Praying with real intent

The other day in Sunday School I received a little bit of inspiration that I’ve felt like I should share with everyone.

James 1:5-6
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

This scripture immediately brought Moroni 10:4 to my mind.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

What really hit me hard was that not only do we need to pray with faith, but with real intent. What intent? Well, what the Spirit told me was that we need to have intent to do the do what the Lord tells us. We must have real intent to follow up on the answer.  God knows our intent, you can’t fake it. You need to be intent on doing whatever the Lord asks. What good does it do you or the Lord for him to tell you the truth and for you to not act upon it.

What if Joseph Smith had only asked the Lord what church was true without a firm commitment to join the church the one the Lord told him to join? Of course, Joseph didn’t expect to get the answer he got, but once he had it, he was committed to do what the Lord told him to do regarding the answer he received.

Anyway, nothing too profound, but something I thought I’d like to share.

 

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