"Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done"

Recently I have been pondering how the 3^rd watch and the day of the Lord is going to begin and what signs wonders, if any will accompany the return of Gods servants. I just got done doing key word searches having to do with the shaking of the heavens and the earth and with the sounding of a trump.

I am feeling very anticipatory

The 2^nd Chapter of Ether warns the Gentiles to repent BEFORE the FULNESS of his wrath comes.

And this cometh unto you, O ye ^aGentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the ^bwrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done. Ether 2: 11

I certainly hope this repentance takes place in a global way among the Gentiles.

A little further in Ether we are informed that the sealed portion cannot even come forth in the 3^rd watch UNTIL the righteous portion of the Gentiles have repented of their iniquity;

For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord. Ether 4: 6

Are we not the remnants of Israel who are identified among the Gentiles? Is not the absence of the sealed portion clear evidence that we have not yet, as a group repented?

My dear friend Tom (the same guy that told me about the James Cox seminar years ago) called today to tell me he had read my last post on the Allegory. He then asked when my next installment on the allegory was coming out.

That kind of took me by surprise because I wasn’t necessarily planning on doing more posts on it… but I kind of got the impression that Tom had an idea of what I should post about…

As the conversation progressed, Tom brought up one of his favorite topics… that of praying for the Savior and his servants to return.

This topic has been a reoccurring theme of Toms for about as long as I can remember. He is always talking about the power of prayer and the biology of belief and the importance of praying for the return of the Savior.

Tom works in the health care industry and he is always comforting the patients he comes in contact with. Whenever the spirit prompts him, (which is often) he testifies of Christ and of the power of faith and the power of prayer.

Recently he talked to someone about praying for the return of the Savior and that person, who is a strong member of the Church, who has served in high places said that praying for the return of the Savior was a new concept to him.

This person that Tom spoke with is in a study group with some rather famous, high profile Church members, one of whom writes books about success and positive habits and another person who has been a very popular BYU professor of religious studies and has lectured extensively about Joseph Smith, and Church History, etc. So this friend of Tom’s mentions this very new concept about praying for the return of the Savior to his study group and apparently he got a similar reply from them! The members of the study group felt it was a new concept!

Perhaps that is one of the most powerful differences between the “prophetic world view” of us “third watch” watchers and our other LDS brethren and sisters.

We see a need for group repentance and group deliverance and therefore we pray for the return of the Lord of the Vineyard and His Servants and the return of the kingdom so that the stone can begin rolling forth yet many of our other LDS brothers and sisters feel that all is well in Zion. (Perhaps they believe that Zion is already established in SLC Utah) and that the kingdom is already here, and that the stone began rolling forth 180+ years ago.. no wonder they don’t feel a sense of urgency to pray for the return of the Kingdom!

It sometimes seems a little lonely when you begin to see the hidden treasures in the scriptures.. but there are actually quite a few of us kicking around that are yearning for the light to shine forth.

Tom is just one of many people I know that is crying in his heart day and night for deliverance. Tom has a very close friend named Louie that shares Tom’s passion about praying for the kingdom. I have another dear friend named Brian who is a very talented construction supervisor that I work for who is always talking, thinking and praying about the return of the Lord and his servants.

Mr. and Mrs Malachi are also always praying for deliverance and Eric, another friend… so are some of my children.

There are many others I have met over the years that share this same yearning.

In addition to these people that I have personally known for a long time, this blog has enabled me to digitally meet others who are seeing the distinction between the “two watches” doctrine vs the “three watches” doctrine and are praying for the kingdom to come.

I sense that some of you are really yearning for the Marvelous Work to begin and for the stone to begin rolling forth as well.

But getting back to the conversation with Tom… he keeps stressing the importance of our part in this amazing event that is about to take place… on the part of us mortals on this side of the veil.

He seems to feel that the Lord and his Servants need to have some mortals on this earth that are yearning and praying for their return before they are going to return.

Is it possible that we have an important responsibility? Is it possible that we play a role in the return of the Lord of the Vineyard and his servants to the vineyard?

The prophet Joseph smith made the following comment;

“Men and angels are to be co-workers in bringing to pass this great work…” TPJS page 84

Obviously that comment had an application to the beginning of the foundation movement back in the 1830’s, but it also has an application in the 3^rd watch.

It is kind of exciting to think that even though the main laborers of the 3^rd watch were called in the 2^nd watch and will be returning, (possibly as angels.. possibly as morals... possibly as translated being..) there are still going to be mortals that work in conjunction with them when they return… but are we supposed to simply wait until they show up or are we supposed to participate in getting them here?

