He is in His Heavens

One of the great challenges of life is to live to receive the message and then to have the courage to obey it.

..... We're all alike, and we seem to want the best for us, but some times what we consider to be the best isn't right for us, especially when the Lord doesn't think we're ready for it. May I suggest that when you pray for something very special that you pray for two things. First, pray for the blessing that you want, whether it's a new baby, or a job, or better grades, or whatever; and second, ask the Lord for the blessing of understanding. Then if He feels for some reason that the blessing isn't appropriate for that time, the blessing of understanding will come. Then the frustrations that ofttimes come because we feel our prayers are not answered will blow away in the wind.....

I testify to you that the Lord is in His heavens. I testify to you that I know He listens to us and that I know He answers us. I also know that we must be prepared to hear Him. I testify to you that without prayer we will never really know our Heavenly Father or His Son, the Savior. And I testify to you that without prayer we cannot return to Him, for we will have closed the door. Now understand that He does not close the door—we do. I plead with those of you who are discouraged to not give up. I think we have all had at least one experience, and maybe many more, in our lives when we have had an unusually warm and good feeling about something spiritual. But those feelings, the warmth of the Spirit that comes as we learn to talk to the Lord, are available to all of us, and I plead with you to not give up.

Remember the incident that is recorded in the New Testament of how after the Savior had been crucified, some of the disciples had gone fishing? They had gone out on the Sea of Galilee that afternoon with their nets, and they kept throwing their nets over and over and over; and every time they threw their nets, they brought them back empty. They fished all night, and when morning came their boats were still empty. They were tired and discouraged by their failure, and they started for the shore. When they approached the shore they saw a man walking. They didn't recognize Him, according to the scriptures, but it was the Savior. As they got closer to the Savior, He told them to cast out their nets one more time. Now they didn't argue with Him; they didn't say, "We've tried"; they didn't say, "I tried praying and it didn't work," or "I'm discouraged." Instead, they listened; they had faith; and they obeyed. They lowered their nets in the waters one more time, and this time they brought forth nets overflowing with fish (John 21:1-6).

H. Burke Peterson