Accessing Divine Power

Accessing Divine Power through Fasting and Prayer.

The following is from a Study we had with President and Sister Kotter. Most are from notes as well as slides we got from the Kotter's.

Prayer involves humility, meaning when it is meaningful, not just when we are in a bind.  Answers will come when we are serving someone else. 

Moses 5:6-8

6And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices (ordinances) unto the Lord?  And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me. 

7And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.

8wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.

When we pray we call upon the Name of the Lord in the name of the Son.

Commanded to Pray

Jeremiah 29:12-13

12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. (hear You)

13And ye shall seek(Access to God) me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart .

In the Joseph Smith History the following account is recorded:

11 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: 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.

12 Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

When we Pray,  He will hearken.

Doctrine & Covenants

19:38Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing –yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof. (Pray Always)

2 Nephi 32:8-9

9But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform anything unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate they performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. 

Fasting

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said the following: “You are a spiritual being having a mortal experience”.

Read Isaiah 58

Doctrine & Covenants 88:76

76Also, I give unto you a commandment that ye shall continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth.

Unite together whoever you are with.  Fast for the Lord’s will.

I would like to share a few miracles involving prayer and fasting. As a family we are fasting and praying for a family member diagnosed with cancer. Miracles and Prayers have been answered as the cancer is only in the focused area and has not spread. Another family member is being operated on for a brain tumor. He was raised by his Grandparents (an Aunt) and his mother was killed in a car accident at an early age. He has a young family of his own. Not to mention the fasting for individual family members and their struggles.

Have you ever fasted simply for gratitude? Our whole Zone fasted to be able to find those seeking to Come Unto Christ. The next week, the zone fasted very simply for Gratitude. That was powerful! There are about 40 of us in one zone. We all get on a group chat (like Face-timing) and then if you can visualize this, the whole zone with their phones on the video, we kneel and pray together.

The following are some of the powerpoint slides regarding this.

Marci Hatfield