It is always wonderful to gather for devotional. I am grateful to have the opportunity and responsibility to speak to you in this setting. It truly is a humbling experience and I have sought the direction of the Holy Ghost in my preparation. I would also invite you to pray for the Holy Ghost's influence to be with us today, that we might be edified by what is said, and what is felt.
From the time that I was a student at Ricks College until now, I have attended many devotionals in this building. Other than the number of students and the need to broadcast to other buildings, not too much has changed over the years. In the old days when I was a student, we would come to devotional, save seats for friends and roommates and hope that our family home evening sisters would sit by us. Although that was many years ago, I remember clearly sitting where you are sitting. I also remember that occasionally my mind wandered and I would think about what I would teach if I was ever given the assignment to be the devotional speaker. I certainly was not aspiring to ever be the speaker and as I sat there where you are sitting, I certainly did not believe that me standing behind this podium speaking to you would ever be a reality. However, I believe God knew it could happen and that He guided the circumstances and gave me opportunities to prepare for this experience and to perform this service.
Just as I did not anticipate the assignment that I have received today, we seldom anticipate, when we are young, the Church assignments that we will be asked to fulfill. I doubt most bishops, relief society presidents, stake presidents, young women presidents or even general authorities expected to be filling these roles when they were twenty years old. Having said that, I believe God does have callings and assignments in mind for each of his children. Much of what God has in mind are experiences that you are already aware of and fully expect to accomplish, such as serving a fulltime mission, marrying in the temple, and having a family. In many cases however, He has assignments in mind for you that you, at this point in your life, can hardly imagine that you would, or could, ever be capable of fulfilling. Someday it could be you standing behind this podium. I hope you realize that He has much for you to do.
The key to accomplishing what God would have you do in this life is to begin to prepare now, not with an attitude of aspiring to great heights in the Kingdom, but with the spirit of desiring to be ready to be an instrument in his hands regardless of what it is that He asks of you. My objective today is to invite you to prepare now for the service that God has in mind for you to perform.
Although each individual has specifically tailored missions, in the gospel the process of preparing to fulfill these missions, and becoming instruments in God's hands, does not require that we know the specifics of all that God has in mind for us. The process of preparing to be a sunbeam teacher or a seventy is very similar; in fact from the perspective of a college-age student it is essentially identical. This process requires a motivation based upon faith that the Lord needs you. This process requires looking forward with an "eye of faith" to be ready to serve whenever and wherever you are needed. As you prepare to serve, there are four principles I invite you to incorporate into your life, or to incorporate more deeply into your life, that I feel are essential to your preparation.
First, Pray Frequently and Fervently
I am confident that the vast majority here are in the habit of praying regularly. However, I am not as confident that, for the majority, this regular prayer includes night and morning prayer. Prayer is our opportunity to maintain a constant connection with our Father in Heaven. Are you making the time and taking the time to maintain this connection? Alma encouraged us to pray about everything in our lives.[1] Christ invited, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."[2] It may be difficult to be perfect in all aspects of prayer, but there is one aspect of prayer that I know we can perform to perfection right now and for the rest of our lives. Each of us can be perfect in this so I am going to invite you to be perfect, in this one thing.
Here's the invitation: I invite you to never go a day, for the rest of your life, without saying a personal, kneeling morning and evening prayer. You can be perfect in doing this one thing. If you are, I am confident you will receive great blessings because of it. To be successful in the short term, you may need to take special measures to remind yourself. For instance, you may need to place the traditional big rock, or the carpet square stenciled with the word prayer that you made at a primary activity day, next to your bed for a prayer reminder when you crawl in and out of bed. Do whatever it takes to start and end every day with personal, kneeling prayer.
President Henry B. Eyring taught,
"...it is clear how often we should speak to God: regularly in words, continually in feelings. When the Savior appeared among the people on this continent, after his resurrection, he taught them how to pray. He used the words, "Pray always." That doesn't mean now and then. It doesn't mean to pray only when you feel like it. Listen to what he said to them:
'Therefore blessed are ye if ye shall keep my commandments, which the Father hath commanded me that I should give unto you.'Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him.'And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you.' [3]
"Now, you and I need to listen with great care. When you heard the scripture I just recited, you heard the words of Christ. I testify that is true. Jesus Christ speaks the words of the Father. You can read the scriptures, listen, and then hear God's answers to you."[4]
Please heed Christ's counsel to "pray always."
