At times, Heavenly Father does not answer our prayers for guidance because he entrusts us to make decisions for ourselves.
Photo by Sander Weeteling
As young adults we are often asked, “Where are you going to school?” “What are you planning to do after graduation?” “When are you getting married?” Figuring out the answers to these difficult questions is hard to do by ourselves, so we pray to Heavenly Father for guidance. But what should we do when we receive no answer?
In “How to Face Uncertainty with Faith,” Megan Armknecht discusses her own experience of not receiving an answer when she was deciding where to go to graduate school. Although the Lord did not reveal to Armknecht which school she should attend, she felt that the Lord was leaving the choice up to her. Armknecht realized, “I could choose whatever I felt was best, and He would be with me. The choice was mine, and that was liberating.”
When we find that Heavenly Father wants us to make a choice, but we are unsure of what we should choose, Armknecht suggests following these three steps:
- “Educate Your Desires.” Take into consideration your own desires. Heavenly Father cares about our desires and can use them as a way to lead us to the right decision.
- “Move Forward with Faith.” Do not let the fear of making a wrong decision prevent you from making any decision at all. When we need to choose for ourselves, remember to have faith that when we follow Heavenly Father’s commandments he will not lead us astray.
- “Glory in the Mystery.” Heavenly Father blessed us to have agency, and “even though making such decisions can be agonizing, it is true freedom.”
Although these decisions seem daunting, Armknecht advises us to remember to “[t]rust in the Lord. Live to have His Spirit, and let Him lead and guide you. But when uncertainty strikes—and it will—take comfort in the fact that the Lord trusts you and is giving you an opportunity to learn, grow, and become more like Him.”
Read more on “How to Face Uncertainty with Faith” by Megan Armknecht.
Source: Ensign
—Shantel Fitzgerald, Mormon Insights
feature image by asa rodger
Find more insights
Check out Courtney Johansson’s Mormon Insights article “When Answers To Prayers Don’t Come” to learn more about discerning answers to prayers.
Read or watch this conference talk by Elder Delbert L. Stapley, a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Using Our Free Agency.”