The Lord is Specific in Answering Prayer

CounselWithTheLordThis is going to seem like a really random post, but I promise if you will stick to the end you will find something worthwhile. I’ve prayed about it as I do all my posts and have decided the Lord would like me to share a few things about answering prayer. First off I want to let my regular readers know my boss would not let me quit my job. We worked out our differences yesterday.

Now I Know Why The Lord Inspired Me To Resign

I’m still employed. It’s nice to be wanted but its nicer knowing when I did what I felt prompted to do by the Lord – resign from my job – it was the right thing to do. The end result was an improvement in conditions of my life. I have a new boss – the CFO – who understands techs. My associate is now an exempt employee who can share my after-hours and weekend work load.

Sometimes We Have To Hear Hard Things About Ourselves

But most important of all, I learned a very hard lesson from the CEO that the Lord wanted me to hear. He said, “Tim, I asked six people and they all said you come across as condescending, pandering and even sometimes rude.” I listened to him rant and rave about my attitude for about five minutes without interrupting him. When he was done I asked if he would like a response.

Speaking Under The Influence Of The Spirit

Receiving his permission, I spent the next ten to fifteen minutes educating him on a multitude of things wrong with the way the IT department was being managed, or the lack thereof, why it is important to tech guys to have a boss who understands tech and exactly what I did for him in the evenings and on the weekends. He had no clue. I absolutely felt the Lord put words in my mouth.

The Lord Requires Us To Be Meek And Humble

I had gone into the interview grateful that the CEO wanted to talk to me, even though he had accepted my resignation. That told me he valued my skills, talent and expertise. I had prayed and prayed about the meeting all weekend. I asked and pled with the Lord to help me be meek and humble. In my gospel study yesterday morning I was lead to read a recent conference address.

Faulty Perceptions Are Easily Reinforced

Be Meek and Lowly of Heart,” by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Presidency of the Seventy is filled with invitations to humble ourselves as the Savior did in every circumstance. Before I read the article I was filled with the spirit of indignation of being misunderstood. I knew the CEO would have a few unkind things to say about me that were based on some faulty perceptions.

Inspiration To Not Speak Until the Right Moment

But perception is reality. As I prayed that morning and asked for strength and inspiration, the Lord whispered to me to keep my mouth shut until the appropriate time. It would have been disastrous if I had interrupted the CEO when he was on his tirade. In his mind he was right. He had asked for and received six confirming witnesses. Who is going to say no to the CEO?

The Lord Put Words Into My Mouth

I am not usually one to speak passionately off the cuff, without a prepared script. But when I asked and received permission to present my views on why I could no longer sustain working in the environment I was in, I was simply blown away by the words the Lord put in my mouth and the passion with which I was speaking. The CEO’s eyes got wider and wider with each moment.

Doing Things The Lord’s Way Works Miracles

I sensed his heart had softened. I heard him say, “What can we change to make you want to stay?” I spelled out the three main requests and he made each one of them happen on the spot. We came to an agreement that I would stay on and work on my attitude to be more cheerful and less condescending to employees who I knew were just trying to dump work on someone else.

The Lord Can and Will Be Specific If Needed

Here’s my point: The Lord answers prayer. He answers prayer in very specific ways. Sometimes he tells us how he’s going to answer prayer. He is also willing to give us detailed instructions on how we can be successful in difficult situations. I know I’m not the only one who has had such an experience but this one was direct, exactly as the Lord said it would be and undeniable to me.

It Took Faith and Was a Test For My Family

As I said in an earlier post, I did not know why I felt moved or instructed by the Lord to resign from my job. Well, now I know why. The reason was so my boss and I could work out a few differences that were making my life miserable and causing me great anxiety even to the point of panic attacks early last year. This is the second time I have quit this job and been asked to stay.

The Lord Knew I Needed His Help

I feel a great sense of relief. Having someone to share a burden, someone to whom I can assign to be on-call so I can turn off my phone or ignore emails from employees working from home is a big deal to me. The stress was killing me. I’ve lost 45 pounds in the past year all from feeling like I couldn’t relax from being “on” all the time. If you work in tech I’m sure you understand.