As you pray frequently, also make the effort to pray fervently. From personal experience, we all know that it is possible to talk to someone without actually having a conversation with that person. Likewise, it is possible to say our prayers without really praying. If we pray just to pray, or pray without listening for an answer, there is room for improvement, and we should make efforts to improve. Fervent prayer is communication with our Father. Communication takes effort. When we fervently pray, we share our feelings and perspective with our Father and seek his direction in aligning our life and our will with his purposes for us.
Now back to the theme of my talk, in the process of preparing to serve God, prayer is critical. Satan and his servants will do all that is within their power to cause you to stumble. When we stumble spiritually, we limit our ability to serve God. Prayer is essential in fortifying your life against the temptations of the adversary. There are many scriptures, such as the two I will share, that illustrate this principle.
"Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work."[5]
"...humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit."[6]
I am convinced that one of the most important elements of finding strength to conqueror Satan, and resist his temptations, is sincere prayer.
Preparing to serve God requires that we develop the ability to communicate with Him through prayer.
Study the Scriptures
My second invitation is to place a greater emphasis upon scripture study.
For as long as I can remember, I have always been a daily scripture reader. I believe that there is strength in reading the scriptures daily and I believe I have been blessed for my efforts. I hope all of you are also daily scripture readers. However, the true power of the scriptures comes from searching and pondering. During the periods in my life when I have truly studied, not just read, the scriptures, I have been truly blessed by the scriptures. Nephi invites us to, "feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."[7] Are you "feasting" on the "words of Christ" that are written in the scriptures, or is your scripture study more of an occasional snack?
Prophets of God receive inspiration facilitated by scripture study. Joseph Smith prayed in the grove that became sacred as a result of his pondering upon James 1:5. Pondering upon a scripture and subsequently receiving divine instruction was a pattern he followed throughout his life. Joseph F. Smith received the revelation that is now Doctrine and Covenants section 138 as he pondered upon the writings of Peter. Truly studying the scriptures can open the channels of revelation in our personal lives. To be effective servants of our Father in Heaven, we need the avenue of revelation that studying and pondering the scriptures provides.
To be effective servants of our Father in Heaven, we also need to obtain the knowledge that studying the scriptures provides. The scriptures contain true doctrine. In serving, you will need to be able to recognize false doctrine and teach true doctrine. Recall that Nehor was a false teacher who attempted to establish priestcrafts among the Nephites at the beginning of Alma's reign as chief judge.[8] Nehor's message is summarized in Alma 1:4 where it says,
"And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life."
It is evident that Nehor wanted the Nephites to believe that there was no sin, and therefore no eternal consequences for their actions. Many did believe Nehor's words, they even supported him financially. Why didn't these people recognize that Nehor was a fraud whose objective was to distort the word of God? The answer is that the people he deceived were not grounded upon the word of God.
Nehor's success ended when he met Gideon. Gideon confounded Nehor because he "admonished him with the words of God"[9] and "withstood him with the words of God."[10] Because of the power of Gideon's knowledge of the "words of God", Nehor's deception came to an end and, in fact, his life even came to end as he suffered an "ignominious death."[11]
You will all face Nehor like influences in your lives. In fact we all know, or know of, individuals today who accept and promote Nehor's doctrine, which is Satan's doctrine. Your ability to be like Gideon and to recognize and overcome these influences in your own life, and to assist others in doing the same, will rest largely on the knowledge and testimony that you gain through studying the scriptures.
To some, studying the scriptures and praying can seem like overly simplistic solutions to the difficult challenges that we face in life. Please don't underestimate the power of linking frequent fervent prayer and scripture study. Alma taught that "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass."[12]
Prayer and scripture study may seem like small and simple things but they are the lifeline to our Father in Heaven. President Howard W. Hunter put it this way,
"There may be so very much our Father in Heaven would like to give us--young, old, or middle-aged--if we would but seek his presence regularly through such avenues as scripture study and earnest prayer."[13]
Repent Regularly
My third invitation is to repent regularly.