One of my favorite stories regarding the LDS foundation movement is the one about Brother and Sister Newel K Whitney sho had been members of one of the Sidney Rigdon congregation in the kirtland area.

Newell K. and Ann Whitney were drawn to the movement because its "principles seemed most in accordance with the Scriptures”

During that time Newell and Ann had a vision one evening;

Ann recalled;

" We had been praying to know from the Lord how we could obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost. My husband, Newel K. Whitney, and myself, were Campbellites. We had been baptized for the remission of our sins, and believed in the laying on of hands and the gifts of the spirit. But there was no one with authority to confer the Holy Ghost upon us. We were seeking to know how to obtain the spirit and the gifts bestowed upon the ancient saints.

Sister Eliza Snow was also a Campbellite. We were acquainted before the restoration of the gospel to the earth. She, like myself, was seeking for the fullness of the gospel. She lived at the time in Mantua.

One night- it was midnight- as my husband and I, in our house at Kirtland, were praying to the father to be shown the way, the spirit rested upon us and a cloud overshadowed the house.

It was as though we were out of doors. The house passed away from our vision. We were not conscious of anything but the presence of the spirit and the cloud that was over us.

We were wrapped in the cloud. A solemn awe pervaded us. We saw the cloud and we felt the spirit of the Lord.

Then we heard a voice out of the cloud saying:

Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!

At this we marveled greatly; but from that moment we knew that the word of the Lord was coming to Kirtland.”

Shortly after that, Sidney Rigdon took the LDS missionaries to his various congregations, which was probably how they were first introduced in Kirtland.

Of the missionaries' visit Ann later wrote:

"When I heard that these Elders were preaching without money, or remuneration of any kind, ... and that they were opposed to all priestcraft, I felt an earnest desire to hear their principles proclaimed, and to judge for myself."

Ann believed the elders' message was true. She shared it with her husband, telling him she planned on being baptized into the new faith. Newel asked her to wait until he had a chance to feel the same conviction, but Ann could not wait and was baptized a few days before her husband in November 1830.

About two months after Newell and Ann were baptized the prophet Joseph Smith who they had not yet personally met, walked into their store.

Ann Whitney later recorded this event:

"Joseph Smith, with his wife, Emma, ... drove up in front of my husband's store; Joseph jumped out and went in; he reached his hand across the counter to my husband, and called him by name. My husband, not thinking it was any one in whom he was interested, spoke, saying: 'I could not call you by name as you have me.' He answered;

'I am Joseph the Prophet; you have prayed me here, now what do you want of me?'

My husband brought them directly to our own house; we were more than glad to welcome them and share with them all the comforts and blessings we enjoyed."

I know there are lots of people who are, like the Whitney’s, yearning and praying for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the return of God’s authorized Servants.

What would it be like if Joseph the Seer or Sidney the Spokesman knocked on your door and said;

“Hello, I am Joseph the Seer, you have prayed me here, now what do you want?”

In the beginning of the foundation movement the Lord made the following declaration;

"And there are none that doeth good except those who are ready to receive the fulness of my gospel, which I have sent forth unto this generation." D&C 35: 12

I rather suspect that we are in the same situation just prior to the beginning of the 3^rd watch. We need to be ready to receive the fulness of the Gospel!

So what entails being ready to receive the fulness of the Gospel?

It seems to me that we should be searching and treasuring up the word of God, seeking the promptings of the Holy Ghost and praying for the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the Gift of the Holy Ghost and for the Kingdom to come!

Oh, but I keep wandering… back to Tom… he keeps stressing that those of us that believe in the return of the Lord and his servants and in the Marvelous Work that is about to come forth, need to be exercising faith in mighty prayer in a united way.

There really is something in the power of two or more people that unite in prayer. There is even more power in lots of people who are united in prayer.

So… for those of you who would be interested, in uniting in prayer with others, Mrs Watcher and myself and Mr. and Mrs Malachi, and Tom and others are inviting all those who would like to unite with us in prayer, to do so. It doesn’t matter where you live, we can all still be united in prayer in our hearts and minds.

The purpose of the prayer is to obey the command given in the Lords prayer which is to pray for the kingdom to come.

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matt 6:10

We will be doing this tomorrow night. Sunday evening April 5^th (The real Christmas Eve) during the 2^nd Watch (between 9 and 12 PM). Although we will probably be praying multiple times during those hours, there will be a designated time of 9 PM for those who can focus your energies at that time.

Those who are “night owls” may want to pray again at midnight like the Whitneys did. We are in MST for that feel the need to synchronize in the time zone you are in.