I Get A New Boss And Am Grateful

Having a boss with whom you can talk tech is also a big deal. I never would have thought it meant so much to me, but just because tech guys use acronyms as part of their normal every-day dialog apparently some people are offended. They take it as a personal insult as if you’re talking down to them. It’s a lose-lose situation. They don’t understand or resent you spelling things out.

The Lord Is Involved In Our Everyday Lives

Well, enough about the job. My whole intent was to let you know that once again, I can testify the Lord is directly involved in our everyday lives. He knows the trials we go through. I can’t tell you how relieved I am now with this change of circumstance in my work environment. Of course I still have issues to work on, but my faith is increased mightily that the Lord answers my prayers.

Thank You For The Birthday Greetings and Gifts

On a separate note, I want to thank everyone who sent me birthday greetings, cards and gifts of my favorite kinds – books. I’ve never met you people in real life and you are so kind to me. I thank you so much, Roger, Michael, and especially Doug. I received three CD’s from Doug Mendenhall of Denise’s latest talk from Jan 31st and two more unexpected ones from last year.

Don’t Want To Be Anyone’s Oracle Chick

Because Denise has such a hard time speaking (see note below) – I have pondered transcribing her talks and editing them but would need her permission for that. I know she doesn’t want to be anyone’s “Oracle chick” but she has shared some profound things that are worth pondering. She says the Lord gave her a mission to share something. I take it seriously. So should you.

Yes, Denise Has No Veil and Sees the Lord

Yeah, I can hear you now: “It’s more important that we take the words of the prophets and apostles seriously.” Yes, of course that’s important and I do as I’m sure most of you do. But when someone has a direct conduit to the spirit world, has testified of an open relationship with the Savior, and tells us He has asked her to share something, you’ve got to be a little curious.

We Get To Know People By What They Write

I’ve never met Denise. I’ve met Doug. I count him as a dear friend mainly because I know what he has been doing with his life, what he’s trying to do and I’ve read his books. Many people have told me they love me even though they have never met me because they have read my blog posts and feel we have much in common. Well, I feel that way about Doug and his very helpful books.

Advice on How to Deal With Hearing the Voices

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I have not found a more helpful book on how to deal with the adversary than Doug’s book on Conquering Spiritual Evil. It has meant the world to me. I have dealt with attacks from the adversary since my own foolishness in experimenting with drugs as a teenager opened a conduit that causes me to hear their voices almost all the time.

The Adversary’s Forces Are Well Organized

I have such empathy for those in mental hospitals, and I have met quite a few, who have such a hard time dealing with the voices. I know they are real. I hear them and I know what they want. I have learned to recognize different kinds who specialize in certain tactics. Do you realize how organized they really are? No, most people don’t even believe they are real. That is the sad part.

How to Discern The Voices Of Those Who Are Holy

Crazy? Go ahead. Call me crazy. I don’t care. It works both ways. I can also hear the voice of the Lord or ministering angels or the Holy Ghost or whomever he sends me. You want to know a secret? You don’t have to do anything special to hear the voice of the adversary or his minions. But you DO and MUST prepare your heart and mind to discern the voices of those who are holy.

Inspiration, Revelation, Dictation From The Lord

For me, they come when I write. Some call it a muse. I’m not sure I like that. I can test every line I write for truthfulness and helpfulness to others just by asking the Lord to tell me. Is it a gift? I suppose so. I like to simply call it inspiration. Sometime I feel it is revelation. I have felt like I was taking dictation – clearly lucid, never in a trance, and always in complete and total control.

The Lord Answers Prayers However He Wants

Nevertheless, such writing was always accompanied by a special warm and comforting spirit. The Lord has things he wants to tell us and needs us to know for our own good and development. He is willing to talk to us. He wants to talk to us. We are told that prayers are answered in the scriptures. I’m not going to disagree with that, but that is not the only way the Lord talks to us.

The Gift Of Prophecy and Revelation in Daily Use

Sometimes when I pray about an especially difficult problem or about an upcoming assignment to teach, speak in church or meet with someone – such as my boss – or the Stake President this Sunday, I can see in my mind’s eye how the meeting will go. My patriarchal blessing promises me the gift of prophecy and revelation. I have seen this fulfilled over and over again in my life.