Even when we make our best efforts to live the gospel, we fall short of perfection and have the need to regularly repent. If you don't think you have anything to repent of, you are kidding yourself. John said, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."[14]
I had an experience on my mission that reminded me of the importance of regular repentance. Toward the end of my mission, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy went to Hawaii, where I was serving. Although his primary purpose in going to Hawaii was not related to our Mission, he took a few hours one afternoon to teach a small group of missionaries. I was fortunate to be able to attend that meeting. He taught many things, but one principle stood out to me.
He made a comment that day that had an immediate impact on my understanding of my need for repentance. I remember him saying something like, "The greatest blessings I have received in my life are in proportion to the extent to which I have repented of my sins." When he said this, I was immediately humbled by the realization that I had spent close to two years teaching repentance without regularly analyzing my own life for those things that I needed to repent of. Perhaps I justified repenting less on my mission because, in many respects, I probably was more righteous during this time than I had ever been before my mission. I could have rationalized that I had less to repent of. However, I realized that day that if a general authority taught the principle of repentance by describing the importance of repentance in his life, I needed to reevaluate the application of repentance in my own life.
As I analyzed my life and began to repent of the seemingly small things I needed to repent of, I saw immediate miracles in my missionary service. At the time, I was serving in the mission office which made proselyting difficult. We did not have many opportunities to teach, but no sooner did I begin to apply repentance again in my life than a mother, who had committed to turn her life around, called and asked that we teach her unbaptized children. We also had an elementary school teacher, who was not a member of our Church, come to our office and asked that we spend an hour teaching his class the history of our Church. Unfortunately my mission ended shortly after I learned this powerful personal lesson on repentance.
My invitation is for you to evaluate your need for repentance now and throughout your life. The Lord has blessings in store for us that we will only be worthy to receive if we repent of our sins, both large and small.
Joseph Smith had an experience that illustrates this principle. You recall that at the time that Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith, Joseph was praying for forgiveness of his sins. In his own words Joseph said,
"I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me that I might know of my state and standing before him."[15]
As a result of his prayer, Moroni appeared to Joseph, Joseph was taught, and the Book of Mormon was unveiled. I do not think that it is a coincidence that Moroni was sent to Joseph on the night that Joseph sought forgiveness. I believe Joseph received this manifestation as he sought to be worthy through repentance. Consider that he was not seeking forgiveness for serious sins. In his own words,
"...no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company."[16]
It is important to note that Joseph was repenting of "levity" and association with "jovial company." Joseph's need for repentance was real even though his sins were relatively small. The blessings Joseph received as he repented of these seemingly insignificant sins were remarkable and continue to bless us even today.
Alma taught, "cast off your sins, and do not procrastinate the day of your repentance."[17] Regardless of the level of transgression, repentance is required when we sin. If the level of transgression requires that you involve your bishop, such as in the case of moral transgressions including the viewing of pornography, don't hesitate to take that step. Start the process of repenting now, the sooner you start, the sooner you will begin to realize the blessings. Remember that the blessings you receive will be proportionate to the level of your repentance. Don't prevent your Father in Heaven from blessing you with opportunities to serve and grow because you are overlooking current or past transgressions. God's promises are sure; when we repent he will forgive us.
"Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins--behold, he will confess them and forsake them."[18]
Now, back to the theme of my message, your Father in Heaven has much for you to do. Repenting sincerely and regularly will allow you to be worthy of the blessing of being an instrument in his hands.
Develop Charity
Finally, my fourth invitation for you is to seek to more fully develop charity in your life.
Without charity, you will fall short of fulfilling your mission in life. In reality, acting upon the first three invitations I have made today will mean nothing if we fail to act on the invitation to develop charity. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:1-2, 13:
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or as tinkling cymbal."
"And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."
"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said,
"The reason charity never fails and the reason charity is greater than even the most significant acts of goodness he cited is that charity, 'the pure love of Christ',[19] is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is attained through a succession of acts that result in a conversion. Charity is something one becomes."[20]
It is interesting that Elder Oaks has the perspective that, "Charity is something one becomes." Are you becoming charity? Is the pure love of Christ evident in your life?
