Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening,
this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.
This post actually focuses on October 1986 General Conference talk, and it is called "Developing Faith" by Elder A. Theodore Tuttle. I hope you will be able to learn something new while reading this post.
Elder Tuttle has mentioned the following;
"... I would like to read in the Book of Mormon a great example of this kind of faith. ... “And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me [Nephi], saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters” (1 Ne. 17:8).
Listen to the answer of this great Nephi: “And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?” (1 Ne. 17:9).
And when his brothers realized that he was actually going to set about to build a ship, they said: “Why, you’re a fool. You don’t know how to construct a ship” (see 1 Ne. 17:17). And then Nephi set about to teach them a great lesson."
How do you develop faith?
Let’s learn a great lesson from what transpired with Nephi. He started to recount the things that had happened that they all knew were a part of their heritage. He went back to the coming of the children of Israel out of Egypt. He said: “You know what happened. There they were right against the Red Sea with the Egyptians coming, and the Lord saved them” (see 1 Ne. 17:26–27).
Then he goes on and talks about how they received manna in the wilderness, how they received water from a rock, how the Lord led them by a pillar of cloud in the daytime and a light at night, and how when they crossed the Jordan, it stopped when the feet of the priests touched the water (see 1 Ne. 17:28–30, 32; see also Ex. 13:21, Josh. 3:15–17).
And then Nephi tells how the Lord scattered the people; and then how, when they came among the flying serpents, Moses fashioned a brazen serpent, raised it, and all they had to do was look at that serpent, and they would be healed. The account says that many perished because they wouldn’t even look (see 1 Ne. 17:32, 41; see also Num. 21:8–9).
He was trying to do what you and I as parents need to do with our families today to develop faith in the Lord. And the way to do it is to recount the examples of faith that have happened in our history and in our heritage and with our people. ... It contains accounts of faith of our own blood and ancestry and of our own people and our children. As has already been said in this conference, we cannot go one generation without losing faith if we do not do this. ...
There’s another principle: that is, that faith precedes the miracle. This lesson is found in Ether, chapter 12. You’ll recall that Moroni was abridging the records of the twenty-four plates, and this is what he records: ... They couldn’t see them; they wouldn’t believe them. They needed to be taught that believing is seeing.
And then Moroni interpolates here: “And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6; italics added).
We need to learn that. We can’t have just faith. We cannot have the miracle until after the exercise of faith. Moroni sets forth on the next page or so instances of those miracles that have occurred after the trial of the faith of the people. We need to learn that principle as well.
... We’re not going to survive in this world, temporally or spiritually, without increased faith in the Lord and I don’t mean a positive mental attitude - I mean downright solid faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the one thing that gives vitality and power to otherwise rather weak individuals.
I bear you my humble witness that I know that God lives. I know that he lives, that he is our Father, that he loves us. I bear witness that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer. I understand better what that means now.
I am grateful for his atonement in our behalf and for knowing something about our relationship to him and to our Heavenly Father and about the meaning and purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ..."
If you would like to read the whole talk either now or in your own time, here is the link below.
Stay Tuned until next time.
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