Faith
"Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you." (Moroni 7:26)
"...have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men. For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness." (Moroni, Moroni 7:30)
Receiving Faith
"Every word that proceedeth from the mouth of Jehovah has such an influence over the human mind—the logical mind—that it is convincing without other testimony. Faith cometh by hearing." (Joseph Smith, HC 5:27)
"FAITH comes by hearing the word of God, through the testimony of the servants of God; that testimony is always attended by the Spirit of prophecy and revelation." (Joseph Smith HC 3:25)
"Faith comes by hearing the word of God." (Joseph Smith, HC 5:18)
The Holy Ghost removes carnal desires, replaces with desire to do good.
Faith comes by hearing the word of God. (This presupposes the speaker is in possesion of it, or in other words, is speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost)
Gift of prophecy is the hallmark of having the Holy Ghost.
"And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
"And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things.
"And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy." (King Benjamin, Mosiah 5:2-4)
Oliver Cowdery's Rod
"...now this is not all for thou hast another gift which is the gift of working with the sprout [rod]; Behold it hath told you things; Behold there is no other power save God that can cause this thing of Nature [rod] to work in your hands for it is the work of God & therefore whatsoever ye shall ask to tell you by that means that will he grant unto you that ye shall know remember that without faith ye can do nothing." (D&C 8, see Joseph Smith Papers)
"And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust." (Mormon 9:20)
"Of course we've built up churches to tell us all is well. We make excuses for the lack of miracles by preaching messages about God's will and having faith enough to NOT receive a miracle. But Moroni begs to differ." (Adrian Larsen)
http://www.totheremnant.com/2014/07/dwindling-in-unbelief.html?m=1
"Let us here observe, that three things are necessary, in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation.
"First, The idea that he actually exists.
"Secondly, A correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes.
"Thirdly, An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing, is according to his will. For without an acquaintance with these three important facts, the faith of every rational being must be imperfect and unproductive; but with this understanding, it can become perfect and fruitful, abounding in righteousness unto the praise and glory of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith, Third Lecture. Emphasis in original)
Authorship, approval and acceptance of The Lectures on Faith
"During the month of January, I was engaged in the school of the elders and in preparing the lectures on theology for publication in the book of Doctrine and Covenants." (Joseph Smith, HC Volume 2, Chapter 13, January 1835)
Preface to the 1835 Edition of the Doctrine and Covenants
"We deem it to be unnecessary t[o] entertain you with a lengthy preface to the follow ing volume, but merely to say, that it contains in short, the leading items of the religion which we have professed to believe....
"We do not present this little volume with any other expectation than that we are to be called to answer to every principle advanced, in that day when the secrets of all hearts will be revealed, and the reward of every man’s labor be given him.
"With sentiments of esteem and sincere respect, we subscribe ourselves your brethren in the bonds of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
JOSEPH SMITH jr.
OLIVER COWDERY.
SIDNEY RIGDON.
F[rederick] G. WILLIAMS."
Joseph Smith Papers, describing the process of acceptance by all quorums and the all men and women in the church.
"On 17 August 1835, a general assembly of the church met 'for the purpose of Examining a book of commandments and covenants' that had been 'compiled and written by' the publication committee. 'This Committee having finished said Book according to the instructions given them,' the minutes read, 'it was deemed necessary to call the general assembly of the Church to see whether the book be approved or not by the authoroties of the church, that it may, if approved, become a law unto the church, and a rule of faith and practice unto the same.' Though the assembly was convened 'by the presidency of the Church,' JS and Frederick G. Williams, a member of the presidency, were in Michigan at the time of the assembly. The responsibility of presenting the book to the conference therefore fell to Oliver Cowdery, a member of both the presidency and the four-man publication committee. Sidney Rigdon, the other presidency member and committee member present, stood and 'explained the manner by which they intended to obtain the voice of the assembly for or against said book.' Voting on the book proceeded by quorums and groups, with the leader of each group bearing witness of the truth of the volume before his group voted to accept it. After the voting by quorums, the entire church membership present, both male and female, voted to accept the book as 'the doctrine and covenants of their faith.'" (Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 2 page 307)
See Also Faith in 40 Years of Mormonism by Denver Snuffer, 9/23/13
"During his message on the Holy Spirit, the hunger in my soul became palpable. I could hardly stay in my seat. “Yes!” I thought. “This is what my life is missing. This is what I need!” (After all, I had already tried everything else). I had been filled with the Spirit once before, had spoken in tongues, but probably not in 10 years. When the evangelist gave the altar call for those wishing to receive the Holy Spirit, I went forward, despite some of the curious stares I got.
