Developing faith

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the April 1981 Conference.

I was talking to a friend recently who said, "I don't think I'm very good at walking by faith. But I'm good at being obedient. Once I know what the Lord wants me to do, I'm willing to do it."

I thought that was a good way to express what I feel too. It's the uncertainty that's hardest for me. And yet I know that sometimes the uncertainty is exactly what I need most for my own growth. So I've been trying to learn more about faith, and how to develop a trust in God that will carry me through the times when I'm not really sure what God wants me to do!

In Elder Loren C. Dunn's talk, "Building Bridges to Faith," he gives six steps to develop the gift and power of faith. Many of them were things I hadn't really connected with faith before. I'll list some of them here in my own words, with my own interpretations, but you should read the actual talk too! These are just the things that stuck out to me as some practical steps I could implement right now, as I work on nurturing my faith.

1. Recognize that God can help you with any aspect of your life.

I have learned this repeatedly in the past, but somehow it still surprises me to hear stories of Heavenly Father helping people in highly specific situations or with specialized fields of knowledge. I wrote about my experience with piano practicing here, and I know there are lots more areas where I could show faith by asking for God's help on things I don't usually ask for His help with.

2. Do the things that come into your mind, promptly—and even if they don't seem related to anything important.

Elder Dunn tells a story about praying for help with some problems as a mission president, and feeling prompted instead to give a blessing to his son. The inspiration that came through the blessing was really important, but, he says, "this would have been lost had I stopped to question why the Lord was turning me to…my family, when I was seeking a blessing for the mission." I want to get better at acting on the principle that God has many purposes in mind when He gives us direction. Maybe the random-seeming thing I'm prompted to do will be just what I need to help with other problems that seem unrelated!

3. Believe in goodness and don't be cynical.

Elder Dunn says, "Faith cannot be nourished in a heart that has been made hard by continued cynicism, skepticism, and unforgiveness." My natural instinct is to be very rational and methodical about problems (maybe that comes from being born into a family of physicists). There are good things about that. But I am also trying to learn to do things that don't make perfect sense, as in the paragraph above. I'm trying to be whole-hearted and unguarded in my responses to God's direction, rather than always holding something back "just in case" I've understood wrong. I want to work on listening to other people without cynicism, too. I've realized recently that saying, "Eh, that experience was probably just coincidence or an overactive imagination"—even to myself—inhibits my ability to receive more blessings from God.

Other posts in this series:

• Why You Can't Nurture Both Faith and Cynicism by Nathaniel Givens
• We Have Nothing to Fear by Jan Tolman