only questions, no statement

[jh36m]

Is it possible for the adversary to coax us in to praying because something seems amazing? Does the adversary motivate us to love God (On a deep level of connection)? Does the adversary give us a BOOST when we clear some junk out of our soul? Does the adversary make us feel real good when We say the first 3 words "Father in Heaven? " Heres probably the BIGGEST ONE HERE::-->> When you pray in proper form.. (Begin Father in heaven End in the name of Jesus Christ Amen) When you do this, is it possible that the prayer, and feelings that come TO you Will come from something or someone who is not God who you think you are praying to? Does it go to God uninterupted and come to you FROM God uninterupted? This is in no way sarcastic. its actually truly come to this point. for me. its just me. I'm reading the single most common affliction to mankind by rumplestiltsin this might say something too

[Juliet]

Always practice discernment. The Holy Spirit will guide us and teach us. These are good questions. Perhaps they are clues for you so you can have better discernment and receive enlightenment. You have pondered the question about prayer, what is your own discernment? My question to you, is why do we pray in the first place? What good does it do?

My own practice in discernment has lead me to conclude that God is giving life constantly and Satan is sucking life away. So if my answers to prayer leave me feeling deadened then I am missing truth somewhere. Usually the devil is manipulative and anywhere he can exploit he will, especially things of a religious nature because he gets the added benefit of mocking the true spirit of life.

The Devil's motivation for all of these things is to get your time, money (aka energy) , and to exploit you for his benefit. (Think taxes)

God's motivation for everything is to bless you. (Think inheritances)

He said "if ye love me... Keep my commandments."

Jesus isn't trying to control us. He doesn't even want us to obey Him unless it is out of love for Him.

All He wants is for us to come to Him and feel His love for us, without money and price, without us doing a single thing to earn His love and blessings.

Satan wants us overworked and righteous in a prideful way. Jesus wants us to be still and consider the lilies. All things will work out for our good.

As for our mistakes, this life was designed with natural consequences to teach us right and wrong. God doesn't need to punish us. Working out our salvation is a natural process of living and learning. He is never going to kick us while we are down. He just wants us to be grateful we are alive and can live, love, and learn without fear of eternal death and punishment that Satan is always harping to us about.

[gardener4life]

Satan tries to use stimulation. He can't use or mirror the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. So he tries to fake it with stuff like lust, loud music, the feeling of loud music stimulating your body, that is based on adrenaline and looking for a high. Stimulation has no boundaries and continually pushes the edge looking for the next high. (This isn't anything like the Spirit.) In stimulation that is not of God, it goes and comes similar to bipolarism. When it crashes you feel bad, and then are in captivity looking for the next high over time as you become dependent on moving from one high to the next.

On the other hand, Heavenly Father uses peace, love, joy (a tempered happiness that's reigned in proper boundaries). Doing good things brings in the Spirit, and the Spirit is truth and the guide to Truth. This is a calm sweet spirit that's not loud. It's very quiet and calm. It doesn't puff itself up and isn't about pride. It's about lifting yourself up and lifting others. It's totally different from stimulation and based on real things that you can't see that will endure while stimulation is fleeting and lost quickly. So you just think what are good things that Jesus would do and start doing them to try to feel the Spirit. At first people that aren't used to this really comfortable peace atsmosphere take a little while to figure it out sometimes because they are so used to lots of noise around them. And it takes a bit to realize that peace is a feeling too; that it's not an absence of feeling. And the more you feel and realize this peace the more you want to keep that peace with you over time.

It does take a little bit of practice to recognize what the Spirit is every time but you can do it if you make the commitment to follow what Heavenly Father shows you. Also don't let your thinking be clouded too much by worrying about which church is right YET. But focus on recognizing truth from error and having an open mind about things Jesus taught both in the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Listen to and think about Jesus' words that he says in both books and as you apply what he says in there then you will feel what's right. Try to surround yourself with people that are a good influence, and that will help you to be a better person. Start cutting away parts of your life that are not a good influence. It's sometimes hard to cut away friends that are a bad influence but when you start moving towards Heavenly Father and Jesus they reach back at you in small ways to help you see they are there and recognizing truth.

But if you have pre-meditated thoughts of I won't do this, I won't let them tell me what to do like rebellious thoughts and if you fight it then you won't feel anything, because that's having the heart of the liar. And another problem is what if you only think about it once a week? Will you feel anything then? Maybe a little but it's harder. If you think even a little for a few minutes each day you will progress better.

Also I would tell you the longer you wait the harder it is. It's better to start early moving towards the good. Also you can have a much brighter future the earlier you move towards truth, so it's good to try to take baby steps every day until you can go forward.

You started by having a question. Having real intent questions are good.

Now where can you start?

With listening to music. Music is a really good way to practice feeling the Spirit and recognizing it. Look for kind, peaceful, hymns about things of God that are NOT rock music. Rock music is stimulation. Not the spirit. The Spirit is peaceful. (It doesn't mean you have to give up rock music, etc. but you want to try to see if, hey can I feel something when I listen to this?) (There is recently a movement of gospel music that is trying to focus on the singer instead of intent of pure music though. Little by little those people will progress towards stimulation instead of inspiration.) Quiet piano music is good for this.

