LDS Quotes on Faith
“As patterns of obedience develop, the specific blessings associated with obedience are realized and belief emerges. Desire, hope, and belief are forms of faith, but faith as a principle of power comes from a consistent pattern of obedient behavior and attitudes. Personal righteousness is a choice. Faith is a gift from God, and one possessed of it can receive enormous spiritual power.”
| Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
“As patterns of obedience develop, the specific blessings associated with obedience are realized and belief emerges. Desire, hope, and belief are forms of faith, but faith as a principle of power comes from a consistent pattern of obedient behavior and attitudes. Personal righteousness is a choice. Faith is a gift from God, and one possessed of it can receive enormous spiritual power.”
| Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
“Faith is the assurance which men have of the existence of things which they have not seen and…the principle of action in all intelligent beings.”
| “Lectures on Faith”
“Hope is critical to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith. When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without expectation of reward. The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity.”
| The Infinite Power of Hope, Ensign, Nov 2008, 21–24
“We are looked upon by God as though we were in eternity. God dwells in eternity, and does not view things as we do.”
| Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 356.
“It is an obligation to serve the truth regardless of the cost. That is the cost of what we believe in.”
As I think about faith, this principle of power, I am obliged to believe that it is an intelligent force. Of what kind, I do not know. But it is superior to and overrules all other forces of which we know. . . . [We] have had this great power given unto us, this power of faith. What are we doing about it? Can you, can we, do the mighty things that our Savior did? Yes. They have been done by the members of the Church who had the faith and the righteousness so to do. Think of what is within your power if you but live the Gospel, if you but live so that you may invoke the power which is within you.
| Conference Report, April 1960, p. 21
It is my hope and my belief that the Lord never permits the light of faith wholly to be extinguished in any human heart, however faint the light may glow. The Lord has provided that there shall still be there a spark which, with teaching, with the spirit of righteousness, with love, with tenderness, with example, with living the Gospel, shall brighten and glow again, however darkened the mind may have been. And if we shall fail so to reach those among us of our own whose faith has dwindled low, we shall fail in one of the main things which the Lord expects at our hands.
| Conference Report, October 1936, p. 114
“The things we hope for lead us to faith, while the things we hope in lead us to charity. The three qualities faith, hope, and charity working together, grounded on the truth and light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, lead us to abound in good works.”
| The Infinite Power of Hope, Ensign, Nov 2008, 21–24
The Savior taught the Nephites that they must always pray to the Father in his name, adding: “And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you” (3 Ne. 18:20).
Here the Savior reminds us that faith, no matter how strong it is, cannot produce a result contrary to the will of him whose power it is. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord. That is why we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true security in our lives. President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Security is not born of inexhaustible wealth but of unquenchable faith” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 1982, pp. 72–73).
| “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,” Ensign, May 1994, p. 98
“God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.”
“Work on the projects ahead, and when you have taken one step in the acquiring of faith, it will give you the assurance in your soul that you can go forward and take the next step, and by degrees your power or influence will increase until eventually, in this world or the next, you will say to the Mt. Zerin’s [see Ether 12:30] in your life, “Be thou removed.” You will say to whatever encumbers your course of eternal progress, “Depart,” and it will be so”
| "Lord, Increase Our Faith,” BYU Speeches of the Year, October 1967, p. 11
Some say that they have not faith, that they cannot believe. What is faith? It is confidence. What is confidence? It is faith. Some people are striving and striving to get faith, when saving faith is simply confidence in God, flowing from walking in obedience to His commandments. When you have confidence in yourself, in any man, woman, or child, you have faith; and when you have not confidence, you have not faith. I believe they are co-partners, and the principle of faith and confidence is synonymous to me.
| Journal of Discourses, 4:249
“It is faith that will roll back the stone across the path of the human race and let the spirit of the Son of Man come again.”
When we get to the other side of the veil, we shall know something. We now work by faith. We have the evidence of things not seen. The resurrection, the eternal judgment, the celestial kingdom, and the great blessings that God has given in the holy anointings and endowment in the temples, are all for the future, and they will be fulfilled, for they are eternal truths. We will never while in the flesh, with this veil over us, fully comprehend that which lies before us in the world to come. It will pay any man to serve God and to keep His commandments the few days he lives upon the earth.
| Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff, p. 154
Some are willing to set aside the precious gospel truths restored by Joseph Smith because they get diverted on some historical issue or some scientific hypothesis not central to their exaltation, and in so doing they trade their spiritual birthright for a mess of pottage. They exchange the absolute certainty of the Restoration for a doubt, and in that process they fall into the trap of losing faith in the many things they do know because of a few things they do not know.
