How Do I Walk the Path Back to God?

Recently, I wrote about the existence of a path back to God that is taught by Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and in the temple endowment. (You can read about that here.) It is one thing to know the steps of the path, and another to actually walk the path. I want to share an approach to walking the path that has been very helpful to me in my experience. This approach may seem surprising at first. Yet, once you know that God wants to have you return to Him, of your own desire and without any compulsion, this approach makes a lot of sense. It is as simple as asking God to give you what He has offered, but will not force you to receive.

Here are the principles that comprise the path back (References are in the previous post.)

• Faith that comes by hearing the word of God, through the testimony of the servants of God
• Repentance
• Baptism, the channel and key by which the Holy Ghost will be administered
• The Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, by the principle of righteousness
• Knowledge of the doctrines of the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment
• The Doctrine of Election - being sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise
• Receive the Second Comforter - no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
• Jesus Christ will manifest the Father to us

It has been my experience that we can review our progress along the path by carefully considering each step of the path. For example, if I have heard, and recognized, the testimony of a true servant of God then I can act in faith on that testimony. Then, I repent. Repentance is ongoing as we learn how the things we do are in error, we change and come to know God better and feel the joy of our redemption through Jesus Christ (See Alma 37:8-9 and this past post about repentance). The next step is baptism, and I received that when I was eight years old. Receiving the Holy Ghost is supposed to follow baptism. If I am not sure about having received the Holy Ghost, then how can I proceed?

We can pray about it. And, I want to suggest an approach to prayer. The process that I am suggesting here is not something to be done lightly. When we approach the Lord in prayer it should be sincere. You might consider fasting, going to a special place (a favorite room in the home, a grove of trees, a place in the mountains, the temple, or anywhere that you know you can feel the Spirit), and pray with real intent. The conversation with the Lord includes prayerfully asking:

1. Have I received the Holy Ghost?
2. If not, will you give me the Holy Ghost?
3. If not yet, what lack I yet?

The first question is based upon the Savior's observation that the Lamanites "were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not." (3 Ne 9:29) it is possible that we can receive the Holy Ghost and not know it, or not recognize it as such. If we have received it, then when we ask this question the Lord will bring to our mind when and how it happened. If it has not yet happened, it may be that some study of the scriptures will be needed in order to receive the answer to this question. Thus, at first, the answer may be silence accompanied by hope that you will receive an answer in response to the next two questions. 

The second question is the one that exercises our agency to ask the Lord to give the gift that He has offered through His servants. If a gift, like the Holy Ghost, is offered through Joseph Smith, or the many other prophets in the scriptures, we can ask for it in faith. The answer to this question may be powerful, or it may be silence. Just listen and gratefully accept the response. If the response is silence, or a peaceful feeling of "not yet," don't be discouraged. By asking in faith you have set in motion the experiences that will ultimately lead to receiving, or recognizing that you have received, the Holy Ghost.

The third question, if asked with real intent, leads to learning. And, sometimes, what we learn requires significant change (repentance) in our lives. It is likely that after asking the third question we will need to spend some time searching and studying in the scriptures, the temple, and in continued prayer. I have found, though, that the Lord always answers if we are willing to learn and change. Usually our learning includes the observation that we do not merit the gift we seek, but He wants to give it anyway because of His love for us. We just need to obey the promptings that come as a result of asking this question, even when it is difficult. Remember, the rich young man who asked this question (see Matt 19:20) found the answer very challenging. We, too, may be stretched and challenged as the Lord asks us to sacrifice and offer our all to Him.

You may use different words when you pray. It will be your unique conversation with the Lord. It has been my experience, though, that this process has been an essential part of each step of my journey along this path. And, when it works for each of the early steps, it gives real confidence and faith that it will work for all of the steps.

The Lord has revealed through His servants the things that He would like to give to us. We can ask for those things with faith that we will receive. Because He honors the agency that He has given to us, He will not force these things upon us. But, when we ask and seek in this manner, He will give all that He has promised. Remember His process and promise in D&C 93:1 -

  1 VERILY, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;

We cannot just casually ask for gifts that the Lord wants to give. When we ask for gifts and then ask "what lack I yet?" we must be ready to act on what He tells us. The process involves repenting, coming to Christ, calling on His name and obeying his voice as He gives us commandments. When we do this we will be able to walk the path back to Him and, ultimately, see His face and know that He is.

"In the Name of Jesus Christ"

I was studying today and came across something interesting that gives some insight into what it means to do something "in the name of Jesus Christ." Section 42 of the D&C was given to Joseph Smith in Kirtland, Ohio in the presence of 12 elders. The first verse is very important to understand what it means to do something "in the name of" Jesus Christ. Here is the verse:

 1 HEARKEN, O ye elders of my achurch, who have assembled yourselves together in my name, even Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, the Savior of the world; inasmuch as ye believe on my name and keep my commandments.

This section is addressed to the elders of the church. They have assembled themselves together in His name. Notice what follows. The next phrase begins with "even".  Thus, what follows is a definition of His name. So, they are doing something in His name and the name is, "Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, the Savior of the world." Thus, when we do something in the name of Jesus, we should do it while remembering that He is the Christ (the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning the anointed one) and that He is the Son of the living God and that He is the Savior of the World. Also, this discussion could apply to anything that we do in His name.

The next phrase begins with "inasmuch as ..." The words "inasmuch as" mean "to the extent that ..." or "in proportion to the amount that ... " Thus, we do something in His name as long as, or to the extent that, we believe on His name and keep His commandments. Believing on His name means that we believe that He is the mortal Jesus, the Christ (the anointed one), the Son of the living God, and the Savior of the world. And, while believing those things we obey His commandments.

It is amazing how much information is in that first verse! What follows in the next several verses is even more interesting when you keep the details of this first verse in mind. In verse 4 it says, "I give unto you this first commandment, that ye shall go forth in my name, every one of you ... " So, the first commandment to obey is to go forth "in my name," which makes more sense when you remember what was taught in verse 1. And, what do you do when you go forth? Look at verses 6-7:

 6 And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God.
 7 And ye shall go forth baptizing with water, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

We are to go forth in the power of the Spirit of Christ, to declare His message and to baptize. There is a lot that is worth studying in these verses. What does it mean to work by the "power of my Spirit"? What is it to speak like unto angels of God? What does it mean for the kingdom to be at hand? These things are worth studying.