Here are some samples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8FdW0diox4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1GFMR39EVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO-I8XgU5ac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOrcqqpHCt8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWiSXDNtikQ

I invite you to go through them. Don't focus on Mormon or non-Mormon but just pray to ask Heavenly Father help you feel something in the music, to know if he's real, and for help to move towards him and his son Jesus Christ. And don't feel pressured by others.

Also your question from above about the adversary if he tries to get us to love God. Basically NO.

The adversary wants you to love yourself more than others, love the flesh and trust in carnality instead of trusting in Jesus. The adversary tries to get you to love stimulation, doing exciting things and love things like riches, rich clothes, harlots, power, prestige, and the things of the world.

Jesus on the other hand and Heavenly Father try to get us to love our family, love others, and be more accepting of others. And to help them. Before you pray you can prepare yourself by clearing your mind and thinking about Spiritual things first. If you are praying to Heavenly Father then it's Heavenly Father that hears it. I also like it to be private when I pray. I don't like to pray in public, plus doing so is too distracting.

[jh36m]

Ok Gardner, this is actually real real nice. Thanks. Thats what I want. thats the feeling. its right there. I apreciate it. I was listening to some easy stuff like sound of silence and fireflies, stuff like that, but maybe THIS is really specifically made. The stuff you gave links to. I think it coaxes and heals. and more than that. i've always connected to music in one way or another. I got to admit I havent been listening to hyms much, because I didnt think I would feel this. I think you understand... here I'll tell ya ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-WYSbrmddo You may not believe this but I have always loved Joseph Smith ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bewcITSOD7w

[gardener4life]

Sounds of nature can be peaceful too. So if you were doing that that's good too. Some people like listening to waterfalls and sounds of nature. I'm glad you are doing that. You ARE making progress! And thanks for posting links back. I hope to look at those shortly. Now that you are feeling this you can also feel this happy everyday too! You just do a little bit and keep taking baby steps until you can run. I'm excited for you. You are doing good.

[jh36m]

I hope you understand I feel alot, i'll say Many cases its got me in trouble getting deep feeling here and there differently. But I've felt different things, I've felt real strong convictions for things here and there, one is my family, I feel I'm not whole without them, they complete me. I feel a very very strong conviction about Joseph Smith. Its very very strong. I love him, he was so strong in everything he did and still does somewhere else I must say. I love my Dad. when i talk to him of troubles sometimes his voice softens with feeling. I don't get that from some others. I was so excited when I reconnected with my old friend in 2016. And reading of Jesus's last week on earth. The pain he went through. Sadness, but felt MORE love. When I was a kid I was very shy. extremely shy, to some extent still am I've always been afraid my feelings would show to people without me saying anything. MY PROBLEM now is I have to be real careful cause I'm one of those that it talks about in the scriptures being TOSSED by the wind in every direction. Ok, now the crackling of fire in a fireplace, is that somehow nature? Because its actually real real calming.

[Sarah]

Is it possible for the adversary to coax us in to praying because something seems amazing? Does the adversary motivate us to love God (On a deep level of connection)? Does the adversary give us a BOOST when we clear some junk out of our soul? Does the adversary make us feel real good when We say the first 3 words "Father in Heaven? " Heres probably the BIGGEST ONE HERE::-->> When you pray in proper form.. (Begin Father in heaven End in the name of Jesus Christ Amen) When you do this, is it possible that the prayer, and feelings that come TO you Will come from something or someone who is not God who you think you are praying to? Does it go to God uninterupted and come to you FROM God uninterupted? This is in no way sarcastic. its actually truly come to this point. for me. its just me. I'm reading the single most common affliction to mankind by rumplestiltsin this might say something too

Satan cannot know your exact thoughts unless you are possessed, at least that's how I understand things. So it's safe to ignore stimulating feelings if you're not sure what source they came from. But if you feel something great after saying something specific silently in you mind, then at least I would take that as an answer to prayer.

[jh36m]

Ok Sarah I sometimes I feel God can visit but not stay. there are always other influences. some days I really feel oppressed. sometimes carefree, I know I've dealt with evil spirits alot. Say I have some possession.. Is there something I can do, or do i need priesthood laying on of hands to expel something? If I can do it, that would be usefull. Cant stress this enough

[Sarah]

Ok Sarah I sometimes I feel God can visit but not stay. there are always other influences. some days I really feel oppressed. sometimes carefree, I know I've dealt with evil spirits alot. Say I have some possession.. Is there something I can do, or do i need priesthood laying on of hands to expel something? If I can do it, that would be usefull.

If you feel oppressed or that there is an evil presence around you, pray and ask for protection. Ask that the evil spirits will be taken away from you and that your home can be protected. A blessing can do it, but unless you have the Holy Ghost with you, it's easier for them to come right back. So do things that invite the Spirit of the Lord. Get rid of anything offensive around you. Spend your time praying always, repenting and remembering the Savior. Study the word of God and live it. Don't do things that are selfish, but that are unselfish towards others and God. If you feel inspired to do something and you ignore the promptings, the Holy Ghost will leave. You need to obey when you feel the Lord telling you to do good works.

I hope that helps and that you can find the peace you are looking for.

[jh36m]

I am connecting. You people are the teachers. I'm all good with that. In fact I'm very comfortable. and always have been in this way. Thank you for everything. I really mean it ALOT. seriously.