Faith – LDS Daily Devotionals

Nephi had it rough

January 23, 2018January 23, 2018 nicolepmiles

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” (1 Nephi 3:7)

I find myself coming back to Nephi often. 1 Nephi – the chapters I have read most often in the BOM as I repeatedly resolve to read more and then get lost in the Isaiah chapters or in the middle of Alma somewhere. But there is so much to be learned from Nephi and his faith and courage. Nephi ACTS. He trusts His Father in Heaven so completely that he just goes and does without questioning how or why. And even with that great faith and trust things don’t come easy for him. He has to travel in the wilderness for a long time and it is HARD. It took 3 tries for him to get the plates from Laban and required him to kill someone, which he really did not want to do. He had to mine ore, build a ship from nothing, sail across a sea without a map or any idea how to sail. He got tied up and beaten up by his brothers countless times. He had great faith and knew that God would provide, but that didn’t make his days EASY. And he was ok with that. He did the work. The HARD work. Every day.

Life is hard folks. Even when things are going well, it is a lot of hard work. It was designed that way to refine us and give us knowledge and experience. But God will work it out for you – it still won’t be easy along the way, but in the end His will will out. And His greatest desire is for our ultimate joy. So hang in there and keep working through the hard. And if it seems like a lot, remember it could be worse… you could be eating raw meat in the wilderness and not have any idea where you were going or how to get there while your brothers beat you up every other day. 😉

Meditation and Journaling Prompt: What are the hard things you are working through right now? How can you lean into the Lord?

What is Faith?

October 18, 2017October 18, 2017 nicolepmiles

“Faith is a strong conviction about something we believe — a conviction so strong that it moves us to do things that we otherwise might not do. ‘Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see’ (Hebrews 11:1, New International Version 1984).” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf ,“Fourth Floor, Last Door,” General Women’s Conference, October 2016)

It seems to be harder and harder to exercise faith in these times. With the barrage of information coming at us on a day-to-day basis, it is hard to believe something without proof or logical argument to back it up. The things that require faith, often defy logic and the kind of rational explanation that we come to expect. President Uchtdorf goes on to say:

“[This] is often confusing to nonbelievers. They shake their heads and ask, ‘How can anyone be certain of what they cannot see?’ To them, this is evidence of the irrationality of religion.

What they fail to understand is that there are more ways to see than with our eyes, more ways to feel than with our hands, more ways to hear than with our ears.”

Meditation and Journaling Prompt: What does faith mean to you? Have you ever had an experience where your faith has moved you to do things you otherwise might not do? What do you have faith in? Try to remember an experience that taught you faith. How did you “see, feel and hear”?

Call to Action: As you go about your day today, try to see, feel and hear in “other ways.” When faced with something that requires you to exercise faith, pay attention to it. Sit with it. Write down your thoughts and experience.

Mindfulness Tip: Set an alarm on your phone that reminds you to stop and breathe

Daily Devotionals

Room to Grow

September 20, 2017September 20, 2017 nicolepmiles

“Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breast; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.” (Alma 32:28)

Faith isn’t a perfect knowledge of things. Sometimes faith isn’t even a seed. Sometimes faith is just making a little space where a seed could possibly be planted. Sometimes we place so much pressure on ourselves to have a great, strong, perfect faith in all things and then we are hard on ourselves, or we give up, when that faith doesn’t seem big enough or strong enough. Then we tell ourselves that, because our faith isn’t strong enough, our plant is just a blade of grass next to our neighbor’s mighty oak, and that, therefore, we must not be good enough. This is the trap that Satan wants us to be in. God doesn’t operate that way. He accepts our offerings no matter how small and insignificant they may seem to us. God is interested in our intent, not our production value. All he asks is that we make a little space for faith to grow. Then when the seed is planted, that we nurture it. Little by little, over time, that seed will grow and become stronger. It will stand the test of time because we have given it a start and let it take root within us.

Meditation and Journaling Prompt: Without passing any judgement on yourself, evaluate your testimony in this moment. How strong is your faith? What does it need to grow right now? Are you in the “make a little hole where the seed can fall” stage? Is your plant in desperate need of some water? Is it stuck in a dark hall closet in need of sunshine? How can you nurture your faith today?

Mindfulness Tip: Visualize a place in your heart where you can plant a seed of faith. Imagine breathing into that space and opening it up with each breath.