Pitfalls Can Be Avoided By Always Telling The Truth

The blessing also contains wording to the effect that the Lord will warn me of pitfalls that may be placed before me by the adversary meant to hinder my progress or to destroy my faith or testimony. This is an area I wish I had developed earlier in life. The greatest blessing that has come from this wording is an absolute conviction of always telling the truth, no matter what.

A Dream Of When I Will Meet The Lord

As I grow older each day of my life, I have come to realize the value of knowing the Lord like never before. I have not seen him in this life, but have received a promise that I can and will. It came to me in a dream. I have not shared it and probably never will. It’s too sacred. It contained references to timing, specifically the remaining years of my life, which I thought very unusual.

Ask The Lord For Help to Interpret Your Dreams

I know dreams are symbolic so immediately upon waking I asked the Lord for help so I could remember it and then wrote it down. I also asked for help to interpret it. As I wrote, ideas came to me as to what certain parts of the dream could mean. That three-page documents sits in my scriptures next to my patriarchal blessing. It reminds me the Lord communicates in dreams.

Thank You For Your Prayers and Private Messages

I’ve written everything I felt the Lord desired I share this evening. I want to thank all of you who prayed for me. I got tons of private emails offering help with a job search, resume updates, places that were hiring and a ton of invitations to move back to Utah. No….. we love it here in California in the land of shake and bake. But thank you everyone for those prayers and emails.

Sometimes The Lord Will Be Very, Very Specific

I hope I’ve been clear. If not let me be as clear as I know how: I know the Lord answers prayer. I know from specific experiences in putting Him to the test. I know he can tell us exactly what to do. He often leaves us on our own to figure things out, but if our faith is great enough, and the need is great enough, he can and will be very, very specific about what to do or how to do things.

Ideas I’m Pondering For a Couple Of Future Posts

God bless you all and thank you for your readership. I have a few good posts planned. One that I think the Lord wants me to do is provide additional thoughts about Denise and Kitten and what they have shared over the years along with some thoughts on Doug’s jedi training. Sound crazy? Maybe, but I promise it will be interesting. Stay tuned. Joel 2:28 is being fulfilled in a big way.

A Note on Denise:

When Denise was ten she went into an unexpected diabetic coma for three days. With that she had a massive stroke with blood effusing into two-thirds of the left side of her brain. In their books both Doug and Denise make references to Denise having to learn to speak, eat and relearn all things she used to do before but now with the other side of her brain. The unexpected result of this traumatic illness is that she lives without a veil.

18 thoughts on “The Lord is Specific in Answering Prayer”

  1. Glad to hear you have had such a quick resolution. What a wonderful faith building experience….and another witness that the ‘witness comes after the trial of faith’. Such a good reminder that the Lord is so very involved in the details of our lives. I hope I can be in tune enough to recognize His hand in mine.
    I can’t help but thinking the reduction in the amount of stress and conflict that can come from such a work situation will lead to a direct increase in your ability to partake of the spirit in a more full measure. What an exciting opportunity!. I look forward to your future posts. God bless!

  2. Wonderful news, Tim.

    Thank you for your posts; they are never dull, and are very often inspiring. Your faith, thoughtfulness, and candor make this a must-follow page.

  3. I was interested in purchasing Doug’s books after reading your many references to him. I found that on all of the book sites that I am familiar with have stated that his books are not available and availability is unknown. I did find it available on a questionable site that didn’t accept paypal. I was especially interested in Conquering Spiritual Evil–no available by book or ebook…

  4. Hi Tim
    I am glad you have your job, I admire your bravery and courage and whole hearted belief in Heavenly Father. I have been preparing to teach Lesson 9 in Gospel Doctrine and I found a quote from a paper written by Larry E. Dahl called the “Abrahamic Test.”
    He quoted Joseph Smith: as reported by John Taylor in Journal of Discourses as saying “You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God…..God will “feel after you, and he will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God”

    You may or may not feel this is your “sphere” at the moment, but all things are spiritual unto God, all things lead us to an appropriate inheritance. I appreciate this statement, because I always want to trust in God, and allow myself to “be guided by his spirit in my trials and tests, even if it looks like I am going to fall off a cliff.

