Apr 12: Prayer

Note: I’ve been off this blog for a few months while moving to a new state. I am finally catching up a bit more. Visit my other blog, and my new website, to see what I’ve been up to in the way of blogging.

April 12 Sunday School, Prayer

This last week in Sunday School we had a great lesson on Prayer. We talked about a few different aspects of prayer, that I’d like to touch on again in this post.

Who can pray?

Mormons believe that anyone in the world can pray to God, and that God will hear their prayers. We believe that no matter what you call God, He will hear and listen to our needs. We also believe that, as Paul taught in the New Testament, the Spirit knows what we need and what we would pray for, even when we can’t find the words.

How do we pray?

Prayer is simple. So simple that it doesn’t really have any rules. That said, Mormons generally follow the outline that the Lord gave in one of his prayers to the Father. We start by addressing our Father in heaven. We acknowledge our desire for His will to be done, then thank him for the many blessings that He gives us, being as specific as our hearts would like. After that, we ask God for the things that we need, or that others need. We close our prayers in the name of Jesus Christ.

Why do we pray?

Mormon’s believe that we should pray always, in every part of our life, so that we might have the blessings of heaven while we’re here on this earth. This means that we’ll have the help we need to make it through the challenges of life. We pray for patience, safety, health, protection, or anything else we need. We believe that everyone can and should pray for these things, and pray as often as they can remember to.

My thoughts on prayer

We are here on earth for a purpose, and prayer is the way that we become more aware of that purpose. I feel a strong need for prayer in my life, because I know that I can’t do it alone. I realize that God is there to help me, if I will just ask.

Questions about prayer?

Do you have questions about prayer? Have you been feeling a desire to pray, but didn’t know how? I hope this post helps. If not, please let me know if you have more questions about prayer.

Nov 30 08: Facing the challenges of life

Today in our Sunday School class we talked about facing the challenges of life. The teacher illustrated the point with a funny manual that talked about “how to survive an avalanche”, and “how to survive going over a waterfall”. The point he was trying to make is that we need to understand and be prepared for surviving the spiritual challenges of everyday life.

The class put their heads together and came up with a list of common challenges that face families and individuals in today’s world. Here’s a rough list of what I remember us coming up with:

Common Spiritual Challenges Facing Families and Individuals

• Despair, Fear, Uncertainty
• Discouragement
• Shame
• Pride
• Addiction
• Loneliness

The list was longer, but I can’t remember them all. People face a whole list of challenges every day. One class member talked about the difficulty of being laid off from work, another talked about struggles with feeling disappointed with the type of work he was able to get, and wished he had done more with life.

The point was, we all have struggles, and we all have to overcome them. We talked about a scripture from the New Testament, about “putting on the armor of God”…. From the KJV version, quoting Eph. 6:11

Put on the whole ^aarmour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we ^awrestle not ^bagainst ^cflesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the ^drulers of the ^edarkness of this world, against spiritual ^fwickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins ^agirt about with ^btruth, and having on the ^cbreastplate of ^drighteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of ^apeace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of ^afaith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery ^bdarts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of ^asalvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 ^aPraying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all ^bperseverance and supplication for all saints;

These are some great scriptures. We need to remember each day that God did not leave us alone here on earth. We can fall back on Him for our support, and he has given us many tools to work with, such as his spirit, prayer, and His holy word.

Back after moving

I am back to blogging after an interstate move…

This past week at Church we talked about a few things. Duringt he main meeting, Sacrament Meeting, we talked about thankfulness, and having a sense of humor. I personally believe that having a good sense of humor through life can make all the difference, no matter what your circumstances are.

very life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result.

That’s a quote from a talk (or sermon) by Joseph B Wirthlin, available online here.

During our second meeting, Sunday School, we talked about preparing ourselves with the right spiritual “equipment”, just like we would prepare for anything else. The specific example or comparison they gave was “what would you need to be prepared for sailing”… obviously, for sailing you need certain things, and everything has a purpose. The sail and rudder help move you, and keep you going in the right direction. The anchor helps keep you in place when you need to stay firm. All of these examples can be linked to spiritual things as well. Our faith in God and Jesus Christ can be an anchor, but faith is also a sail, which helps you move forward.

In my third class we talked about angels. In the Mormon church, we believe that angels can be heavenly beings, but they can also be people right here among us. In fact, any of us can act as an “angel”, when God moves us through his Holy Spirit to do good for His purposes here on earth. I think the good Samaritan is an example of this… when we help other people, we are really doing what God needs to be done on earth, which puts us in the category of an Angel here on earth.

The Primary Program

An important part of Sunday School in the Mormon church is the “Primary” program. The Primary classes are for children, and are designed to introduce the principles of faith, charity, and other christian principles in a way that is easy for children to understand. The Primary program is for children age 3-11, with large group classes as well as classes split up by age.

During the large group part of the Primary meeting, children from several of the age ranges meet together to sing children’s hymns and have a Gospel lesson. One great thing about these group meetings is that the children get to be involved! They get to come to the front and read scriptures, say prayers, and even celebrate birthdays by singing to the children who have recently gained another year (a big accomplishment when you’re small!)

In addition to the group meeting, there are classes designed for each age group. The younger kids might have snack time and various activities, since they are busier, and the older kids might have a simple lesson which would include some reading, games and other media (movies, pictures, etc). All of the lessons and activities are focused on helping the children learn about Christ and our purpose here on earth.

