From Virginia A. Pearce
Sometimes we may feel we are simply left on our own to do the best we can. I believe that if we were to wait until we recognized a clear answer every time we prayed, most of us would be waiting and wasting a good part of our lives.
Elder Richard G. Scott asked this question, “What do you do when you have prepared carefully, have prayed fervently, waited a reasonable time for a response, and still do not feel an answer?” He continues: “You may want to express gratitude when that occurs, for it is evidence of His trust. When you are living worthily and your choice is consistent with the Savior’s teachings and you need to act, proceed with trust. . . . God will not let you proceed too far without a warning impression if you have made the wrong decision.” (Richard G. Scott, “Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer,” Ensign, May 2007,10.)
President Gordon B. Hinckley had a personal motto that is quite practical. He taught in many settings: Things will work out. If you keep trying and praying and working, things will work out. They always do.” (Sherri Dew. Go Forward with Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996], 423.)
And so we have to pray and keep moving forward, trusting that if it is a direction that will not be for our good, the Lord will help us know. Otherwise, we trust that the Lord is bound to own and honor the decisions we have made using our own best judgment. . . .Brigham Young taught: “If I ask Him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from Him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, He is bound to own and honor that transaction, and He will do so to all intents and purposes.” ~Virginia A. Pearce (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013) p.192-93
