In the third fireside in the series “Christ’s Ideals for Living” we look at how Christ lived and taught the ideals of Prayer, Forgiveness and Sacrifice.

1. CHRIST’S
IDEALS FOR
LIVING
Prayer
Forgiveness
Sacrifice

2. Obert C. Tanner
... the word “Ideal” means a
gospel standard. As such, an
ideal becomes “a way to
perfection”, “that which
inspires and directs,”
“something great and
splendid we wish to attain.”
... an ideal is always “the
better beyond the best.”

3. PRAYER
James 1:5
“If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God...”

4. PRESIDENT HEBER J. GRANT
“The minute a man stops supplicating God for His Spirit
and direction, just so soon he starts out to become a
stranger to Him and His works. When men stop praying
for God’s Spirit, they place confidence in their own
unaided reason, and they gradually lose the Spirit of
God, just the same as dear friends, by never writing or
visiting with each other, will become strangers.”

5. “Behold, my beloved brethren,
remember the words of your
God; pray unto him
continually by day, and give
thanks unto his holy name by
night. Let your hearts rejoice.”
2 Nephi 9:52
“And it came to pass in those
days, that he went out into a
mountain to pray, and
continued all night in prayer to
God.”
Luke 6:12
THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN SCRIPTURE

6. THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN CHRIST’S LIFE
The Lord’s Prayer May be divided into two parts. One part is the
three petitions of adoration: God’s nature, God’s kingdom, and
God’s will. The other part concern’s man’s needs: daily temporal
needs, need of forgiveness, defense against temptation, and
deliverance from evil. The contemporary teacher Walter Russell
Bowie commented on The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven.
“Help me to believe this day that there is power to lift me up
which is stronger than all the things that hold me down.”

7. THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN CHRIST’S LIFE
Hallowed be thy Name.
“Help me to be sensitive to what is beautiful, and responsive to
what is good, so that day by day I may grow more secure of the
holiness of life in which I want to trust.”
Thy Kingdom come.
“Help me to be quick to see, and ready to encourage, whatever
brings the better meaning of God into that which otherwise
might be the common round of the uninspired day.”

8. THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN CHRIST’S LIFE
Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
“Help me to believe that the ideals of the spirit are not a far-
off dream, but a power to command my loyalty and direct my life
here on our real earth.”
Give us this day our daily bread.
“Open the way for me to earn an honest living without anxiety;
but let me never forget the needs of others, and make me want
only the benefit for myself which will also be their gain.”

9. THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN CHRIST’S LIFE
And forgive us our trespasses,As we forgive those who trespass against us.
“Make me patient and sympathetic with the shortcomings of
others, especially of those I love; and keep me sternly watchful
only of my own. Let me never grow hard with the unconscious
cruelty of those who measure themselves by mean standards, and
so think they have excelled. Keep my eyes lifted to the highest, so
that I may be humbled; and seeing the failures of others be
forgiving, because I know how much there is of which I need to be
forgiven.”

10. THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN CHRIST’S LIFE
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.
“Let me not go carelessly this day within the reach of any
evil I cannot resist, but if the path of duty I must go where
temptation is, give me strength of spirit to meet it without fear.”
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever.
Amen
“And so in my heart may I carry the knowledge that thy
greatness is above me and around me, and that thy grace through
Jesus Christ my Master is sufficient for all my needs. Amen.”

11. PROFESSOR KATHERINE LEE BATES
AMERICAN WRITER, POET, AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
All day from the deep well of life within
Himself has He drawn healing for the press
Of folk, restoring strength, forgiving sin,
Quieting frenzy, comforting distress.
Shadows of evening fall, yet wildly still
They throng Him, touch Him, clutch His garment’s hem,
Fall down and clasp His feet, cry on Him, till
The Master, spent, slips from the midst of them
And climbs the mountain for a cup of peace,
Taking a sheer and rugged track untrod
Save by a poor sheep with thorn-torn fleece
That follows on and hears Him talk with God.

12. VIDEO CLIP: PRINCIPLES OF PEACE - PRAYER
Click the link below to play:
https://youtu.be/IMJHtuKkasM
2 minutes 50 seconds

13. THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN OUR LIFE
The statement that “God knoweth ye have need of these
things” (Luke 12:30) raises the question: Why Pray?
The answer is through prayer we give God a way to work through our
lives. The best in us is from God, and by prayer, this best we are—this
power to be—is appropriated and made real. All life is the
appropriating of universal forces, the tree from the soil and sunshine,
the engines from stored up energy, and the human life from Him “in
whom we live and move and have our being” (Acts17:28).

14. THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN OUR LIFE
Prayer consists of many forms:
Thanksgiving and praise (Acts 4:24-31; Thessalonians 3:1-2)
Trust (Ephesians 1:3-15; Hebrews 13:6)
Spiritual self discipline (Acts 14:23; 1 Corinthians 7:5)
Purification (1 John 1:9; 5:16)
Appeal for justice (Acts 4:24-31; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2)
Healing (James 5:14-15)
Prayer of love (Colossians 4:12; James 5:16)

15. THE IDEAL OF PRAYER IN MY LIFE
Prayer has never come naturally to me. I remember having a cute cat
picture in my room as a teenager with the caption “prayer should be
your first resort not your last”. Sadly for me, it was all too often my last
resort or when things get too desperate, I might then ‘give it a try’.
One writer speaking of prayer said “The most unused resource in the
world today is prayer. The greatest undeveloped resource is faith and the
greatest unused resource is prayer.”
Prayer has become a corner foundation of my testimony. I have had
many sacred and personal experiences with prayer.

