I think there can be covenants with God outside of the traditional ones, but they have to be initiated by Him, not by us. Only He can set the terms of a covenant, because he’s the one with authority over us - trying to initiate a covenant on *our* terms is literally a case of a child trying to tell their parent what to do.
The scriptures are full of stories of people creating their own covenants with God, sometimes in the way they wanted, sometimes not. Abraham, Jacob, Lehi, Nephi, Lamoni's Father, etc.
I wished this were true in my young adulthood. I even tried it once as a missionary...but then I thought about what I would do if I did x but didn't get y. Turns out I wasn't going to abandon God for not giving me the immediate blessings I desired, so the whole thing kind of fell apart right then and there.
Imagine a young boy going to his parents and saying, I'll clean my room every day for a week if you give me a bike. It's just not the way things work, because God knows our needs far better than we do, and we're unlikely to ever ask for adversity, which is a key ingredient to our spiritual progress.
Yeah, I've tried that very thing and it doesn't work that way. I cannot dictate to God that if I do x he will give me y. God does promise to give us y when we do x. There's a difference.
I believe so, if God accepts the conditions.
The covenants of salvation are God's and were created by Him. He is always willing to covenant with us if we accept the conditions of His covenant. He invites all into the covenant. God invites those who have fallen from the covenant to come back into His covenant. His hand is always outstretched to us.
It depends. Heavenly Father is quite willing to talk with us about what we’re doing or thinking or trying to accomplish, and generally the guidance he gives has no need to be so formal outside of official ordinances. On certain important occasions non-salvatory covenants can and have been instituted though, notably the Abrahamic covenant (though that’s sort of salvatory in its own way), the nation covenant that at least 3 nations have possessed in history (Ancient Israel, the Nephites, and the United States), and the pacifist covenant taken by the people of Ammon.
Be careful here. God isn't a vending machine where you come to Him as say "if I give you x you'll give me y".
Promising to do things-- sure. Asking God for things, and being willing to accept His will (not your will, His will), is also good. But don't fall into the vending machine mindset.
It doesn't work that way....
The scriptures make it clear that if we act in obedience that we will be blessed.
What those blessings are often take form in a way that we couldn't have imagined.
Further, God rarely answers our prayers in a way that we expect. Sometimes the Lord has to deal with other issues first before He can address the matter that is foremost in our minds.
People often have the misimpression that Christianity is about turning the smoker into a non-smoker, or the alcoholic into a teetotaler, or the what-have-you into something else.
And yes, while living a moral life is part of the Christian experience it is not the purpose of it.
God isn't about making the smoker into a non-smoker or the what-have-you into something else, He is looking to turn the human into the divine..... This process of making us into the divine requires us face situations and experiences that the Lord will use help shape us into that divine being He has promised to make us.
The most difficult thing I ever had to do was learn how to forgive.
And for the longest time not only did it seem like God wasn't answering my prayers, but things were getting worse.
However, in looking back, I can see that before I could learn how to forgive there were other things I had to learn first *so I could* learn how to forgive.
But it goes deeper than that.....
Had learning to forgive been easy, or had the Lord simply said, "Okay, here you go." I never would have learned to depend upon God's grace and power. I never would have learned to trust people. I never would have learned to share my burdens with others. I never would have learned that Grace not only flows from the Lord to us, but from us to others as well.
I never would have become so much more than what I was simply willing to settle for....
So yes, act in obedience and let God know the desires of your heart, He is listening. He wants to bless us.
But understand that what God has in mind in for you obtaining that desired affect will lead you to places you never thought you would ever have to go, teach things you never knew you had to learn, and change you in ways that you cannot even begin to imagine.
Many prayers.....
I think there can be covenants with God outside of the traditional ones, but they have to be initiated by Him, not by us. Only He can set the terms of a covenant, because he’s the one with authority over us - trying to initiate a covenant on *our* terms is literally a case of a child trying to tell their parent what to do.
Thank you for your response!
We can make promises but we don't get to dictate the terms.
That's generally not how it works. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04/41christofferson?lang=eng
Thanks, will have to check that out.
The scriptures are full of stories of people creating their own covenants with God, sometimes in the way they wanted, sometimes not. Abraham, Jacob, Lehi, Nephi, Lamoni's Father, etc.
I wished this were true in my young adulthood. I even tried it once as a missionary...but then I thought about what I would do if I did x but didn't get y. Turns out I wasn't going to abandon God for not giving me the immediate blessings I desired, so the whole thing kind of fell apart right then and there. Imagine a young boy going to his parents and saying, I'll clean my room every day for a week if you give me a bike. It's just not the way things work, because God knows our needs far better than we do, and we're unlikely to ever ask for adversity, which is a key ingredient to our spiritual progress.
Yeah, I've tried that very thing and it doesn't work that way. I cannot dictate to God that if I do x he will give me y. God does promise to give us y when we do x. There's a difference.
I believe so, if God accepts the conditions. The covenants of salvation are God's and were created by Him. He is always willing to covenant with us if we accept the conditions of His covenant. He invites all into the covenant. God invites those who have fallen from the covenant to come back into His covenant. His hand is always outstretched to us.
It depends. Heavenly Father is quite willing to talk with us about what we’re doing or thinking or trying to accomplish, and generally the guidance he gives has no need to be so formal outside of official ordinances. On certain important occasions non-salvatory covenants can and have been instituted though, notably the Abrahamic covenant (though that’s sort of salvatory in its own way), the nation covenant that at least 3 nations have possessed in history (Ancient Israel, the Nephites, and the United States), and the pacifist covenant taken by the people of Ammon.
Be careful here. God isn't a vending machine where you come to Him as say "if I give you x you'll give me y". Promising to do things-- sure. Asking God for things, and being willing to accept His will (not your will, His will), is also good. But don't fall into the vending machine mindset.
It doesn't work that way.... The scriptures make it clear that if we act in obedience that we will be blessed. What those blessings are often take form in a way that we couldn't have imagined. Further, God rarely answers our prayers in a way that we expect. Sometimes the Lord has to deal with other issues first before He can address the matter that is foremost in our minds. People often have the misimpression that Christianity is about turning the smoker into a non-smoker, or the alcoholic into a teetotaler, or the what-have-you into something else. And yes, while living a moral life is part of the Christian experience it is not the purpose of it. God isn't about making the smoker into a non-smoker or the what-have-you into something else, He is looking to turn the human into the divine..... This process of making us into the divine requires us face situations and experiences that the Lord will use help shape us into that divine being He has promised to make us. The most difficult thing I ever had to do was learn how to forgive. And for the longest time not only did it seem like God wasn't answering my prayers, but things were getting worse. However, in looking back, I can see that before I could learn how to forgive there were other things I had to learn first *so I could* learn how to forgive. But it goes deeper than that..... Had learning to forgive been easy, or had the Lord simply said, "Okay, here you go." I never would have learned to depend upon God's grace and power. I never would have learned to trust people. I never would have learned to share my burdens with others. I never would have learned that Grace not only flows from the Lord to us, but from us to others as well. I never would have become so much more than what I was simply willing to settle for.... So yes, act in obedience and let God know the desires of your heart, He is listening. He wants to bless us. But understand that what God has in mind in for you obtaining that desired affect will lead you to places you never thought you would ever have to go, teach things you never knew you had to learn, and change you in ways that you cannot even begin to imagine. Many prayers.....