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Confidence

1 John 5:13-15

13) These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

14) And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us;

15) And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Doctrine and Covenants 121:45-46

45) Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence was strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

46) The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

This idea of confidence is interesting to me. There seems to be many different kinds of confidence mentioned in the scriptures, but they all seem to be tied together. First, there's the confidence one may have in the atonement of Christ. This is the great confidence that is instilled in us due to our faith in Him and His ability to save us from our faults. We become His sons as we purify ourselves - from our thoughts to our actions to our characters - and become like Him.

This increases our confidence in ourselves and our standing before Him. As John points out, when we reach that certain level of confidence in and with Him, we are able to pray to Him for our righteous desires, full of the faith and confidence that He not only hears our prayers but will grant our petitions.

Then we progress to garner the Lord's confidence in us. I am reminded of Nephi - in Helaman chapter 10 - where the Lord gives him great power and authority, telling him further that whatever Nephi asks for will happen. This great confidence was gained from the Lord due to his faith in Him, his unwearyingness in declaring the word, his abandoning his own desires to serve the Lord, and his diligence in keeping the commandments he'd received. Abraham had similar blessings given to him through the confidence he was able to garner from the Lord.

I believe that this confidence is given to all who diligently seek Him, who humble themselves before Him, and who consistently and in spite of great challenges keep His commandments. I also strongly believe that this confidence in us already exists in Him. He wants so much to bless us - it is up to us to qualify ourselves for these blessings as we purify ourselves and apply ourselves to the effort to make ourselves worthy. It is in the effort we make that we become clean and worthy. In this manner, we find for ourselves the confidence in Him that we lack in ourselves. It is His strength that is sufficient for all of us. We need to find that out for ourselves.

I remember reading in a book published by a good friend of ours about his taking his daughters rappelling. He said it was the same for each of them every time - they got to the edge of the cliff and had a hard time relinquishing their fear of falling and putting their trust in that thin nylon rope. They'd seen it hold their father's weight, and knew that they were in no real danger. But there's something in our nature that makes us want to hold on to that semblance of control as long as possible. Finally, after much cajoling and gentle words, they leaned out over the cliff edge, their feet planted against the rock, and put their weight onto the rope. He said that with out exception, they all shouted for joy at the feeling of being supported by that rope. Their confidence in the rope was made firm because they overcame their fear.

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