For me, Primary is more than just spiritual learning. It is an opportunity for Children to learn to interact well with others, and treat them as they would like to be treated. It is also an opportunity to learn about public speaking and participation, and other real-world lessons that help the kids to be more ready to be active in their communities, schools and nations.

Aug 17 Meeting: thoughts on wars in history

This past Sunday we talked a bit about war. It is not a pleasant subject, but it is a fact of life in our day and age, so it is something we have to consider from a spiritual standpoint to understand. Here is what the LDS book Gospel Principles says on the subject:

War

The Lord has said that in the last days there will be “wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them” (D&C 45:26). As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are a people of peace. We follow the Savior, who is the Prince of Peace. We look forward to His millennial reign, when wars will end and peace will be restored to the earth (see Isaiah 2:4). However, we recognize that in this world, government leaders sometimes send military troops to war to defend their nations and ideals.

Here is the link for the source: Gospel Principles

Also, President Hinckley, who recently passed away, had this to day about war:

there are times and circumstances when nations are justified, in fact have an obligation, to fight for family, for liberty, and against tyranny, threat, and oppression.

When all is said and done, we of this Church are people of peace. We are followers of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Prince of Peace. But even He said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34).

Here is the link for the source: War and Peace

In our discussion on Sunday, I think the main thing we talked about was whether or not there was ever a justification for war. Of course, as read in the quotes above, war is sometimes necessary to attain peace and fight for freedom. Our freedom is far to important not to protect.

Another thing we talked about is the concept that there is a spiritual war of principles going on all the time, which we must fight against personally. The idea there is that we have choices to make in this life (and beyond), and there are powers that want us to make our choice in one way or another. Those powers are constantly fighting against each other to get people to make their choice, for good or for evil.

For me personally, the pain and suffering of war makes it almost unbearable. The amount of loss in people’s lives is astounding, and I wish it did not have to happen. Even so, and even if I was called upon to give my own life, I would always support fighting for a righteous cause, such as maintaining my liberties, protecting my family, and defending my country.

Aug 10 Meeting: God’s plan for us

In my Sunday School class this past week we talked about God’s plan of happiness for us. There’s a great link on mormon.org that summarizes it very simply:

Subject: God’s Plan of Salvation

Essentially, when Mormon’s talk about “God’s Plan”, they’re referring to the answers the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us to the following questions:

1. Where did we come from?
2. Why are we here?
3. Where do we go after this life?

These are very basic questions that most people ask themselves at one point or another. In our class on Sunday, we talked about some simple answers to these questions.

First, “where did we come from?” Mormons believe that we each lived with our Heavenly Father (God) before this life in what we call a “Pre-mortal” existence. We were spirit children of our Heavenly Father, and we lived with him.

He sent us to earth to obtain physical bodies, which were created in His image, so that in the end we could become more like him. The question “why are we here?” is answered simply by the belief that we are here on this earth to gain physical bodies and be tested to see if we will be faithful to God’s commandments.

“Where do we go after this life?” This is a question that many who have had to deal with the loss of a loved one face. Mormons believe in a full and complete life after death, where we will live with our loved ones as eternal families.

In our class, we focused on the “Why are we here?” aspect. I think that during our life on Earth, the most pressing thought that we have to deal with each and every day is “Why are we here?”, and “what do we need to do while we are here?’

To me, the Gospel of Jesus Christ addresses the “Why are we here?” question very well. If you follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, then you know that we are to “love our neighbor”, and do many other things that build us up personally in Charity and Love, while at the same time helping others.

I guess for me, the summary would be: “We are here to learn to be more like God; we do this by following the example of Jesus Christ.”

Aug 3 Meeting: On the topic of divorce

This past Sunday in one of my church meetings we talked about divorce. Statistically, 2/3 of marriages end in divorce, and 1/2 of marriages in the mormon church end in divorce. What alarming numbers! Growing up in a home with a divorced mother, this discussion hits home for me.

We talked about the reasons people get divorced versus the reasons people stay together. We also talked about the reasons people get married in the first place. In the Mormon church, we believe what many Christians and others believe, that marriage is approved of by God. We also believe that a married man and woman are best suited to bring up children and teach them how to live their life the best way possible.

In my particular parish / assembly, we have two members who are policemen. They talked about all of the family problems that they witness during the course of their work. I felt like out of the whole class, they had a real understanding of the pain that people encounter when they have to deal with divorce.

The best part of the discussion was the focus on why couples stay together. Of course, marriage is always hard, but the important thing to realize is that you can work on it, and help each other through the hard times. There are situations, of course, where divorce might be best (abuse, etc), but for most couples, divorce isn’t really the route that will lead to happiness. So many of the most common reasons for divorce can be worked on with counseling and determination: money problems, poor communication, etc.

For me personally, I feel that couples should work as hard as they can to love each other, and have charity toward one another. As they do this, the couple will grow together, and the individuals will become more Christ-like.

An ongoing blog about mormon church meetings

I have had a tremendous response to my recent blog about what a mormon church meeting is like. Certainly, people are curious about what Mormons believe, and how they worship on Sunday.

We’re Christians, and our church meetings are similar to other Christian church meetings I’ve attended. This blog will be an ongoing log of my own observations of what we talk about and teach during our church meetings each Sunday.

Please feel free to visit my other blogs for more information on Mormonism:

Jozhaus.wordpress.com – Questions about Mormonism

mormonheadlines.blogspot.com – Mormons in the News

And of course, the best source for information about the Mormon church is their official websites:

lds.org

mormon.org