Aligning Our Wills With God's

Elder Larry S. Kacher taught about climbing on a “ladder of faith” in the most recent general conference. He spoke of how our attitude can change as we develop more faith in the Lord: "As our faith in the Savior increases, we observe a subtle shift that includes a divine understanding of our relationship with God—a steady movement away from ‘What do I want?’ to ‘What does God want?’ Like the Savior, we want to act ‘not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ We want to do God’s work and be an instrument in His hands.” He also quoted these words of Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “Only by aligning our wills with God’s is full happiness to be found. Anything less results in a lesser portion.” This is another gospel paradox: if we really want to be happy, we have to do those things that God would have us do instead of those things which we think will bring us happiness. In other words, instead of pursuing happiness by doing those things which we estimate will bring us happiness, we find happiness by giving up our will and seeking to do what God would have us do. This is what “the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness” does, humbly setting aside his or her will in order to find happiness in living the life that the Savior wants (Alma 27:18). The Savior put it this way: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:25).

                 Of course, to do His will instead of our own does not mean that the Lord will “command in all things.” He does not want us to be “compelled in all things” but we are to “be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-27). So how do we give up our wills to Him but also do many things of our own free will? I think another instruction from the Lord helps us to understand this: “But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally; and that which the Spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:7). We are not commanded exactly what to do in all things, but we are commanded in all things to “ask of God” and to do them “with prayer and thanksgiving.” In other words, we should seek the Lord’s guidance in all that we do just as Alma taught Helaman: “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good” (Alma 37:37). Nephi put it this way: “I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul” (2 Nephi 32:9). To give up our will for His means that we strive to pray always in all that we do, to counsel with the Lord in all our doings, and listen for His Spirit to guide us. We are willing and ready to do whatever He would have us do when He chooses to give us that direction. In some cases He may guide us very directly through the whisperings of His Spirit, but in other cases we may receive less inspiration and simply move forward in a spirit of prayer doing the best we can. What is important is not that He tell us what to do all the time; rather, it is that we have consecrated ourselves to Him to be willing to follow His will whenever it is manifest unto us. As Elder Kacher taught, “We bind ourselves to the Savior by honoring the covenants we have made with Him,” always ready and willing to let Him prevail in our lives.