March 29, 2011

Increase In Faith...

How can one increase in faith? The question came to mind while preparing my VT lesson for April, The Purpose of Relief Society. I always feel that this is something that I am short on, and strive to obtain more.

I came across some inspirational stories and talks that I wanted to share on how to increase your faith. 

* The first talk is Increase in Faith by Patricia P. Pinegar. She talks about a fireside she attended with some friends when she was 17, and a challenge that she was given to increase her confidence and faith in the Savior and to feel greater happiness than she had ever known. 

I really enjoyed reading this talk and challenge you to read and participate as well.

* The second is a story from "Lord, Increase Our Faith" by Gordon B. Hinckley. 
He talks about a man he meets whose "faith burned in his heart, and our own faith was quickened also... I wished that faith of his kind was found more widely..."

* The third talk also entitled Lord, Increase Our Faith, is by Elder John K. Carmack.
A couple of quotes from his talk:
"Increasing our faith requires trusting the Lord with our whole souls and striving to act as He would in all circumstances"

"As members of the Lord's Church, we can increase our faith, if we desire, by going beyond the minimum requirements of the gospel and developing complete trust in the lord."

* The fourth, is from Fulfilling the Purpose of Relief Society by Julie B. Beck. This is a wonderful talk about why Relief Society was established and our responsibilities. It goes along with the April message very well.

"To fulfill the purpose of Relief Society, the Lord has commissioned each Relief Society sister and the organization as a whole to:

  1. Increase in faith and personal righteousness.
  2. Strengthen families and homes.
  3. Serve the Lord and His children.
Each one of these responsibilities supports and reinforces the other two. When we increase our faith, the result of that effort strengthens our family. When we serve the Lord and His children, our faith and capacity for righteousness increase. The three responsibilities are inseparably connected."

"we can increase our faith in God by acting on our desire to have faith in Him.

We can also increase our faith by praying to Heavenly Father about our hopes, desires, and needs (see Alma 34:17-26). But we must not suppose that all we have to do is ask. We are told in the scriptures that 'faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone' (James 2:17)"

* The sixth, is Personal Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise by President Boyd K. Packer.
This is an excellent talk, one I would highly recommend reading. 

*The seventh talk, is Seek Learning by Faith by Elder David A. Bednar. In his talk, he highlights three basic elements of faith:

  1. faith as the assurance of things hoped for that are true = Facing the future.
  2. faith as the evidence of things not seen = Looking to the past, learning from experience.
  3. faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings = Initiating action in the present.
“Faith in Christ is tied to, and results in, hope in Christ for our redemption and exaltation. And assurance and hope make it possible for us to [act and] walk to the edge of the light and take a few steps into the darkness—expecting and trusting the light to move and illuminate the way. The combination ofassurance and hope initiates action in the present.”

“Faith as the evidence of things not seen looks to the past and confirms our trust in God and our confidence in the truthfulness of things not seen. We [acted and] stepped into the darkness with assurance and hope, and we received evidence and confirmation as the light in fact moved and provided the light we needed. The witness we obtained after the trial of our faith (Ether 12:6) is evidence that enlarges and strengthens our assurance.”

“Assurance, action, and evidence influence each other in an ongoing process. As we again turn and face forward toward an uncertain future, assurance leads to action and produces evidence, which further increases assurance. Our confidence waxes stronger, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.”

I know this is a lot of reading, but each talk is enlightening and contain wonderful guidance. 

No comments:

Post a Comment