Doctrine and Covenants 88:125 states, "Above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace."
Despite the emphasis that these and many other scriptures place on charity, I am not sure we give charity the attention it deserves. I believe that at times we treat charity as a characteristic that we either have or we do not have, as if some people have charity and others probably never will. Like any other trait or virtue, charity can and needs to be developed. As we pattern our lives after Christ, we need to seek to develop true charity. Having true charity is having the pure love of Christ. Having charity means putting others needs above our own. The Lord will expect charity in us. As we more fully develop this virtue, He will give us opportunities to more fully emulate charity in our service. "Above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle."[21]
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, now is the time to prepare to serve your Heavenly Father. I don't believe there is a better place or time than here and now to focus on this preparation. You are being blessed with opportunities to prepare, please do not procrastinate your preparation. You do have time to prepare, but you don't have forever to prepare. As Jacob said, "life passes away as if in a dream."[22] As Alma said, "this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."[23]
In the parable of the talents, the lord gave one servant five talents, one servant two talents, and one servant one talent, according to their ability, and took a long journey. The servant with five talents went to work and doubled his talents. Likewise the servant with two talents earned an additional two. The third servant thought it best to bury his one talent in a safe place. Upon the lord's return, the first two servants were praised for their faithfulness. On the other hand, the servant who had no more, or less, talents when the lord returned was harshly chastised and had his one talent taken away.[24]
Note that the lord did not compel the servants to multiply their talents. He simply gave them the opportunity and expected them to wisely apply their agency. Like the servants in the parable, each of us have been given "talents" and the Lord expects us to wisely apply our agency in multiplying these talents in his service. We will not be compelled in all things, but we will be held accountable when the Lord returns.
"For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward." "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness."[25]
Focus and effort are required to fulfill what we need to accomplish in our allotted time. As the "chosen generation", your potential is limitless. Realize, however, that reaching your potential is a duty and responsibility that will take work. All the potential energy in the world cannot propel a man to the moon until someone develops the process to constructively convert that potential energy to kinetic energy.
Start now to develop the process to unlock your full potential. As the "chosen generation", you actually have much to do. It may seem counter intuitive, but your success in completing your mission in life, even the big things you will be called upon to do, will rely upon how much focus you place on the "small and simple things" in the gospel and in your life.
When I was a student and sat where you are sitting, I do not think I realized the power in applying the basic principles I have taught today. I realize that what I have taught is not new to you. However, sometimes success in life results as much from more fully applying what we already know as it does from learning more than we already know. Sometimes we don't necessarily need to know more; sometimes we just need to more fully apply what we already know. There is an important difference between knowing, and acting upon what we know.
Please fully incorporate the principles we have discussed today into your life. Frequently and fervently approach your Father in Heaven in prayer, diligently study the scriptures, regularly and sincerely repent, even of the little sins, and do all that you can to develop and apply true charity. As you do these things, God will mold you into the instruments He needs you to be to fulfill his work, and in the process you will progress toward obtaining eternal life. The future is bright for those who are prepared to serve God.
We are so fortunate to be members of Christ's Church. Christ is our Savior; He is the perfect example of charity. Through Him we can obtain eternal life and return to our Father in Heaven. May we do all that we can to serve Him now, and prepare to more fully serve Him in the future. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes:
[1] Alma 34:17-27
[2] Matthew 7:7-8
[3] 3 Nephi 18:14-16
[4] Henry B. Eyring, "To Draw Closer to God," Ensign, May 1991, 65
[5] D&C 10:5
[6] Alma 13:28
[7] 2 Nephi 32:3
[8] Alma 1:4-9
[9] Alma 1:7
[10] Alma 1:9
[11] Alma 1:15
[12] Alma 37:6
[13] Howard W. Hunter, "Blessed from on High," Ensign, Nov. 1988, 59
[14] 1 John 1:8
[15] JSH 1:29
[16] JSH 1:28
[17] Alma 13: 27
[18] D&C 58:42-43
[19] Moroni 7:47
[20] Dallin H. Oaks, "The Challenge to Become," Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32-34
[21] D&C 88:125
[22] Jacob 7:26
[23] Alma 34:32
[24] Matthew 25:14-30
[25] D&C 58:27-28