The scriptures are pure light, devout prayer is needed

I had another wonderful learning experience in the Mt. Tipinogus Temple tonight. I was needing answers to why I retrogress instead of progress in my life. So I decided to fast and pray today until I had some answers, I had just eaten breakfast when I decided to do this. I prayed all day long with little spiritual learning. I got home from work, made dinner for my family, and then went to the Temple.

Right off the bat in the chapel I felt the Spirit with me. As I was praying, I had the scriptures open, and I decided to close them while I was praying (I was thanking Heavenly Father for them and was just feeling them). As I closed them I felt a wave of darkness, and so I opened them again and it was like turning on a flashlight and the light just poured out. The more they were open the more light that came out. I was taught that there is great power contained in these pages and that if we choose to close the scriptures in our lives then we will have darkness, but if we choose to open them and have them become a part of us then our lives will be filled with light and truth.

Still praying I started to flip through the pages, just basking in the light they radiated when I felt inspired to turn to a particular page and then I started feeling the verses and again my body was being filled with light, I felt to stop and I opened my eyes and read the verse, which is below:

Abraham 2:18-20
18 And then we passed from Jershon through the land unto the place of Sechem; it was situated in the plains of Moreh, and we had already come into the borders of the land of the ^aCanaanites, and I offered ^bsacrifice there in the plains of Moreh, and called on the Lord devoutly, because we had already come into the land of this idolatrous nation.

19 And the Lord ^aappeared unto me in answer to my prayers, and said unto me: Unto thy seed will I give this ^bland.

20 And I, Abraham, arose from the place of the altar which I had built unto the Lord, and removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of ^aBethel, and pitched my tent there, Bethel on the west, and ^bHai on the east; and there I built another ^caltar unto the Lord, and ^dcalled again upon the name of the Lord.

I was very impressed with the fact that Moses built an alter to offer sacrifices and to call upon the Lord. I thought long and hard about actually building an alter and thought that on our next family trip we are going to set up the tent and then build an alter to communicate with Heavenly Father. I think we will appreciate what it took in the ancient times to offer up sacrifices and to call upon the Lord. I think we will gain a great understanding that we too must build an alter brick by brick by spiritually preparing ourselves to "devoutly call upon the Lord." Moses prayed devoutly, and we too can pray and communicate with our Father in Heaven devoutly. Then the Lord appeared to Moses in answer to his prayers and I think we too can prepare ourselves to someday have a similar experience, but right now we can have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion if we will just live our lives in accordance with His will.

I also need to follow Moses's advice and pray continually. He built an alter every time they pitched their tents. If Moses can do that I can pray continually by day and night. I feel that I must improve my communication with my Heavenly Father. This will require a change in the way I think and act.

Another thing is that I felt I needed to redouble my efforts with my talk of the month and actually deliver it (film it) and then post it on my blog. I felt that the Lord is teaching and training me and this is something that I need to do. I felt that I needed to get to where I could prepare a talk quickly and be able to deliver it on the spur of the moment.