Reading 1 – Elder David A. Bednar has said: The Apostle Paul defined faith as “the substance of things hoped for [and] the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Alma declared that faith is not a perfect knowledge; rather, if we have faith, we “hope for things which are not seen [but] are true” (Alma 32:21). Additionally, we learn in the Lectures on Faith that faith is “the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness” and that it is also “the principle of action in all intelligent beings.” 1
These teachings highlight three basic elements of faith: (1) faith as the assurance of things hoped for that are true, (2) faith as the evidence of things not seen, and (3) faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings. I describe these three components of faith in the Savior as simultaneously facing the future, looking to the past, and initiating action in the present.
Faith as the assurance of things hoped for looks to the future. This assurance is founded upon a correct understanding about, and trust in, God and enables us to “press forward” (2 Nephi 31:20) into uncertain and often challenging situations in the service of the Savior. (Elder David A. Bednar, Seek Learning by Faith, Ensign, September, 2007)
Reading 2 – Luke 18:1-8
Reading 3 - Elder Richard G. Scott said: “It is a mistake to assume that every prayer we offer will be answered immediately. Some prayers require considerable effort on our part. …
“When we explain a problem and a proposed solution [to our Heavenly Father], sometimes He answers yes, sometimes no. Often He withholds an answer, not for lack of concern, but because He loves us—perfectly. He wants us to apply truths He has given us. For us to grow, we need to trust our ability to make correct decisions. We need to do what wefeel is right. In time, He will answer. He will not fail us” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1989, 38; or Ensign, Nov. 1989, 30–31).
Reading 4 - Luke 18:35–43
Reading 5 - Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: "Now Lazarus lived in the town of Bethany some two miles east of Jerusalem, but hidden from the Holy City by a spur of the mount of Olives. There also dwelt in this Judean village of blessed memory the beloved sisters Mary and Martha, in whose family circle the Lord Jesus so often found surcease from toil and rest from his labors. They and their brother Lazarus were three of the most intimate friends Jesus had on earth." (Mortal Messiah, 3:270)
Reading 6 – John 11:1-7
Reading 7: John 11:17, 20-29
Reading 8 - Elder Bruce R. McConkie: "Thus saith the Lord. He has spoken and so it is. He is the resurrection; it comes by him; without him there would be no immortality; he is the personification of that power which molds the dust of the grave into an immortal man....
"He also is the life; eternal life comes by him. Without him there would be no salvation in the highest heaven, no exaltation no continuation of the family unit in eternity, no fulness of joy in the realms ahead. He is the personification of that power which gives eternal life to all those who are born again who are alive in Christ. Those who believe and obey, though they die the natural death, yet shall they gain eternal life in the resurrection. Yea, those who believe in Christ shall never die spiritually: they shall be alive to the things of the Spirit in this life, and they shall have eternal life in the world to come. Death, as men view it, is nothing to sorrow about where the faithful saints are concerned; what if they, as do all men lose their lives here -- they shall yet gain the far more glorious reward of eternal life hereafter." (Mortal Messiah, 3:275-276)
Reading 9 – John 11:32-35
Reading 10 – John 11:38-44
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: "And there the inspired account ends. A reverent curtain of silence drops over the sayings and doings of Lazarus -- from his youth to the day he fell asleep in the arms of death; during the four days his spirit visited with friends in paradise, as he awaited the call to come back to the turmoils of life; and from the time he again breathed the breath of life until he laid down again his mortal tabernacle, this time to await that glorious day of resurrection of which Martha spoke. Lazarus lived and Lazarus died and Lazarus rose -- again that he might continue his mortal probation; that he might die again; that he might be, for his day and for all days, a living witness of the power of him who ministered in Bethany as the Son of God. We cannot doubt that he bore many fervent testimonies to many Jewish brethren relative to the life and death and life that was his." (Mortal Messiah, 3:280)
Reading 11 - Elder James E. Talmage wrote: "The raising of Lazarus stands as the third recorded instance of restoration to life by Jesus. In each the miracle resulted in a resumption of mortal existence, and was in no sense a resurrection from death to immortality. In the raising of the daughter of Jairus, the spirit was recalled to its tenement within the hour of its quitting; the raising of the widow's son is an instance of restoration when the corpse was ready for the grave; the crowning miracle of the three was the calling of a spirit to reenter its body days after death, and when, by natural processes the corpse would be already in the early stages of decomposition. Lazarus was raised from the dead, not simply to assuage the grief of mourning relatives; myriads have had to mourn over death, and so myriads more shall have to do. One of the Lord's purposes was that of demonstrating the actuality of the power of God as shown forth in the works of Jesus the Christ, and Lazarus was the accepted subject of the manifestation, just as the man afflicted with congenital blindness had been chosen to be the one through whom the Works of God should be made manifest." (Jesus The Christ, p461)
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