Okay, I need practical thoughts on how to get to the point where you always having the Spirit with you, every moment of every day.
I know the basics, read scriptures, pray, go to church. Okay sure, but what do you do to make sure that you not only get the basics done but that you also go beyond the basics?
I had a Dream, yes, a capitalized dream. I was leaning on the end of my kitchen counter, eating oatmeal, and a man was next to me, only, the man was not alive, he was a spirit, one who had already gone on I believe, but maybe not. I seem to recall that he had a mustache. . . Surrounding me were other spirits, who had already passed on, bustling about the kitchen and living room. I get the impression there were some upstairs as well though I did not see them.
The man was leaning on the counter next to me, close, but not touching me. He was speaking to me and looking at me intently, his lips seemed to be about six or seven or eight inches away from my ear. I couldn't hear him at first, and then I heard him. "Listen, you need to always have the Spirit with you. You don't have the Spirit with you enough. What you have is okay, but it's not enough. You need to always always always have the Spirit with you."
I was shocked into momentary wakefulness. When I tried to go back into that dream to find out more it was gone. This has been on my mind ever since. I had the dream before Christmas.
I read my LDS emails that have scriptures and quotes from leaders and such. This helps me read the scriptures since the first thing I do in the morning is get on the computer and check my email. I have learned that the best way to change your habits is to work with your habits, so instead of ignoring the itch I just check my email and boom, good stuff in my inbox.
I always have a prayer in my heart, and reach out with my thoughts, though I'll admit that sometimes in actual prayers I'm a bit quick.
I read scriptures with my daughter every night without fail. We say nightly prayers together. I frequently listen to hymns. I work to magnify my calling, some days are better than others.
I have been very slowly reading the Bible from start to finish, but I'm not consistent about it. It's not as engaging as other religious material. I'm still in Genesis. I am doing this because the Spirit told me to. I have been told also to study Preach My Gospel, but I've been inconsistent about that as well. I have read Job like I was told to, and I've done other things I've been told to do by the Spirit, but sometimes I get these daunting jobs. Oh yes, I'm also working on a Young Adult novel because the Spirit told me to write it, and then gave me extra reading material to help develop the novel.
I wish I had already finished the Bible at the very least because that was the next thing I was told to read after I finished reading Job. Then it was Preach My Gospel (yay, we're studying it in Sunday school starting next week!
). Now I have the novel and more reading material, plus my calling, and other duties. The personal command to read the Bible and Preach My Gospel still stands.
Okay I'm gonna stop now because I can very easily start explaining about how much I suck. It's far too easy for me to see all my flaws and lack of worth and begin falling into depression and despair even though I KNOW that's all a bunch of buffalo chips. I have to work really hard to silence negative thoughts.
I looked up the word "always" just to be sure I grasped it's meaning, and the Merriam Webster online dictionary says (
always - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary):
1 : at all times : invariably
2 : forever , perpetually
3 : at any rate : in any event <as a last resort one can always work>
Then I looked up invariably
: on every occasion : always
After that I looked up perpetually
1 a: continuing forever : everlasting <perpetual motion> b (1): valid for all time <a perpetual right> (2): holding (as an office) for life or for an unlimited time
2: occurring continually : indefinitely long-continued <perpetual problems>
3: blooming continuously throughout the season
Then for good measure I looked up forever
1 : for a limitless time <wants to live forever>
2 : at all times : continually <is forever making bad puns>
Which caused me to look up continually
1 : continuing indefinitely in time without interruption <continual fear>
2 : recurring in steady usually rapid succession <a history of continual invasions>
And that made me look up continuing
1 : continuous , constant <continuing poverty>
2 : needing no renewal : enduring <continuing fame>
Etc and so on and so forth in the various definitions (the logic train would make more sense if you saw the various links and such to the different words from the link provided above)
That seems a daunting task, but I know it's important. He only repeated the always four times. . .
So, yes, practical applications on how to always have the Spirit with you would be great. What do you do?
Wow, this got long. . .