In Doctrine and Covenants section 136, the Lord gives important instruction with regards to the merriment which so characterizes the Holiday Season:
"If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving." (v.28)
We are accustomed to discussing the importance of expressing thanks in prayer, but we seldom discuss the importance of praise. Where thanksgiving recognizes the Lord for what He does, praise recognizes the Lord for who He is.
A strong prayer, the type of prayer where one receives answers, must include both.
The link between gratitude (praise+thanksgiving) and revelation (answers) should be clear to even the most elementary mind. We can better recognize revelation via the Holy Ghost if we develop gratitude (recognizing what God does and recognizing who God is).
Revelation becomes a two-part process: covenant making in order to develop an intimacy with the Lord that increases the frequency of interaction with Him, and a grateful heart that makes you able to easily recognize the Lord in your life.
I have found that the most grateful disciples of Jesus Christ are also those that seem to most easily receive and recognize revelation from God.
Again, although the point seems obvious and simple, it seems that gratitude is absent from most sacrament talks, Sunday School lessons, and instruction on recognizing revelation from the Holy Ghost.
May this Thanksgiving Day be the day where we commit to make gratitude (full gratitude: praise+thanksgiving) a more prominent part of our daily lives so that we can more fully commune with the Divine Presence.
"If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving." (v.28)
We are accustomed to discussing the importance of expressing thanks in prayer, but we seldom discuss the importance of praise. Where thanksgiving recognizes the Lord for what He does, praise recognizes the Lord for who He is.
A strong prayer, the type of prayer where one receives answers, must include both.
The link between gratitude (praise+thanksgiving) and revelation (answers) should be clear to even the most elementary mind. We can better recognize revelation via the Holy Ghost if we develop gratitude (recognizing what God does and recognizing who God is).
Revelation becomes a two-part process: covenant making in order to develop an intimacy with the Lord that increases the frequency of interaction with Him, and a grateful heart that makes you able to easily recognize the Lord in your life.
I have found that the most grateful disciples of Jesus Christ are also those that seem to most easily receive and recognize revelation from God.
Again, although the point seems obvious and simple, it seems that gratitude is absent from most sacrament talks, Sunday School lessons, and instruction on recognizing revelation from the Holy Ghost.
May this Thanksgiving Day be the day where we commit to make gratitude (full gratitude: praise+thanksgiving) a more prominent part of our daily lives so that we can more fully commune with the Divine Presence.
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