion returned and 15 mares followed him home.  His neighbor said, “That is so good, your horse has returned and brought you many horses that you didn’t have to pay for.  Again the wise China man said, “How do you know that is good?”  Shortly after that, his son was trying to train the mares and he broke his leg while doing that.  Again, the neighbor said, “That is too bad that your son has a broken leg,” and the wise china man replied, “How do you know that it so bad?”  The country then went to war and his son did not have to go because he had a broken leg.

(Told by Bishop Pulsifer at Ward Conference March 29, 2015 in St. George, Utah)

We need to trust God and his plan for our lives.

Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith. Elisabeth Elliot

We’ve been commanded to ask “with real intent.”  What does that mean?  It doesn’t refer to intensity.  It refers to the fact that we “intend” to follow through and act on the will of the Lord we receive.”

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel.  Why is it so important?  Elder A. Theodore Tuttle said, “We’re not going to survive in this world, temporally or spiritually, without increased faith in the Lord – and I don’t mean a positive mental attitude – I mean down right solid faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” (156 Semi annual LDS Conference)

“Some people pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith.” (Russell M. Nelson, “Face the Future with Faith”, April 2011)

Faith without works is dead.  Works without faith are dead.

Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness.  It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God’s laws the greater will be the endowment of faith. – Elder Bruce R. McConkie. 

There are two kinds of faith.  One of them functions ordinarily in the life of every soul.  It is the kind of faith born by experience; it gives us certainty that a new day will dawn, that spring will come, that growth will take place. It is the kind of faith that relates us with confidence to that which is scheduled to happen.

There is another kind of faith, rare indeed.  This is the kind of faith that causes things to happen.  It is unyielding, and it calls forth things that otherwise would not be.  It is the kind of faith that moves people.  It is the kind of faith that sometimes moves things. (Sunday School manual Alma 32:1-16 Lesson 28)

Richard Edgely said, “When the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast a devil out as they had just witnessed the Savior do, Jesus answered, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove.” I have never witnessed the removal of an actual mountain. But because of faith I have seen a mountain of doubt and despair removed and replaced with hope and optimism. Because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of sin replaced with repentance and forgiveness. And because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of pain replaced with peace, hope, and gratitude. Yes, I have seen mountains removed.

“I don’t have any trouble having faith in the Lord.  But sometimes I have a hard time having faith in myself.”

The powers of heaven compensate for human weakness.  If you learn to call down the powers of heaven, your limitations become insignificant.  (Grant Von Harrison, Drawing on the Powers of Heaven)

Stephen Robinson in his book Believing Christ  said, “It is not enough to believe that Jesus Christ is who he said he is.  You must believe that he can do what he says he can do.”

Matthew 6:28-34 “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you , That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, o ye of little faith?  There fore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, wherewithal shall we be clothed?……for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “The Savior said, “peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you…Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John14:27) I submit to you, that may be one of the Savior’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Later-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord’s merciful heart.  I can tell you this as a parent; as concerned as I would be if somewhere in their lives one of my children were seriously troubled or unhappy or disobedient, nevertheless I would be infinitely more devastated if I felt that at such a time that child could not trust me to help or thought his or her interest was unimportant to me or unsafe in my care.  In that same spirit, I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Savior of the world when he finds that his people do not feel confident in his care or secure in his hands or trust in his commandments.” (Come unto Me,” Ensign, Apr. 1998, 19)

Our beloved President Thomas S. Manson has given us his prophetic witness. He said: “I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments.”

President Monson continued: “My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.”