[pray for our nations, for our leaders]

As the world continues to be in commotion, I treasure wise words from wise people. I need these reminders. We all do.

"The Savior taught us to not limit who we pray for. He said, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

On the cross... He practiced what He taught when He prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Sincerely praying for those who may be considered our enemies demonstrates our belief that God can change our hearts and the hearts of others.

...Prayer will lift us and draw us together as individuals, as families... and as a world. Prayer will influence scientists and help them toward discoveries of vaccines and medications that will end this pandemic. Prayer will comfort those who have lost a loved one. It will guide us in knowing what to do for our own personal protection.

...How great is the power of prayer.

...Let us remember and appreciate the power of prayer."

M. Russell Ballard (an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

October 2020

You can listen to his talk here: link to the talk

Prayer has been a source of strength and inspiration to me. If you have let your faith falter or have forgotten how to communicate with your Father in Heaven, I invite you to exercise some faith and see for yourself the power of a sincere, honest, from the heart prayer. I promise you that God listens and He will communicate with you in return. Finding quiet times to listen, searching the scriptures, doing good for others will aid in hearing that communication. Love you all!

 

{being consecrated}

We need to consecrate ourselves and not be casual members of the Church.

Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1992:

"Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!"

"But is being consecrated and "swallowed up" a threat to our individuality? No! Heavenly Father is only asking us to lose the old self in order to find the new and the real self. It is not a question of losing our identity but of finding our true identity!"

"Increased consecration is not so much a demand for more hours of Church work as it is for more awareness of Whose work this really is!"

"Only when things begin to come into focus "with an eye single" do we see "things as they really are"! What a view awaits!"

"Becoming more like Jesus in thought and behavior is not grinding and repressing, but emancipating and discovering!"

"More members need the immense relief and peace which can come from being "settled" without which those individuals will be like "the troubled sea, when it cannot rest."

"There is another special reason to become settled: we will live in a time in which "all things shall be in commotion." The uncertainties, upheavals, and topsy-truviness of today's world will be such that those who vacillate and equivocate will be tossed about by severe turbulence."

"Brothers and sisters, whatever we embrace instead of Jesus and His work will keep us from qualifying to enter His kingdom and therefore from being embraced by Him. May we be settled and prepare now for that marvelous moment then..."

orthodoxy = the quality or state of being orthodox

orthodox = confirming to established doctrine esp. in religion

synonyms: regular, formal

antonyms: casual, informal, irregular

emancipate = to free from restraint, control, or the power of another

= to free from bondage

vacillate = to sway through lack of dquilibrium, fluctuate, to waver in mind, will, or feeling, hesitate in choice of opinions or courses

equivocate = to avoid committing oneself in what one says