"Again, I didn’t shout. I didn’t dance around. I didn’t shake or lose control of my body. I didn’t fall out in the floor. In fact, the evangelist had all of the respondents sit down on the first row. He didn’t yell, spit, blow on anyone or try to push them down. He just prayed very simply for people to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Before he even reached where I was sitting, I began (quietly) praying in tongues.
"That night, a great sense of peace flooded my heart. I found myself singing in tongues while driving down the road a couple of days later. The relief I felt was so sweet.
"It was about two weeks later, after I had returned home to my husband, that I realized something incredible: there was no pain or anger in my heart anymore! All the dark memories I had of abuse and ridicule no longer hurt me. I had forgiven all of my abusers 100%, including the man who had molested me! The same-sex attraction I had been struggling with was gone, too. I no longer had any desire to look at porn or entertain fantasies about anyone other than my husband. I decided to start attending church more regularly–every week if I could. (April Kelsey. My Faith Experience, part 4)
Faith to come to understanding is greater than faith to be healed.
"I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time. Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again. But now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them. And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them. And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you. Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy. For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you." ()
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." (James 1:5)
"Never cease striving until you have seen God face to face. Strengthen your faith; cast off you doubts, your sins, and all your unbelief; and nothing can prevent you from coming to God." (Oliver Cowdery, HC v 2, ch 13, p 195)
"The intelligence out of which we were created might just as accurately be referred to as the 'word' or the 'thought' of God. In Genesis 1:3 we read: 'And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.' God speaks light into existence. Or we might describe it as God imagining or conceiving light into existence. Since we are made of light, or truth, or the glory of God, it would be equally true that He conceives or imagines us into existence. It was both a creative act and an act of faith for God to conceive of us...."
"It is absolutely essential to the process of 'creation' or 'conceiving' for God the Father to have a female consort or Mother God. If we were the product of only one mind’s thought, or word, or intelligence we could never act independently of the one mind. Everything about the conceived individual would be under the exclusive control of the one mind. Therefore such an individual would be wholly predictable and subordinate in all of its acts to the single mind. Only when two are jointly conceiving an individual does it become possible for the individual conceived to be independent of control. So long as both have input, neither one can fully control what the personality will choose to do. The life’s choices, the story-line, the events and decisions of any given personality cannot be fully controlled by either the Father or the Mother when both are allowed to create, conceive or organize the personality. Intelligences require parents in the plural; otherwise they could not acquire independence of thought.
"When the Father and Mother hold the thought (or word, or intelligence) long enough, with faith in the existence of this new creation, while neither one is fully controlling the individual intelligence, then existence becomes possible. The person has everything necessary to exist in her own right. It becomes possible for the intelligence to make her own choice. Only when the intelligence accepts that right and makes a choice freely, without control by the Father and Mother, does the intelligence begin to exist. 'All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.' (D&C 93:30) It was an act of faith by God the Father and His consort to cause the intelligence to be conceived or organized. But it requires an act of faith on the part of the intelligence to exercise her own free will to accept its creation. Unless she is free to act by making her own choice and actually does so, there is no existence." (Beloved Enos, Chapter 1, p. 17-20)
"Who cannot see, that if God framed the worlds by faith, that it is by faith that he exercises power over them, and that faith is the principle of power? And that if the principle of power, it must be so in man as well as in the Deity? This is the testimony of all [p. 7] the sacred writers, and the lesson which they have been endeavoring to teach to man." (Lectures on Faith, Lecture First)
"We must conform to the truth, the pattern given to us by God in order to be true to our core. God is in our core. He is now sustaining us from moment to moment. Without Him we would not exist at all. But He intends for us to become like Him." (Beloved Enos, Chapter 1, p. 28)
