Why don't you receive what you pray for?

My Father was a a kind gentle man who taught me to forgive. It was said of him by many that he had the patience of Job. And there are only two or three times I can ever recall his being angry. One of those times was when someone began cutting his fences and thus letting the cows out. At first being the patient man he was he simply checked his fences every day and repaired them. After a year of this he got a little riled and started sitting in the bushes with a shotgun across his lap. He only wanted to scare them away, he said. He would sit there, he said, and pray that the Lord would help his old eyes see who was cutting his fence.
This went on for awhile, and them one day I called Mom  and asked how things were going. She told me about him waiting in the bushes with his shotgun. In fear that he would accidentally shoot someone or himself, I started praying that the Lord would protect him by not allowing him to see anyone to shoot and also help him understand why he shouldn't be shooting at them.
The next time he grabbed his shotgun and headed for the bushes.he prayed as always that the Lord would open his old eyes that he could see the person cutting his fences. He said this soft warm feeling came into his chest and he heard a voice that said, "What you ask, you will not receive because you ask amiss."
He said, "Thy will oh Lord be done." He took the gun immediately to the house and put it away. That night as he read his scriptures he started where he left off in the book of James fourth chapter. and when he got to the third verse he read, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lust." He was humbled then and prayed to the Lord that he would soften the heart of the person cutting his fence that he might see fit to stop harassing a poor old man. The fence cutting stopped immediately.             

Does the Lord appear unto man?

The first account of the Lord's appearance after Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden is probably at the tower of Babele. In Genisis 11:7 the Lord said lets go down, and there confound their language. It is most likely that the people being wicked and their spiritual eyes darkened they did not comprehend the Lord but that does not mean the Lord was not there. The Book of Mormon has a beautiful story of the Brother of Jared who saw the hand of the Lord during that time period.
"And the Lord said unto him; Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such excceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have see my finger."Ether 3:9
A little further in the book of Genesis (12:7) "The Lord appeared unto Abram." All right some will say but when Christ died the veil of the temple was rent in twain. Revelation ceased and the Lord no longer shows himself nor does he speak to us. Not so. He did appear unto different ones soon after he was taken up. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all give an account of his appearance. In 1 Corinthians 15:4-29 Paul explains explicitly that Christ lives and that the heavens are not closed. Paul says after he was buried, he rose again and he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; after that he was seen of above five hundred brethren. He gives more but it doesn't matter. It is by our faith that we can see him(as Christ said unto the Brother of Jared above.If we believe the heavens are closed and Christ is dead then he is dead to us and the heavens are closed to us.     

There is but one God who created the Heavens and the Earth

There is but one God who created the Heavens and the Earth. In Malachi we read. For I am the Lord. I change not. And in a letter to the Hebrews Paul wrote, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. If we believe in God then we all believe in the same entity. Some believe that when the scriptures say that the Father and the Son are one, they believe that is literal. Others believe that the Father and the Son are one in purpose, one in authority, and one in unity (in the same way that a man and his wife can be one flesh as it says in Genesis 2:24) but are separate entities. Does it matter? Is it worth fighting over. I don't think so. They are the same God, the same word, the same purpose either way. The truth is the same. Some may have a different portion of the truth, while other have more knowledge and a clearer vision of the big picture but it is the same truth. The Gospel, the truth, is so simple a child can understand it and  John 3:16 says it well. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.  That is the big picture, the why and the how and the purpose.     

The Sons of God

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name." John 1:12 So what is the power to become the sons of God and what does that mean?

I'm back online.

My old computer simply could not handle all the changes in updates, software, etc. I think I've got the problem solved for a few years.
Last year I focused on the Book of Mormon. This year I'm focusing primarily on the Bible. It may the New or Old Testament depending on the subject manner.  All of the scriptures are about Christ in one way or the other, but this year I'm making a special effort to learn more about Christ and to draw nearer to him personal. I choose John 17:3 which tells us Christ purpose on earth.
And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.    

But you believe not, because ye are not of my sheep

"John 10:25- 27  Jesus answered them, I told you and you believed nor; the works that I do in my father’s name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice and I know them, they follow me." 

We are the ones who make the choice to follow. If we follow him, we hear his voice and we cry unto him. He hears us just as we know his voice, he knows ours. He knows us because we follow him.

What is that to you. John 21: 22 Here Christ is getting ready to leave the disciples and apostles and has ask them what they desire of him. “And Peter asked the Savior. What shall this man do? Christ replied. What is that to you?” In other words, I think he is saying. Worry about your own talents and problems and follow me. Someone else’s talents or gifts are nothing to you. In other words we ought not compare ourselves to another.