He's There!

I just read a comment on a blog post of a friend of mine. The reader was sharing her ongoing doubts about her belief in God, our Heavenly Father. I wanted to give her a virtual hug and say the following:

He's absolutely there for you! He hears your prayers! He IS listening!

I acknowledge, it may not feel like anyone is out there in our grand and astonishing universe, but I assure you, our Heavenly Father is there. He is the father of everything. We are secured to our Heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus Christ—our eternal Savior! The precious Holy Ghost is the warm, comforting cloth that binds us to both of Them! Can my human mind comprehend all that entails? No, of course not, and I don't expect myself to be able to. However, I do expect my spirit to comprehend any experience the Holy Ghost sees fit to inspire me with. In return, I have to allow the Holy Ghost access to my soul, for if I have locked-up my spirit tightly, He can never fully open the windows of Heaven for me!

I have great faith in my spiritual abilities, as should everyone! We were spiritual beings before we were human beings. Spirituality is our native language!

Just like with anything else in life we try to accomplish or achieve, we must practice our spirituality on a daily basis, and prayer is the best way to start. Talking (praying) to our Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son, is the way we can be intimately and eternally connected to Him. We will truly understand what He wants for us if we will simply open that line of heavenly communication! :) Reading our scriptures, following the commandments, obeying the Word of Wisdom, attending church, serving others, attending the temple, and receiving priesthood blessings are also amazing avenues to work on our spirituality.

When we ignore those opportunities to grow spiritually and become connected with Heaven, we are effectively pulling ourselves away from eternity and all of the miraculous and marvelous possibilities it presents!

Will we have grand spiritual experiences every minute of every day? Well, probably not—although I'm not writing off that possibility entirely. I mean, how great of a payback would that be for us to experience spiritual greatness on a daily basis?! I think it's absolutely possible! And when we do what Heavenly Father desires of us, we should be able to expect blessings and angelic help! But we shouldn't feel badly if we think those spiritual blessings haven't come to us, for they might have simply come in a different way than we expected. Besides, one of the biggest reasons we're here on Earth is to prove ourselves even when we aren't receiving much—spiritually speaking.

Try to completely internalize that our Heavenly Father is truly there for all of us—because He really is! He watches over everyone—He is blessing us! Sometimes our "blessings" might not feel like blessings at all. And it might take a while for us to see and fully understand those blessings. We might feel as though we are being tossed aside by our Heavenly Father, never to be cared about again. But I can assure you, it's simply not true.

As we learn in Jeremiah 18:6 "...cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand...", we are the clay in the hands of the Lord. He will not give up on us until He is satisfied with His excellent work.

We've all heard about the refiner's fire as well. This is a beautiful video that talks about how we can handle the heat! We must be patient for the resulting beauty that comes from the constant "blows" to our souls. Please watch it if you have time! :)


In the end, we will leave this earth. Our bodies will break, and our spirits will go to Heaven—of that, I have zero doubt. Because I've lost loved ones, and have felt their angelic spirits from time to time, I could never deny that we'll go to Heaven—I absolutely know it! Thus, if our loved ones have gone to Heaven, we will too.

When we really think about our lives here on Earth, what else matters but the connections we have to others and following our Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness?!

Our job is to endure this life as well as we possibly can. We must be strong! We need to remember where we've come from, and where we are destined to return! We cannot become discouraged or give up, for that is what will break our hearts when we finally see everything with eternal 20/20 vision!

And when those moments of depressing doubt wash over our souls, we must remember what we've learned in the past! We must follow the counsel found in D&C 6:23 "Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?" Seriously! :)

Oh, I've been reminded of this advice sooo many times in my life! Hopefully, I've finally learned my lesson that when I receive an answer from the Holy Ghost (which is an answer from Jesus Christ, given to Him by our Heavenly Father), I must not question or doubt it. I must remember the peaceful feeling that accompanied my original answer and stick with it, no matter how long or arduously my trial may last.

Speaking of peace, I read Psalms 4 the other day. The words of David warmed my soul! I've edited it to include the words that were most meaningful to me:

1  Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer... 

3  ...the Lord will hear when I call unto him. 

4  Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still... 

5  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. 

6  There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. 

7  Thou hast put gladness in my heart... 

8  I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

Yes, we must have faith that (because of our Savior's sacrifice) our Heavenly Father will hear our prayers. We need to live the kind of lives that open our souls to Heavenly experiences. And when our spirits receive answers, comfort, or direction, we must trust what we've been given. When we do those things, we will be truly happy and feel peace that cannot be found in any other way!