Faith

At once, the subject of faith is so enormous as to be daunting to the writer of a few words, and yet, faith is the first and most basic of the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith is a gift of the Spirit, and clearly not all of Christ’s followers will share in it. For another enumerated gift of the Spirit is the ability to believe and personally progress in the gospel based upon the testimony of others, thereby successfully satisfying the requirement of faith as a pre-condition for repentance (Doctrine and Covenants 46:13-14).

It has been my personal experience that generally an individual is born with the propensity to have faith in spiritual matters or not. Faith is not something that one may give or transfer to another. Yet, it is something that can be learned or awakened in one’s self as the Prophet Alma clearly taught (Alma 32). However also, it has been my experience that those who did not tend toward having faith “naturally” but rather had to “learn” how to have faith, very often prove to be wavering followers of the gospel’s truths. We often hear in Latter-day Saints’ prayers phraseology to the effect that the petitioner would have God bless the Lord’s missionaries in order that they might be led to the doors of those who will be receptive or are waiting to hear the gospel message. Those of us who have served full-time missions remember those experiences when we realized instinctively upon meeting with a new contact whether they were “golden” or not. This situation is understandable given the realization that for the most part the spread of the gospel thus far in this final dispensation has been among the blood of Ephraim. While most of them are not consciously waiting to hear the gospel, once those of the blood of Ephraim hear the gospel message, they tend to be naturally drawn to it because of the familiarity of the Spirit when they experience it. The Lord taught that His sheep know His voice (John 10:27).

The Apostle Paul taught the Hebrews that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The Prophet Alma taught that “faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21). Faith is not only the first principle of the gospel, it is the most basic principle of human action. “If men were duly to consider themselves, and turn their thoughts and reflections to the operations of their own minds, they would readily discover that it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action in them; that without it both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both physical and mental. . . . Are you not dependent on your faith, or belief, for the acquisition of all knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence? Would you exert yourselves to obtain wisdom and intelligence, unless you did believe that you could obtain them? Would you have ever sown, if you had not believed that you would reap? Would you have ever planted, if you had not believed that you would gather? . . . Or, would you have ever knocked, unless you had believed that it would have been opened unto you? . . .” (Lectures on Faith, 1:10-11).

Interesting is it not that very many of God’s children who are dependent upon the exercise of faith in order to get out of bed in the morning and to go about the business of their day as it concerns the acquisition of sustenance and the nurturing of family, etc. do so without ever understanding the necessary role faith is playing in all of their mental and physical endeavors? And then when these same individuals are confronted with the need to exercise faith in order to determine the truthfulness of the gospel message, they are helpless to exercise the faith necessary to make that determination. Astounding but true, this is the reality with which the Lord’s missionaries and religious leaders have been confronted in all generations.

The related role of miracles to faith is an interesting one. Time and time again in the scriptures and in human experience, we are confronted with those who claim that they will believe if only they are shown a sign. Those who do so are only pretenders, and the Lord called such seekers of signs wicked (Matthew 12:39). However, to the righteous believers, signs and miracles should be accepted as confirmations of the truth and confidence builders of their faith and testimonies especially after a period of personal trial. Moroni explained this order of things as follows: “And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).

In other words, faith is required, it must be exercised, before mental, physical, or spiritual exertion may occur. As this applies to matters of the spirit specifically but not exclusively, we may only receive that witness or assurance we seek, if our faith based actions are consistent with our desired ends. For “there is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated--And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20-21). We have no greater illustration of faith motivated action than the example of the Prophet Joseph Smith going into the grove to pray for heavenly direction as to which church of those in his vicinity he should join after being inspired by the words of James: “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” (James 1:5-6).

The words of James are God’s promise to all who seek to know the truth about our Heavenly Father’s will and His desires for all of His children. The capacity for faith or at least belief was in each of us at one time. Only through their own actions at some point in their progression were some of His spirit offspring able to desensitize themselves to the beckonings of His Spirit. For those who truly desire to know who they are and what they should be about in this mortal probation, the answers to their questions are available. The Lord’s gospel has been restored to the earth, and knowledge of its truthfulness may be had by any earnest seeker who will apply the invitation of James to pray in faith.