Is it God's will, or is it because of his faith...

[Rand]

Lehi makes a promise to the children of Laman and Lemuel. He says : "if ye are cursed, behold, I leave my blessing upon you, that the cursing may be taken from you and be answered upon the heads of your parents.

7 Wherefore, because of my blessing the Lord God will not suffer that ye shall perish; wherefore, he will be merciful unto you and unto your seed forever." 2 Ne 4: 6-7


Was this possible because God told him to give this blessing? Or did he just have the faith to make this promise, and God has to honor his faith by sustaining his promise?
Must it be God's will for us to make promises, or does HIs will shift depending on our faith?
Did he "push" the brother of Jared's vision, or did he "follow" the faith of the brother of Jared?
Are we truly agents unto ourselves, or are we just tools to be used to accomplish what He wants?
Is God truly allowing us to drive the work, or is He behind the scenes twisting fate here and there to make it come out the way He "Wants"?

[inho]

In my opinion, a blessing is something that comes from God. So even though Lehi says "my blessing" it is a blessing that came from God through Lehi's mouth.

If we have faith, we will not try to change God's will. Quite the contrary, we will try to align our own will with God's will. When we do this, we are not just mindless tools, but we are actually using our agency.

[Rand]

What if it is God's will that we develop the faith to make such Godly actions of our own free will and choice?

I value your opinion. You are where I have been for some time, but this idea keeps pressing on me. So, I think there has to be some other aspect to it. Thanks for your thoughts.

[inho]

What if it is God's will that we develop the faith to make such Godly actions of our own free will and choice?

Often times this is the case. Often the answer has been silence when I have prayed and asked something. It is not good to be commanded in all things (D&C 58:26).

Your original question had to do with a blessing Lehi gave. When giving blessing (especially if they are such prophecies as Lehi's blessing), one should try to express the mind of God. I haven't made prophetic statements like Lehi, but I have blessed the sick. I know that sometimes it might be hard to know if the words you use are your own thoughts or inspiration.

[Rand]

I completely agree. What I wonder about is if we can change the "mind of God" thought our faith. Is that possible, or is it a problem to even think that way? I remember in Groberg's book, the Polynesian father holding his dead son said, 'I have talked to God, and I want him here more than He wants him there, heal him.' (or something like that)
Can we change God's mind by applying tremendous faith?
I know there are some things that won't change, length of life, etc. But I don't buy into the idea of people needing to carry an illness etc. because it is God's will. I think it is only His will, until we develop enough faith to over come that illness. But until we hit that level of faith, we could need that illness. Why? To help us develop more faith, of course.

[inho]

Maybe we can have some influence on God, but within some limits. For example, Nephi was able to exchange the war to famine (Helaman 11:4-5).

[Silver]

Maybe we can have some influence on God, but within some limits. For example, Nephi was able to exchange the war to famine (Helaman 11:4-5).

A couple of chapters in 3 Nephi are another good example of your musings. Chapter 17 thrills me because the righteous desires of the survivors gathered at Bountiful influenced the Savior to have compassion on them. Jesus actually delayed his meeting with Heavenly Father to bless His followers. You do not keep the most important personage in the universe waiting without good cause.

3 Nephi 17:
3 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.

4 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.

5 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.

6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.

And with that Jesus asks for them to bring forth their sick and afflicted and He heals them. Jesus blesses the little children, angels come down, marvelous words are spoken in prayer, miraculous stuff -- just in chapter 17. Would those miracles have not occurred if Jesus had left according to His original schedule?

Jesus did not actually ascend into heaven that day until He first instituted the sacrament in chapter 18. I suppose we could safely assume that Jesus would have taught the sacrament to the survivors at Bountiful on His next visit on the morrow. However, He loved them so much that He gave it to them then, on the first visit. There were 2500 people there. Administering the sacrament would have taken a while. How did the survivors feel as they witnessed the ceremony for the first time? Did they check their smart phones for email while they were waiting? Did they look for some hip comments and cool memes in their Twitter feed?

Interestingly, Jesus was also planning to visit the lost tribes. What if their prophets had testified that Jesus would appear on a certain day (like Nephi at the time of the sign of the birth of Christ when the believers were threatened with death)? What if those lost tribes were expecting Him but due to Jesus remaining in Meso-America (not upstate NY or some other implausible location) longer than initially planned, He was delayed? I'm certain Jesus could make up the lost time and still arrive on schedule. However, when he decided to stay longer with the Nephites did He communicate in that instant with the Father and the Holy Ghost so the change in plans was broadcast to the right folks?

Can't wait to see the scriptures from the lost tribes and see how they reconcile with the events described in chapters 17 & 18.

[BeNotDeceived]

What if it is God's will that we develop the faith to make such Godly actions of our own free will and choice?

Check 1:00 for colored lights flashing on the horizon

Abraham 4:18 And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed.

It’s one of many paradoxes

See viewtopic.php?f=14&t=21472#p824807 for context. Fixed on edit.

Only by advanced 7-year postulation did the significant timing of many events become apparent. Thoughts and events must also be understood in context.

[True]

I think a lot of it had to do with faith. We can obtain promises from the Lord. It could have been someone other than Lehi to do what he did. But he acted and obtained promises from the Lord. He obtained a promise land and blessings about his posterity. Before Lehi was Joseph and the promises he obtained from the Lord through his faithfulness effected Lehi in a big way. It was through Lehi’s faithfulness that the promises to Joseph were fulfilled.

2 Nephi 3

5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light--yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.