The Name of God

After going to a friends church a few times, I noticed one thing that was done differently than in my own (besides the fact there was a rock band and the entire church service was only 20 minutes long) and it was the prayers. They were heartfelt and sincere but they missed the teaching of praying in His name, Jesus Christ.

We are commanded to pray in the name of Christ as Christians. 

2 Nephi 33:12 

And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day.

2 Nephi 32:9 

But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

Tonight, I watched two of the hardest movies I have ever watched before. Both showed the extremes of two religions, Judaism and Islam, being in great persecution by their own or by others. In one, while one was being stoned, the many false accusers yelled out, "Allahu Akbar" which means "The Most Great God." Allahu Akbar is a Qur'anic statement often said in prayers and recitations throughout Islam. Bismillah is another common term. Both show the great respect of God's name. In Judaism and Christianity, we have names Jehovah and Elohim. In LDS doctrine we believe Jehovah to be Jesus Christ and Elohim to Heavenly Father or even Jesus Christ's father. As I heard these men yell that phrase my heart broke knowing that they thought what they were doing was in the name of God which in fact the name of God was taken in vain. The woman was stoned to death because of false accusations due to her husband simply wanting another wife. The religious leaders who were corrupt to begin with allowed this false accusation to take control of the city hidden far away in the mountains of Iran. There was no earthly righteous justice to come to this woman. But there was God's justice. Even though, this wicked and wrong-minded men used "Allahu Akbar," "Allah is the greatest," a true statement of righteous heavenly judgement for this woman for surely Allah (God) will give her exactly that. 

I wonder what it means to God when we call upon him. I gave a blessing last week to a sister in my ward in which the blessing I spoke of her ability to know that her Heavenly Father loves her, to which I said her "daddy" loved her. Even our perfect example Jesus Christ used this as He was upon the cross: 

Mark 14:36 

And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Abba referring to a Hebrew or Aramaic word most commonly translated to "daddy." Jesus Christ understood His relationship with His Father. Do we? We will not understand it as Christ did in this life time, but are we growing closer to our Father in heaven? Do we pray each morning and night? When was the last time you had a sincere prayer? After these two movies (which I viewed one after another) I went to my room and weeped as a little child because of the great hold Satan has upon this world. 

It is almost surreal to realize, growing up in this time of the world and living in the United States, living in a country of freedom of religion, equality is greater here than anywhere else. Do I fully comprehend my relationship with God? Have I been so blessed and ungrateful for it to become blind to my relationship with God? I was born in the Latter-day Saint faith and consider that a miracle to which I do not understand why me but I often try my best to see the world through God's other children's view and understand the true meaning of God's eternal plan for each of us. I am only beginning this long journey and pray I may continue to be led by His Holy Spirit. 

I am grateful for my God and His tender mercies. I am grateful for prayer and how it allows me to speak to Him anytime I want. I am grateful to know the plan of happiness and to have that eternal perspective. I am grateful for my loving family and the amazing joy I receive from them. I am grateful to be spiritually led to study Arabic and the Middle East. This decision in my life is not understood by most but the inspiration came from Father himself. I am grateful for my membership in the church, of which I understand more and more what it really means. 

Allah, Elohim, Jehovah, El Shaddai, Adonai, Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, God, Heavenly Father, Daddy, is all the same to me. 

Stay In The Light

Stay in the light. Yes, that's what I said. Last Saturday night I went to the Provo Temple and as I was sitting in a sealing room I noticed the beautiful wall paper that was there. The design was of floral design - vegetal plants interwoven within each other, but then I noticed that where the light from the lamps on the way were not showing you could not see the floral design. The rays of light showed the beautiful attribute of the wall while where the light did not shine directly on the wall paper you could only see the whiteness of the wall with no design. This thought came to me as a parallel of what it means to be in the light: The light is the gospel of Jesus Christ, keeping the commandments, and following the prophet.

In life we have our times of happiness and joy. No matter how hard we try to do everything right, things still go wrong. It is then evident why it is important to be in the "light" or the teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ; namely through his servants, the prophets. Jesus Christ has always used messengers or special witnesses to share His teachings so that we may have a guide or a map to lead us back to our Heavenly Father. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Peter, John, etc. are some examples of God's prophets. Today we have a living prophet. Currently this is Thomas S. Monson and he follows the examples of the prophets before him. 

Preach My Gospel describes the role of a prophet well:

"Truth is a knowledge of things as they really are, were, and will be. It does not change with conditions or time. Truth is the same in every age and culture. God is the source of all truth. We can have faith in Him because we know He will teach us only truth. God wants all His children to know the truth. Therefore, He reveals the truths necessary for salvation through prophets and apostles. He reveals truth to us personally through the scriptures and personal revelation.

A prophet is called and chosen by God and is a righteous man with great faith. The Lord reveals truth to him through the Holy Ghost. He commands His prophet to teach truth to all people. Those who believe God’s words as revealed through His prophet are blessed. Christ’s Church is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, who direct the Church by revelation. The Lord called Joseph Smith as the first prophet and head of this last dispensation. His successors who lead The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today are also prophets and apostles. The President of the Church today is a living prophet. We are to have faith in God’s chosen prophet, gain conviction of his divine calling, and follow his teachings.

We have frequent opportunities to sustain Church leaders publicly. Sustain means to support. We are to prepare ourselves so that when the prophets and apostles speak, the Holy Ghost can confirm the truths they teach, and we can then determine to follow the counsel they give us.

Those who listen to and follow the counsel of living prophets and apostles will not go astray. The teachings of living prophets provide an anchor of eternal truth in a world of shifting values and help us avoid misery and sorrow. The confusion and strife of the world will not overwhelm us, and we can enjoy the assurance of being in harmony with God’s will."

It is my testimony that no matter how hard life may be - if we feel lonely, sad, lost or distraught - that if we heed the teachings of a true prophet of God we will be able to conquer the adversary even when he sends his best against us. It is important to know that when we follow the prophet we have the promise of the Lord's strength on our side and we can live after the manner of happiness. May we all live in the light of our Savior.