| “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration,” Ensign, November 2009, p. 37
Prophecy and religion supply the one most indispensable element in all our colossal endeavor, and that is faith – faith in the destiny of our democracy, faith in the triumph of righteousness over evil, and faith in the worth, the integrity, and the majesty of man.
| Conference Report, April 1942, p. 68
“The axiom ‘You get what you pay for’ is true for spiritual rewards as well. You get what you pay for in obedience, in faith in Jesus Christ, in diligent application of the truths that you learn.”
| "The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing"
“Let me spend a moment on an item that I think a great many people, particularly members of the Church, do not understand. A lot of our people–including a lot of you–have great amounts of faith but sometimes tend to distort that faith a little by saying, “I am not going to move until I receive a positive assurance”–a burning in the bosom, as it were–“that that is the right thing to do.”
You are all familiar with the scripture where Oliver Cowdery was trying to translate and could not do it. The Lord explained that Oliver had to figure it out himself, and if it was right He would give him a burning in his bosom; and if it was wrong he would have a stupor of thought. Many people say, “I am not going to move because I do not have that burning in my bosom. I am not positive about this, that, or the other . . . .” Too often we want to be positive about everything. We feel that we need to have this burning all the time. Often people say, “I am confused. I don’t know what to do”–and so they end up treading water and not doing anything, not making any real progress–and that, in and of itself, is a great sin. We should not do things wrong–and, as I said before, the Lord will let you know when things are wrong–but, for heaven’s sake, we should do something! This lengthening of our stride and quickening of our pace about which our modern-day prophet, the Lord’s spokesman, talks so much cannot happen if we are standing still. We must be moving, and we should be moving in the right direction.
Let me tell what I have discovered–and this is somewhat repetitious. I do not say that we will not get that burning in our bosom, for we will when it is the right thing. In my life there have been quite a few occasions where there was absolutely no question about it–that burning was there. For instance, I have had the experience of installing stake presidents when there was absolutely no question, when I was positive that “that is the man to be the stake president now.” It has happened in other situations also, but generally it has worked the other way–that is by eliminating the wrong directions to reveal the right direction, especially concerning our opportunities for progress in life in what we often term the temporal sense. We must try to figure it out ourselves. In the past I have tried out whether I should go into business or into teaching or into the arts or whatever. As I have begun to proceed along one path, having more or less gathered what facts I could, I have found that if that decision was wrong or was taking me down the wrong path–not necessarily an evil one, but one that was not right for me–without fail, the Lord has always let me know just this emphatically: “That is wrong; do not go that way. That is not for you!””
| What is Your Mission, BYU Devotional Address, May 1979
When faith springs up in the heart, good works follow, and good works will increase that pure faith within them.
| Journal of Discourses, 3:155
When you believe the principles of the Gospel and attain unto faith, which is a gift of God, he adds more faith, adding faith to faith. He bestows faith upon his creatures as a gift.
| Journal of Discourses, 8:17
I will take the liberty of saying to every man and woman who wishes to obtain salvation through him (the Savior) that looking to him, only, is not enough: they must have faith in his name, character and atonement; and they must have faith in his father and in the plan of salvation devised and wrought out by the Father and the Son. What will this faith lead to? It will lead to obedience to the requirements of the Gospel; and the few words that I may deliver to my brethren and sisters and friends this afternoon will be with the direct view of leading them to God.
| Journal of Discourses, Vol.13, p. 56, from talk given July 18, 1869
If the people will only be full of good works, I will insure that they will have faith in time of need.
| Journal of Discourses, 3:154
Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason there of until all of the events transpire.
| History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843]
“We exercise appropriate faith in our Master by involving ourselves in the work of the Master”
| By Grace Are We Saved. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989.
“Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and the cornerstone of our eternal salvation. As we exercise our faith in our Savior and apply His teachings in our life, we will be strengthened and we will not fear the world or heed its enticements.”
| Seek and Attain the Spiritual High Ground in Life, 1 March 2009 BYU Speech
When the challenges of mortality come, and they come for all of us, it may seem hard to have faith and hard to believe. At these times only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement can bring us peace, hope, and understanding. Only faith that He suffered for our sakes will give us the strength to endure to the end. When we gain this faith, we experience a mighty change of heart, and like Enos, we become stronger and begin to feel a desire for the welfare of our brothers and sisters. We pray for them, that they too will be lifted and strengthened through faith on the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.
