Learning to Seek His Will

This week's conceptualization comes straight out of the August First Presidency Message, found in the Ensign magazine. Written by President Henry B. Eyring, it outlines the importance of teaching our children to pray so that God may "Write Upon Our Hearts." President Eyring explains that this comes through sincerely praying, serving, and seeking God's will over our own as a practice. As I to date have no children, I decided to apply the article in the form of attributes that I personally should attain and develop. Of these, I was struck the most by the admonition to seek God's will through prayer, understanding that those things we want may not necessarily be on Heavenly Father's docket for us.

Such a thing takes might preparation. Seeking Heavenly Father's will involves having a heart open to Him, which comes from experience of seeing His will in our lives, which experience comes from exercising faith. We need to be willing to let Him in, as President Eyring explained through quoting George Q. Cannon:

“I should enter that assembly with my mind entirely free from all influence that would prevent the operation of the Spirit of God upon me. I should go in a prayerful spirit, asking God to write upon my heart His will; not with my own will already prepared, and determined to carry out my will … , regardless of everyone else’s views. If I were to go, and all the rest were to go, with this spirit, then the Spirit of God would be felt in our midst, and that which we would decide upon would be the mind and will of God, because God would reveal it to us. We would see light in the direction where we should go, and we would behold darkness in the direction we should not go.”

I echo President Cannon and Eyring's words. I know that sometimes it seems that the path ahead is treacherous and rocky, and often times it is, but as we seek to ask the Lord's will, we will see further than the forest thicket, the impenetrable canyon wall, or the boundless sea. I believe that if we seek the Lord's will, He will write upon our hearts, and therefore have no need to fear.

Have a Great Week!!