Skip to main content

A Rare Kind of Faith

The first time I tried to explain the Law of Vibration to a friend, she listened to my somewhat bumbling explanation, and then said, "Yeah, it's faith."  I had never thought about this newfound knowledge in that way, but she was right.  I wasn't learning "new" principles.  I was gaining more understanding about the ones I had been taught all my life.

Faith is more than just a belief in something you can't see.  Faith is a power.  Faith is a tool of creation.  As I've continued to learn about the Laws of Thought, I've discovered that every one of them is faith, or rather, one aspect of faith.  When understood and used together, these laws provide great power as we strive for a change in ourselves or our circumstances.

President Boyd K. Packer, former President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has said this of faith:

Faith, to be faith, must center around something that is not known.  Faith, to be faith, must go beyond that for which there is confirming evidence. Faith, to be faith, must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness. If everything has to be known, if everything has to be explained, if everything has to be certified, then there is no need for faith. Indeed, there is no room for it. ...
There are two kinds of faith. One of them functions ordinarily in the life of every soul. It is the kind of faith born by experience; it gives us certainty that a new day will dawn, that spring will come, that growth will take place. It is the kind of faith that relates us with confidence to that which is scheduled to happen. ...
There is another kind of faith, rare indeed.  This is the kind of faith that causes things to happen.  It is the kind of faith that is worthy and prepared and unyielding, and it calls forth things that otherwise would not be.  It is the kind of faith that moves people.  It is the kind of faith that sometimes moves things. ... It comes by gradual growth. It is a marvelous, even a transcendent, power, a power as real and as invisible as electricity. Directed and channeled, it has great effect (Book of Mormon Student Manual).

If this kind of faith comes by gradual growth, it is developed with practice.  Having greater understanding of the Laws of Thought not only gives specific actions for us to practice in order to develop this kind of faith, they help us to understand WHY they work, by law.  It makes the practice and the gradual nature of growth easier, because we understand better what we are doing, why we are doing it, and what evidence to look for as we practice.

This kind of faith is increasingly necessary in the world we live in.  It is more and more imperative for us to train up our minds and harness their power for the benefit of humankind.  As President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in his October 2015 General Conference talk, A Plea to My Sisters, "Today, let me add that we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith..." (emphasis added).

It's not just women who need this rare faith.  Men need it.  Children need it.  As parents, if we want to help our children develop it, we must pay the price to understand and develop it within us. As we do, it will increase our hope and certainty in good things to come. It will allow us to be optimistic and believing when the evidence around us would indicate otherwise.  It is the beginning of understanding our true potential, and the first step on the path to achieving it.
For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith (Ether 12:12)
This faith is the key to receiving the deepest desires of our hearts--the ones that we know that God wants for us, the ones that would be impossible, except through a miracle.  This faith gives us the courage to ask, the ability to receive, and the will to stick out the often bumpy path until the promise is fulfilled.

To learn more about the Laws of Thought, visit A Rare Kind of Faith, at http://ararekindoffaith.com/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Battle Raging for Our Minds

I had some amazing insights today that I wanted to quickly write. So this post is a bit hurried and not as polished as I usually like, but posting it will help me remember. And if you happen to read it, I hope you gain something from it as well. From my scripture journal: Amazing insights today! I read Alma chapter 47 and into chapter 48 today, and discovered something I had not seen before. Chapter 47 details how Amalikiah becomes king of the Lamanites. Specifically, I learned from the part about how he tricks Lehonti into giving him a position as second in command of the Lamanite armies, and then poisons Lehonti. We talk over and over about how Amalikiah lures Lehonti away from his stronghold and his fixed determination not to join with the rest of the Lamanite armies and fight the Nephites. And all those things are true. But like so many stories in the BOM, it has a counterpart. Lehonti’s fixed determination wasn’t enough. If he had such a fixed determination to not join w

Get Behind Me, Shoulder Devil

My kiddos are huge Studio C fans.  Our Monday night Family Home Evening schedule is pretty strict, to make sure that we are all ready to watch Studio C at 8:00.  It's fun, clean humor, which I really appreciate.  Recently, though, it had more than just a humorous application for my family. One of my daughters has a particularly difficult time controlling her temper.  She is extremely sensitive, and very spiritually mature, but get her in a bad mood and none of that matters.  I try to calm her to the point that she can make better decisions, but when she is mad, she seems determined to stay that way.  She expresses a desire to not feel so out of control (when she is in a contrite state of mind), but how to help her with that has been somewhat of a mystery to me and my husband as we try to love and teach her.  Finally, my husband expressed that perhaps she is more than just sensitive to THE Spirit, maybe she is sensitive to all manner of spirits. I had had the same thought.  Th

A New Beginning

A couple of months ago I was preparing a Relief Society lesson on developing talents. As part of my preparation, I went to the Personal Progress manual, which was recently revised and updated, to see what it said about my lesson topic. It spoke of "reaching your divine potential," which is the greatest desire of my heart. But, alas, I never completed my Personal Progress. I was always active in church and in the Young Women program, but I never caught the vision as a teen of the blessing and benefit of Personal Progress. I had other things to do and focused on those things instead. Fast forward a few (okay, many) years, and now I wish I had put forth the effort to complete it. But more than that, I want the spiritual benefit of Personal Progress NOW, at this point in my life. I want to enjoy the structure of the program as I set and pursue goals. I want to learn more about my divine purpose and potential. I want to strengthen my testimony of Jesus Christ.