| “Finding Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,” Ensign, Nov. 2004, p. 7
The main test of life on earth is to see if a person – not remembering the premortal existence with Heavenly Father and not being able to prove His existence by material evidence – will still have faith in God, trust Him, and obey His commandments, no matter the hazard or sacrifice that may be required.
| Sidney B. Sperry Symposium at BYU, 1991
Because of the conflicts and challenges we face in today’s world, I wish to suggest a single choice – a choice of peace and protection and a choice that is appropriate for all. That choice is faith. Be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort. It does not come as the dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28) and “Knock, and it shall be [given] you” (Matthew 7:7). These are action verbs – come, knock. They are choices. So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism. Alma’s classic discussion on faith, as recorded in the 32nd chapter of Alma in the Book of Mormon, is a series of choices to ensure the development and the preservation of our faith. Alma gave us a directive to choose. His were words of action initiated by choosing. He used the words awake, arouse, experiment, exercise, desire, work, and plant. Then Alma explained that if we make these choices and do not cast the seed out by unbelief, then “it will begin to swell within [our] breasts” (Alma 32:28). Yes, faith is a choice, and it must be sought after and developed. Thus, we are responsible for our own faith. We are also responsible for our lack of faith. The choice is yours.
| October 2010 General Conference
Therefore to be obedient to the precepts of our divine Master, we say unto you – Search the Scriptures – search the revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory, nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. No; for when men receive their instruction from Him that made them, they know how he will save them
| (History of the Church, 1:282-83) — Ensign, June 1994, p. 10
“Many in the world hold back from making the ‘leap of faith’ because they have already jumped to some other conclusions — often the conclusions of Korihor, which are: God never was nor ever will be; there is not a redeeming Christ; man cannot know the future; man cannot know of that which he cannot see; whatsoever a man does is no crime; and death is the end. (See Alma 30:13-18.) The number of modern-day adherents to the Korihor conclusions will grow.”
| “The Inexhaustible Gospel,” Ensign, April 1993, p. 71
“True faith is not to be brought about by overwhelming and intimidating intervention from God”
| “Not My Will, But Thine.” Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988.
“My brothers and sisters, temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service.
| The Holy Temple—a Beacon to the World
If we do not have a deep foundation of faith and a solid testimony of truth, we may have difficulty withstanding the harsh storms and icy winds of adversity which inevitably come to each of us.
Mortality is a period of testing, a time to prove ourselves worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. In order for us to be tested, we must face challenges and difficulties. These can break us, and the surface of our souls may crack and crumble – that is, if our foundations of faith, our testimonies of truth are not deeply embedded within us.
| “On Being Spiritually Prepared,” Ensign, February 2010, p. 5
“Real hope is much more than wishful musing. Hope is realistic anticipation taking the form of determination – a determination not merely to survive but to “endure . . . well” to the end. In the geometry of restored theology, hope has a greater circumference than faith. If faith increases, the perimeter of hope stretches correspondingly. Hope keeps us “anxiously engaged” in good causes even when these appear to be losing causes. Those with true hope often see their personal circumstances shaken, like kaleidoscopes, again and again. Yet with the “eye of faith,” they still see divine pattern and purpose. Whatever our particular furrow, we are to “plow in hope,” without looking back or letting yesterday hold tomorrow hostage.”
| Ensign, November 1994
In this world upheaval, in this day of wanton destruction, we, as a people must look upward. There must be trust and faith in our hearts. Hope must walk by our side. We must remember charity also. We must treasure the warm words of the Father to His Church, “Be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you” ( D&C 68:6). We who have been called to leadership in the Church of Christ must lead our people from anxiety and fear and doubt, to trust and faith in the Lord, and certainty in the outcome of the Lord’s plan of salvation. We must repeat with gladness the words of the Lord, “Fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks” ( D&C 98:1).
Above the roar of cannon and airplane, the maneuvers and plans of men, the Lord always determines the tide of battle. So far and no farther does He permit the evil one to go in his career to create human misery. The Lord is ever victorious; He is the Master to whose will Satan is subject. Though all hell may rage, and men may follow evil, the purposes of the Lord will not fail. The God of Israel, “He slumbers not nor sleeps” ( Ps. 121:4). It is well to remember the admonition of old: “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).
| Conference Report, April 1942, pp. 32-34
“…the truer measure of sacrifice isn’t so much what one gives to sacrifice as what one sacrifices to give. Faith isn’t tested so much when the cupboard is full as when it is bare. In these defining moments, the crisis doesn’t create one’s character it reveals it.”