16. BRIGHAM YOUNG
“Sin keeps a man from prayer, and
prayer keeps a man from sin.”

17. FORGIVENESS
Luke 7:47
“Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven; for she loved much.”

18. WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?
Forgiveness is defined as “an act or decision of an
offended person whereby the offender ceases to incur
the displeasure of the injured party and is released from
penalties....”
Forgiveness has two spheres of meaning:
1) Forgiveness of God to man.
2) Man’s forgiveness of man.

19. “If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
“And Be ye kind one to
another ... forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ’s sake
hath forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:32
THE IDEAL OF FORGIVENESS IN SCRIPTURE

20. THE IDEAL OF FORGIVENESS IN CHRIST’S LIFE
“Then Peter came to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I
say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times
seven” (Matthew 18:21-22).
When He was unjustly accused, then savagely assaulted, beaten, and
left suffering, nailed upon the cross at Golgotha, where he willingly
gave his life for us. In His anguish, in that very moment, He uttered
from the bottom of His meek and humble heart, still in physical agony,
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

21. THE IDEAL OF FORGIVENESS IN OUR LIFE
Do you have to forget, to truly forgive someone else?
“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own
sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25)
Spencer W Kimball said; “The Lord forgets when he has forgiven,
and certainly must we. ... No bitterness of past transgressions can
be held in memory if we forgive with all our hearts. So long as we
are bitter, hold grudges, and are unrepentant ourselves and
unforgiving to others, how can we partake of the sacrament?”

22. VIDEO CLIP: LET PEOPLE REPENT
Click the link below to play:
https://youtu.be/FSCNu9JQjv8
2 minutes 32 seconds

23. THE IDEAL OF FORGIVENESS IN MY LIFE
One previous girlfriend once said to me “don’t worry, that’s what the
atonement is for, the atonement covers our mistakes and the stupidities
of life”. Those comforting words beautifully sum up forgiveness. We can
obtain forgiveness for the things we transgress, whilst forgiving others
who unintentionally or deliberately hurt us. Forgiveness, like happiness,
is contagious, as we forgive ourselves and then others, we become a
happier (check out the findings of a scientific study here) and loving
people. As we become happier, we become more forgiving. Quoting a
popular Disney film, “it’s the circle of life”.

24. A limp figure hangs dying on a tree
After praying for strength in Gethsemane-
Drank the cup and then paid the price-
Forgiveness is not cheap,
It’s a sacrifice.
Poem © Glenys Robyn Hicks 1998

25. SACRIFICE
Mark 15:24 and Matthew 27:36
“And when they had crucified him” ... they sat
“down [and] watched him there.”

26. “And Samuel said, Hath the Lord
as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifice, as in
obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than
the fat of rams.”
1 Samuel 15:22
“Thou shalt offer a sacrifice
unto the Lord thy God in
righteousness, even that of a
broken heart and a contrite
spirit.”
Doctrine and Covenants 59:8
THE IDEAL OF SACRIFICE IN SCRIPTURE

27. “... Whosoever will come after
me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow
me.”
Mark 8:34
“For even hereunto were he
called: because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that he should follow
his steps.”
1 Peter 2:21
THE IDEAL OF SACRIFICE IN CHRIST’S LIFE

28. THE IDEAL OF SACRIFICE IN OUR LIFE
Gordon B Hinckley said “Without sacrifice there is no true
worship of God. I become increasingly convinced of that every
day. The Father gave his Son, and the Son gave his life, and we do
not worship unless we give—give of our substance, give of our
time, give of our strength, give of our talent, give of our faith, give
of our testimonies. ... A religion which requires devotion, which
asks for sacrifice, which demands discipline, also enjoys the
loyalty of its membership and the interest and respect of others.”

29. VIDEO CLIP: SACRIFICE AND SERVICE
Click the link below to play:
https://youtu.be/U2leYl6GRnc
2 minutes 01 seconds

30. THE IDEAL OF SACRIFICE IN MY LIFE
When I think of sacrifice my mind goes to two thoughts. Firstly, the
Hymn 27 with the words “sacrifice brings forth the blessings of
heaven” makes it seem that sacrifice, despite being difficult, is worth
it, if we keep going and have an eternal prospective.
Secondly, when King Lamoni comes to a realisation of the reality of
God, he cried out “wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will
give away all my sins to know thee” (Alma 22:18). What sin will you
sacrifice, today, to come to know God and receive His blessings from
heaven?

31. ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS
“I believe that Latter-day Saints who give unselfish service and
sacrifice in worshipful imitation of our Savior adhere to eternal values
to a greater extent than any other group of people. Latter-day Saints
look on their sacrifices of time and means as a part of their schooling
and qualifying for eternity. This is a truth revealed in the Lectures on
Faith, which teach that “a religion that does not require the sacrifice
of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary
unto life and salvation. … It [is] through this sacrifice, and this only,
that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life.””

32. IN SUMMARY: PRAYER, FORGIVENESS, SACRIFICE
“Prayer doesn't just change things - it changes us. If we are
diligent in seeking God, slowly and surely we become better
people.” Joyce Meyer
“When you forgive, you in no way change the past - but you
sure do change the future.” Bernard Meltzer
“Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not
something to regret. It's something to aspire to.”
MitchAlbom

33. VIDEO CLIP: IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
Click the link below to play:
https://youtu.be/hKYyPxecC_c
3 minutes 31 seconds

34. DanAbnett
(Doctor Who: The Silent Stars Go By)
“Rebuild your world, rebuild
your race, rebuild your empire.
Rebuild it all. But make sure you
rebuild your ideals too. Rebuild
the principles that made you a
great and honorable galactic
power in the first place. Don't
prey on the weak. Don't steal
from the helpless. Don't murder
the innocent. Be a force for
good, not a force for yourself.”

35. CHRIST’S
IDEALS FOR
LIVING
Adventure
Conviction
Eternal Life
Sunday 25th November at 7:00pm