Today I woke up planning to help my son and his wife move to a new apartment. I checked the weather forecast and found that it would likely rain in the afternoon while we would be moving their things. So, in my morning prayer I asked if God would allow the rain to hold off until after the move. I know that there are many reasons that it rains. In fact, I figured there might even be someone praying for rain. But, I felt good about asking for this and did so, believing that if it were consistent with God's will, He could do this thing. Then, it didn't rain while we moved their belongings. It rained right after we were done. It is windy and raining outside right now. But, it did not rain during the time we were moving when rain was forecast. Was my prayer answered?
I had a wonderful conversation with a colleague at work today about faith. He has been studying faith and came to a very insightful conclusion. Faith is believing evidence that is consistent with our doctrine, even when that evidence may also be consistent with other possible explanations. For example, maybe the lack of rain was an answer to my prayer. After all, God has said, "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you (3 Ne 18:20)." It could also be the case that the weather forecast was wrong, that the wind blew in a different direction than it might have, or that we were just lucky. Faith involves believing that my prayer was answered even though there are other plausible explanations.
Let me relate two scriptures about the first recorded prayers of two great prophets. First, consider the brother of Jared. He eventually saw Jesus Christ and saw a vision of all of earth's history. Few people have had the faith that he had. Yet, in the first prayer he offered that we have a record of, he asked that the language of he and his brother and their families might not be confounded (see Ether 1:34). In the next verse we find out how he knew that his prayer had been answered. "And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded (Ether 1:35)." There was no voice from heaven, no visit from an angel, nothing but the observation that the family did not have their language confounded. He got what he asked for, and that was the answer to his prayer.
Second, consider the first recorded prayer of Nephi. Nephi also saw the vision of all of God's dealings with His children through all time. Nephi saw the Savior, Jesus Christ. Nephi said the famous words, "I will go and do ... (see 1 Nephi 3:7). Yet, before all of those things happened, the first prayer that he reports was in regards to his father's decision to leave Jerusalem. Lehi heard the prophets in Jerusalem preach repentance. He prayed about that message and received his own vision and calling as a prophet. He cried repentance in Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem tried to kill him for his efforts. So, he says to his family that they are leaving everything behind and going into the wilderness. Nephi cried to the Lord for understanding. And, as a result Nephi reports that, "[the Lord] did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers (1 Nephi 2:16)." The answer to Nephi's prayer was a softened heart and a choice to believe his father's words.
Both of these remarkable prophets who exemplify great faith began their recorded experience with prayer by trusting the simple answers they received, even though other reasons for what happened may have been equally plausible. The brother of Jared trusted that when the thing he prayed for actually happened that it was an answer from God. Nephi trusted the feeling of a softened heart as an answer from God. That is the foundation of faith.
So, I got what I prayed for and I feel to believe in God. That is my faith for tonight. Now I am going to listen to the rain that is falling outside and go to sleep grateful for God's blessings.
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