Angels We [Haven’t] Heard On High

For it is by faith that miracles are wrought.
And it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men.
Wherefore if these things have ceased,
woe be unto the children of men,
for it is because of unbelief;
and all is vain,
for no man can be saved,
according to the words of Christ,
save they shall have faith in his name.
Wherefore if these things have ceased,
then has faith ceased also;
and awful is the state of man,
for they are as though there had been no redemption made.

Moroni 7:37-38

Unbelief, not doubt, keeps us from miracles and visitations from Celestial beings. It took me years to recognize that there is a difference between doubt and unbelief.

What is that difference?

And now I Nephi cannot say more.
The Spirit stoppeth mine utterance,
and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief and the wickedness
and the ignorance and the stiffneckedness of men.
For they will not search knowledge
nor understand great knowledge when it is given unto them in plainness,
even as plain as word can be.

2 Nephi 32:7

Unbelief is a wrong belief. It is not disbelief, it is not doubt, but rather accepting a belief that is not accurate. According to Joseph Smith, faith involves “correct ideas” and that “without correct ideas … the minds of men could not have sufficient power with God to the exercise of faith necessary to the enjoyment of eternal life.” (Lectures on Faith 4:2).

What are the correct principles do you need to have in order to have angels minister to you?  The most basic principles in having an angel minister to you are:

1. Desiring.
2. Believing the Lord could make it known to you.
3. Pondering.
4. Asking

Simple enough, isn’t it? The problem is that most of us take the simple things for granted. It can’t be that easy. There has to be more to it. If it is so easy, why haven’t more people experienced angelic visitations? Etcetera.

As with most good desires in life, most worthy goals worth pursuing, we have a desire, believe it could happen, but lose hope in obtaining results when facing the onslaught of opposition and let downs.

You must choose between the apparent failure of faith, and the desire to persist. Facing the end, you must retain hope. This is good for your soul, even though it may be painful to endure. You must face the physical dilemmas and difficulties of life while viewing them in their true spiritual setting. You must rend the veil. […] You must lessen the distractions of this life. We move too much, are too noisy, too preoccupied and too distracted. […] Our pondering index goes unnoticed by our fellow man, but is one of the main criteria catching the attention of the angels. If you want to progress in the power of revelation in your life, it will require you to find time to meditate, and to ponder. Unless you become still, you will not resonate with that still small voice. […] If you aren’t asking you are sealing the heavens, you disqualify yourself from further knowledge. […] It is not Heaven’s responsibility to force upon us answers to questions which we do not ask.

The Second Comforter: Conversing with the Lord Through the Veil

Too many of us do not realize how important it is for angels to minister to us. We have hope in having eternal life through Christ’s atonement, but is that hope enough? Or are we supposed to press on to faith? Are we supposed to have evidence of our faith, a confirmation of our faith, through miracles and visitations from the Celestial world?

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Hebrews 1:14

If angels are sent to minister to those who’ve been selected to inherit salvation, shouldn’t we be ever persistent in desiring, believing, pondering and asking to have such an experience?