    It is so interesting that you were inspired to read this talk ” Be Meek and Lowly of Heart,” by Elder Ulisses Soares I recently wrote a post on this talk and I learned more what meekness isn’t, and everything I thought it was,it isn’t, It was embarrassingly humbling and I meditate on it still.

    It is interesting how job “evaluations” go. I am always surprised when my boss, under the pretense of a mid year review, will use the opportunity to “assail me with hear say”, Meaning as your boss stated that your co-workers take issue with what they see as “condescending or pandering or rude”. The adversary loves an audience, so he has to find backup for his lies You handled it well. In my circumstance, I pray for my boss, and I have asked for ways to improve my performance, and my attitude and most of all I pray for optimism and cheerfulness.
    God bless you Tim, you are great.

  5. Tim, I am a longtime lurker on your blog. I really appreciate this post so much. A few things clicked into place for me, not the least of which is how eager and willing the Lord is to work with us despite our flaws. Thanks for sharing your insights on this and so many other occasions.

  6. Thanks for your post, Tim. I have been a regular reader for about a year, and I appreciate your candor, honesty, and insights. I also bear testimony along with you to the Lord’s hand in our lives, if we allow it (and on occasion even when we attempt to reject it). I love to see how the Lord works!

  7. Happy for your employment changes and your connection with Heaven. I actually went to hear Denise Mendenhall speak and was not the least bit impressed.

    1. Hi Janet. I can understand your comment about Denise and her speaking ability. She has a very difficult time speaking in public. Because of having to relearn completely how to speak again from the opposite side of the brain you and I speak from, she is flooded with images that impede her ability to describe what she sees in a coherent fashion. I don’t really have permission to share this from Doug, but I will anyway:

      “Right after coming out of the hospital she would do speech therapy once a week. After several months of this she made the comment that the Lord didn’t want her going back to speech therapy. I asked how we would accomplish [this] since the medical establishment seemed to have it’s hooks in her. The next time we went the therapist gave her a sixth grade book to read. (She would have been in the 4th grade at that time). She took that thing and read it super fast with only two mistakes on the same word. It so shocked the therapist, especially since she had just learned to read again a few weeks before, that she told us after that she didn’t want her coming back any more.”

      My point is that her speech impediment is a test to us, not to her. It is up to us to see if we can get past the “um’s and “ah’s and nervousness. Judgment keeps us from getting the message. That’s why I suggested in my post how much I would like to take her recordings – I listened to her latest one today on the way to work – remove all the stammering and condense it to the meat of the message. Her 90-minute talk I listened to this morning from January 31st could probably been given in 20-30 minutes. But I think she’s amazing for doing as well as she does with what she’s lost.

      1. Janet, you weren’t supposed to be “impressed” with Denise. She stated at the beginning of her talk that she was there for one reason only, the Lord asked her to give it. She said what she was asked to say and sat down. She was not there to impress any one, she was there to obey what her Lord asked her to do, share more of her nde than she has in the past.

        Tim is right, if we can’t get past her “problems” then we will surely miss what she was asked to talk about. And what she had to say was extremely difficult, she has not talked about these things since she was show them by the Lord during her second nde.

        Like I told Tim in the email he quoted from, when Snuffer came to speak at a Zion seminar I did several years ago, at the beginning of his talk he took out a piece of gum, put it into his mouth and started to smack on it. If you listen to the talk he is smacking on that piece of gum all throughout the talk. At lunch he asked me how I liked that gum smacking. I laughed and asked why he did it. “If they can’t get past that, they don’t need to hear the message,” was part of his reply.

        I feel the Lord uses imperfect messengers to see if we will ignore those faults and actually hear the message. Those that see through the veil report that Paul’s voice went high and whiny when he spoke and was excited and that he had a “humped” back. Not your typical GQ specimen I suppose. Yet, his books comprise most of the New Testament. Imagine that.

        Denise does not need or desire your approval. Because she sees through the veil, she felt your judgment that night. I asked her after the event and she only said there was a lot of judgment there. Pretty sad what we do to each other, isn’t it. My hope was those that came would have got on their knees and asked Father is they were to go or not. If He said that yes, they were to attend, then they would come in the Spirit to hear what their Father wanted them to hear and not get caught up in the event or the messenger.

