How can we get closer to God?

I was sitting in Young Women's and just felt a strong impression that you needed to hear this.

The topic of the lesson was "how can we know Heavenly Father loves us, and how do we get closer to him?"

The teacher took out three objects and laid them out. They were a cell phone, a flashlight, and a map. She said these were ways we can reach a destination. The most important place we want to get to is back to our Heavenly Father. We also have spiritual tools: the cell phone represents communication with God through prayer, the flashlight is the Holy Ghost lighting our path, and the map is the scripture which lay out God's plan for us and answers any questions we have about what directions we need to take.

First we talked about the Holy Ghost. Many times, the Holy Ghost will be sent to us in answer to our prayers. The Holy Ghost (aka Spirit) will tell us truth to our hearts and minds about anything we want to know. The Spirit is God's messenger and tells us what he wants us to hear, and as we feel the comfort and peace of the Holy Ghost, we can know for sure that God loves us.

The scriptures (bible, Book of Mormon, etc) shows us the will of God and gives us examples of other people who have had to overcome the same problems we are going through. Many times, as we read the scriptures after we pray, the Spirit will show us things we need to know at that moment in the scriptures. As we act on the answers we recieve, and follow what the scriptures say, we will come to know God better and get closer to him. For example, the scriptures tell us we should serve others. As we actually go out into the world and help people, the Spirit will witness to us that what we are doing is right and that God loves us.

Lastly we talked about prayer. Heavenly Father knows even the smallest sparrow, and he knows the thoughts and desires of your heart. Just like any father, he wants us to talk to him, to tell us our problems and victories, to ask for help. As you exercise faith in God by praying, he will answer your prayers. Miracles come by simple prayers.

God will answer EVERY prayer. But how will we recognize the answers to those prayers? Sometimes the answers will not be what we want to hear, or will not come as quickly as we want them to. But if you pray with real intent and listen for an answer with an open heart, the answers will come.

Answers to prayers may come as peace, the voice of the Spirit, an idea, a dream, calm, love, or through the words of the scriptures. This is called revelation.

There was a time when I needed an answer to a question I had, and I needed it NOW, because I felt uneasy and unsure of everything. But God didn't answer my prayer immediately, because he wanted me to learn patience and to trust him. He knows what is best for us, and will give us the answer we need in the exact hour when we need it. And he did. 

Remember, you are a child of God, and he loves you. 

(Copyright Intellectual Reserve)