A.S.K. and Ye Shall Receive

Ask and ye shall receive really means to Ask, Seek, and Knock in order to receive.

The Four 1st's

Faith, Humility, Obedience, and Love. What do these have in common? They are all gospel "first's".

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel.

Humility is the precursor of all spiritual growth, said Elder Bruce R. McConkie.

Obedience is the first law of heaven (and earth, said Elder Jeffery R. Holland).

Love of God and neighbor make up the first great commandments.

Occupying such preeminence in the gospel plan, how we ought to always measure ourselves against these four first's.

The other two principles that closely relate to these in preeminence are gratitude and sacrifice.

The Necessary Fruit of the Book of Mormon

Every action we make has a differrent result. Just as every tree has a differnet fruit. And more specifically, like every source of study has as well.

When you listen to General Conference you receive the fruit of that effort. When you read the Ensign, you receive of it's fruit. So it is when you read the Book of Mormon, study the doctrinal commentary, or read from the published work of an Apostle.

Although all of these fruits are delicious, the fruit of the Book of Mormon must be eaten every day. It's that simple. It's part of the daily diet the Lord has prescribed for his Saints to be at their optimal health in the latter days. Partaking of the fruit of any other worthy book, in place of the Book of Mormon, will not produce the spiritual health and vigor necessary to survive in these times. We must partake of the fruit of the Book of Mormon daily.

Exercise Faith

Your faith is fully exercised until it is matched by your works. You cannot expect a blessing only by making up your mind to believe or trust, you must do. Exercising faith then is made up of 2 steps: Choose to believe and trust, then show it. Take a step or two in the dark, determined to take as many steps as the Lord will ask of you - then the blessing will come.

Crush His Head

The Devil has been given power to bruise our heel but we have been given power to crush his head. Yet it seems that this often plays out the other way around. I believe Satan uses every means and resource within his control to bruise our heel, but we do not. Although we have the power to crush his head, at best, we might only be pricking the pads of his feet. If we will hold up the shield of faith and wield the swift sword of the Spirit, we will then crush his head and leave him powerless. So what holds us back from doing so?

Establishing Zion

Zion is: the pure in heart, being of one heart and one mind, having no poor among us (spiritually, emotionally, temporally), being perfectly honest, and having the peace of God.

We establish Zion by:
1. Understanding and Seeking the Principles of Establishing Zion
2. Creating Zion in ourselves
3. In our marriages
4. In our families
5. In our callings
6. In our ward / community
7. In the world

Perfecting the Saints

The saints will be perfected to the degree they focus their efforts on proclaiming the gospel and redeeming the dead.

Leave the Ninety and Nine?

How can we effectively go after the one when we don't know the condition of the ninety and nine?

Judge Not

Sure his words might be calculated, but how do you know if he used addition or multiplication?

Judge not. For it has been said that "we never know what target one was aiming for, only where they landed".

Councils Are Underrated

Councils - like a ward council, a presidency, a family council, a council of husband and wife, or even just the one on one, prayerful counseling with the Lord - are completely underrated, misunderstood, and untapped.

I believe councils are the Lord's inspired means for accelerating His work. But even though we have been taught how to use this very simple, yet powerful tool, we have yet to really harness its power, individually or collectively.

Wants vs. Desires

Only when you have a committed focus will you receive what you are reaching for because a committed focus is the natural result of desire - and we will always receive what we truly desire.

As soon as our mind wanders, from the task at hand to something else, our desire becomes (or is revealed to be) a mere want, a nice-to-have, no longer a need.

Stay focused. Put all else on the back burner, especially the appetites of the flesh.

This is why daily goals matter. Goals focus our desires. Then we set out with a committed, time driven focus to achieve and receive what we desire, before our mind (or heart) can drift to some other craving, longing, or selfish appetite.

So ask yourself: "What do I truly want & need (desire) today?" Then write it down with a plan of what you will do to accomplish this goal and then don't give up on that plan until you reach it, or until you find that you are not willing to pay the price because it's not worth it to you. (This is actually a good thing - because you have discovered what you thought was a deep desire is not. From this point you should focus your time and energy on what is a true desire or you can work to turn this want into a desire - we can change our desires!)

Sometimes you will need to sacrifice your will to turn a mere want into a desire because it is the right thing to do.