        Now as her father I will state this. I watched had her left brain destroyed by a stroke while in a diabetic coma when she was 10 yrs. old. Impossible for her to live she did come back, imperfect. She was a new born ten yr. old and had to relearn everything all over again with only one half of her brain to do so. They said it was impossible for her to live, and if she did, even more impossible for her to do anything again. She would “be a vegetable until the day she dies.”

        You heard an imperfect young woman, scared to be in from of people like you because she knew that would judge her, judge her speech, her palsy, her limp and about everything else you could find to judge. Yet she still did it, because her Father asked if of her. He has asked you not to judge, yet you do. Why?

        On the way back to her place that night she said, “Dad, can I have some money? Then if anyone asks if I got paid to do this you can tell them yes and then they can accuse me of priestcraft too.” I did give her some money, so you can now add that to your list of judgments.
        I sincerely pray Gods blessings upon you. And please forgive this old man for trying to “defend” a daughter that doesn’t need to be defended nor asks for any. She passed the test and did what her God asked her to do, as imperfect as she is, are we doing the same?
        Doug Mendenhall

        1. I went to Denise’s talk in January, and I’m grateful for the KNOWLEDGE she gave so that I was able to quickly act in behalf of my new grandson at his birth a few weeks later. I love the truth no matter how hard it is to hear. I needed that knowledge, and I’m grateful that Denise was able to give it. I was pained by the judgement directed at her in the room, and felt it because of my own spiritual gifts. The air was thick with it. She is a walking miracle and I love her for her courage. Someday, every judgement we have sent out will come back to us and we will determine the kind of judgement that the Lord will judge us with. If we want mercy, we must be merciful.

  8. Tim,
    I love this blog! Thank you for writing it.
    I look forward to every post. I get something out of it every time I read it. Mostly it’s hope. Thank you!

    Doug,
    Bravo! Thank you for defending your “little girl”. I read these comments and sometimes I feel we get lost in our own intellect that we forget the simplicity of the gospel. We forget to love because we are too busy analyzing every little thing. I’m so grateful to you and Denise. Your work has helped my little family’s life tremendously.

  9. I have a confession to make. I got a copy of the talk Denise gave, I had never heard of her before nor read any of Doug’s books but I have met Doug and his wife at the Snuffer talks. As I began listening, I struggled to get through the first part, it even frustrated me at times and I wondered why she wouldn’t just say things more clearly. I felt the prompting and was told by a friend to listen to the whole disc. As I did I felt the spirit as she spoke of her love for the Savior and how she struggled to watch him suffering, and all of a sudden I couldn’t hear the stammer anymore and there was no more frustration in me. I learned things from listening to it that I am very grateful for. Knowing what I know now about her previous struggles makes me feel as though I was being tested as I listened to it. My heart still has a ways to go, but I am hopeful I didn’t fail completely and I am glad I was able to receive some of the message the Lord was delivering through Denise. Doug, if you read this, will you tell her I am sorry and that I really do appreciate what she shared?

    Tim, thank you for your clarity and your testimony.

  10. This certainly had a good ending — and you didn’t have to wait long either. Nice. I appreciate that you share so much of your life. It really helps me in my quest for Zion. I have really been focusing on following the voice of the Lord lately, and trying to differentiate between my voice and Wormwoods. I am just starting to learn more from Denise — thanks for sharing that book, my daughter got it and is reading it, sharing it with me. much thanks!

  11. Hello Tim

    thanks for your latest post on how and when Heavenly Father answers prayer. You have no idea how much it has helped me.

    Kind Regards Jan Verrall

    On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 3:45 PM, Latter-day Commentary – Last Days – Signs

  12. Tim, this is one of your best articles!

    Thank you so much for posting it. I work in tech too, so I can relate to how things usually go!

    I absolutely loved what you had to say about voices from the other side. And I am definitely going to check out “Conquering Spiritual Evil”.

    Thanks again for being a source of positive reinforcement of Truth in my life. Have a great weekend!

  13. Thank you for this post, Tim! I was wondering how you hear the Lord so easily. Very cool! And glad you gave up and re-received the job!

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