Holland - "Lord, I Believe" - April 2013

A man bought his sick son to the apostles to have his son healed.  The apostles in their infancy told the man that they could not heal him.  In desperation, the man reach out to the Savior to heal his son and the Savior asked if he had the faith to believe.  In response he said, "Yeah, Lord.  I believe."  Elder Holland uses this story as the background of his talk to discuss faith and the need for us to strengthen our faith in the things of God.

Elder Holland offers several small bits of advice when it comes to gaining more faith in the things of God.

• In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited. In the growth we all have to experience in mortality, the spiritual equivalent of this boy’s affliction or this parent’s desperation is going to come to all of us. When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes.
  
• The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know.
  
• When problems come and questions arise, do not start your quest for faith by saying how much you do not have, leading as it were with your “unbelief.” I am not asking you to pretend to faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have. Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not! So let us all remember the clear message of this scriptural account: Be as candid about your questions as you need to be; life is full of them on one subject or another. But if you and your family want to be healed, don’t let those questions stand in the way of faith working its miracle.
  
• You have more faith than you think you do because of what the Book of Mormon calls “the greatness of the evidences.” “Ye shall know them by their fruits,” Jesus said, and the fruit of living the gospel is evident in the lives of Latter-day Saints everywhere.
  
• Please don’t hyperventilate if from time to time issues arise that need to be examined, understood, and resolved. They do and they will. In this Church, what we know will always trump what we do not know. And remember, in this world, everyone is to walk by faith.
  
• Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work.
  
• When doubt or difficulty come, do not be afraid to ask for help. If we want it as humbly and honestly as this father did, we can get it. The scriptures phrase such earnest desire as being of “real intent,” pursued “with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God.” I testify that in response to that kind of importuning, God will send help from both sides of the veil to strengthen our belief.
  

He speaks to those that are weak in faith and encourages them to relay on his faith until they can gain their own, strong enough to stand on their own.

• I know that God is at all times and in all ways and in all circumstances our loving, forgiving Father in Heaven. I know Jesus was His only perfect child, whose life was given lovingly by the will of both the Father and the Son for the redemption of all the rest of us who are not perfect. I know He rose from that death to live again, and because He did, you and I will also. I know that Joseph Smith, who acknowledged that he wasn’t perfect, was nevertheless the chosen instrument in God’s hand to restore the everlasting gospel to the earth. I also know that in doing so—particularly through translating the Book of Mormon—he has taught me more of God’s love, of Christ’s divinity, and of priesthood power than any other prophet of whom I have ever read, known, or heard in a lifetime of seeking. I know that President Thomas S. Monson, who moves devotedly and buoyantly toward the 50th anniversary of his ordination as an Apostle, is the rightful successor to that prophetic mantle today. We have seen that mantle upon him again in this conference. I know that 14 other men whom you sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators sustain him with their hands, their hearts, and their own apostolic keys.
  

Elder Holland concludes with these comments.

• What was once a tiny seed of belief for me has grown into the tree of life, so if your faith is a little tested in this or any season, I invite you to lean on mine. I know this work is God’s very truth, and I know that only at our peril would we allow doubt or devils to sway us from its path. Hope on. Journey on. Honestly acknowledge your questions and your concerns, but first and forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe.
  

Our faith in God is strengthened by us putting our faith into action.  The man in the parable didn't sit at home waiting for someone to show up and make their life better.  He took his son to the place where he knew things could happen.  He actively pursued the apostles and asked for their help.  I think sometimes we wait for someone to come to us, or we put aside the things we know we should do to wait for life changing things to happen to us.  I would encourage you to seek out those things that need to be done to strengthen your faith and then put those things in action.  Our faith will not grow unless we purposefully look for ways to come to the Savior so we can be strengthened.  Then, when we have identified how to come to the Savior, we need to move in that direction to make it happen.