| "Tithing, a Commandment Even for the Destitute," Ensign, May 2005, 34
For the natural man, sacrifice does not come naturally. He has an insatiable appetite for more. . . .Faith isn’t tested so much when the cupboard is full as when it is bare. In these defining moments, the crisis doesn’t create one’s character – it reveals it. The crisis is the test.
| Elder Lynn G. Robbins, General Conference, Ensign, May 2005
Increased faith is as vital and necessary today as it was when Jesus walked the earth. Our modern world struggles with insufficient faith. President Gordon B. Hinckley said in a conference talk: “This is my prayer for all of us. . . . Increase our faith to bridge the chasms of uncertainty and doubt. . . . Grant us faith to look beyond the problems of the moment to the miracles of the future. . . . Give us faith to do what is right and let the consequences follow.
| “Faith in Jesus Christ,” April 2001, Ensign, p. 22
“The whole visible creation, as it now exists, is the effect of faith. It was faith by which it was framed, and it is by the power of faith that it continues in its organized form, and by which the planets move round their orbits and sparkle forth their glory.”
| Lectures on Faith, 72-73
“In this long eternal quest to be more like our Savior, may we try to be “perfect” men and women in at least this one way now-by offending not in word, or more positively put, by speaking with a new tongue, the tongue of angels. Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today.”
| "The Tongue of Angels", Ensign, May 2007, 16–18
This faith and hope of which I speak, is not a Pollyanna-like approach to significant personal and public problems. I don’t believe we can wake up in the morning and simply by drawing a big “happy face” on the chalkboard believe that is going to take care of the world’s difficulties. But if our faith and hope is anchored in Christ, in his teachings, commandments, and promises, then we are able to count on something truly remarkable, genuinely miraculous, which can part the Red Sea and lead Modern Israel to a place, “where none shall come to hurt or make afraid.” Fear, which can come upon people in difficult days, is a principal weapon in the arsenal which Satan uses to make mankind unhappy. He who fears loses strength for the combat of life, in the fight against evil. Therefore the power of the Evil One always tries to generate fear in human hearts. In every age and in every era fear has faced mankind.
| “An Anchor to the Souls of Men,” CES Fireside for Young Adults, February 7, 1993
“Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time… Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls.”
| The Infinite Power of Hope, Ensign, Nov 2008, 21–24
“My boy, you must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and perhaps a few steps into the darkness, and you will find that the light will appear and move ahead of you.”
| Counsel given by Elder Harold B. Lee to Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple, pp. 184-86
“My testimony to you is that miracles do happen! They are happening on the earth today, and they will continue to happen, particularly to those who believe and have great faith. Miracles occur frequently in the lives of humble, fine Latter-day Saints who have the faith to make them possible. My feeling is that the greatest of all miracles is the one that happens in the life of a person who really learns how to pray, who exercises faith to repent, and who lives the gospel in a simple and obedient way.”
| Ensign, January 1989. p. 69
As member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we need to place unreserved confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we accept as the Son of God. Until the world accepts Him as the Savior of mankind, lives His teachings, and looks to Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life in all phases of our lives, we shall continue in our anxiety about the future and our ability to cope with the challenges that mortality brings to each of us. . . .Why is it expedient that we center our confidence, our hope, and our trust in one solitary figure? Why is faith in Him so necessary to peace of mind in this life and hope in the world to come? The answers to these questions determine whether we face the future with courage, hope, and optimism or with apprehension, anxiety, and pessimism.
| Ensign, June 1990
It is through faith that the Lord performs his wonders among his people; and in enduring that trial of their faith he gives a blessing; and often the Lord shapes trials in a manner different from our expectations. We, in our limited capacity may mark out in our minds a programme; and when he moves upon the checker-board, he does not move the men we have in our minds, but he shapes and moves in another way; and we should be satisfied with the result. He will get the game, and in the end will move into the king row and be able to move both ways.
| Journal of Discourses, 26 vols., 5:301
Fear not; ask questions. Be curious, but doubt not! Always hold fast to faith and to the light you have already received. Because we see imperfectly in mortality, not everything is going to make sense right now. . . . It’s true that “faith is not . . . a perfect knowledge” (Alma 32:21), but as you exercise your faith, applying gospel principles every day under any circumstances, you will taste the sweet fruits of the gospel, and by this fruit you will know of its truth (see Matthew 7:16–20; John 7:17; Alma 32:41–43).
| “The Reflection in the Water,” Church Educational System fireside for young adults, November 1, 2009