Summary: One of the core doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints is that of agency, and because of this, it is easy to conclude that God expects us to use our own intellect to make our own decisions. Yet, we’re also told to “Ask, and it shall be given you.” Then, are we to use our God-given agency to make our own decisions, or are we to ask God what decision we should make? This article seeks to help answer that question.

One of the core doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints is that of agency, which is defined as the right to freely decide for ourselves what we want to do. But in order for us to make a choice, we must have the ability to think for ourselves.

Another core belief of all Christians is that God is all-knowing, meaning that he knows everything and in Christ’s restored church it’s taught that the glory of God is intelligence (D&C93:36). Therefore, to be like God includes being intelligent, or having knowledge, and in order to exercise our agency, or make decisions, we must have knowledge.

Among all the animals God has created, man has the greatest capacity for acquiring knowledge and throughout his life, he is constantly gaining more of it. It is the level of his intelligence that allows him to make more complex decisions with better results, and because we’ve been endowed with agency and given ample opportunities to gain knowledge, God expects us to make wise decisions.

For this reason, it is easy to conclude that God expects us to use our own intellect to make our own decisions. This idea is reinforced when the Lord said, “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned” (D&C 58:27-29).

Yet, at the same time we’re told that we should “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8). The apostle James wrote, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). The Lord told Oliver Cowdery “behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right” (D&C 9:8).

So, which is it? Are we to use our own intellect and God-given agency to make our own decisions, or are we to ask of God what decision we should make? Are we commanded to ask God in all things, or are we condemned if we have to be commanded in all things?

Fortunately, the Lord has given us the answer through the pattern he has established in his church. While discussing how the priesthood is to operate, he explained that each office in the priesthood is to be organized into quorums, and then he said, “Of necessity there are presidents, or presiding officers growing out of, or appointed of or from among those who are ordained to the several offices in these two priesthoods” (D&C 107:21).

But why is it necessary to have a president with two or more counselors in every church organization?

For any organization to function effectively, there has to be one person who makes the final decision, but that can lead to someone becoming a dictator, unless there is something that can put a check on their power. In Christ’s church, that check is found in the counselors. Although the president must be the one who makes the final decision, his counselors have to feel comfortable with that decision. At the same time, in Christ’s church, the president must have the support of his counselors if they are to effectively preside.

And even then, the presidency also counsels with others, either formally or informally. For example, a bishop and his counselors not only discuss important matters among themselves, but they also meet with the heads of other organizations, either formally in a ward counsel session or informally, one on one.

Although the President of the church is God’s spokesman to the world, and is the only person authorized to exercise all the earthly keys of the priesthood, and most of them have become the president after serving thirty or more years as an apostle, yet he is required by the Lord to have counselors.

But, even when the First Presidency comes to an agreement among themselves, they must also counsel with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and by commandment, all of them must be unanimous in their final decision. (D&C 107:27). No other counsel in the church is required to do that, which means that the First Presidency and the Twelve, who we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators, are held to a much higher standard than anyone else when it comes to making decisions.

If Christ’s church is governed through the use of counsels, it would seem wise that we should use this principle when making our own decisions. But how do we do that?

One way is by seeking advice from those we trust. Everyone has their own opinion of what they think is right on just about any subject, but not everyone’s opinion is equally as valid, therefore, it’s crucially important that we seek counsel from those we know will give us good advice.

For example, if we were having a problem with the engine of our car it would be foolish to ask for help from someone who knew less than we did about engines. The wisest course of action would be to seek advice from someone who has extensive knowledge about automobile engines. Therefore, when we have a decision to make, especially if it is a difficult one, we should seek advice from those we trust to give us wise counsel.

Of course, the person who is the most knowledgeable and wisest of all, and the person we can trust the most because he always has our best interest in mind is God. Therefore, we should always counsel with him and seek his inspiration and guiding influence in all our decisions.

But if we have the ability to think and reason for ourselves, and God has given us the freedom to decide for ourselves, then why should we counsel with anyone?

The answer is because no one knows everything, and there are things that no one knows except God. For example, no one can read the mind of someone else, nor can we know what is in a person’s heart. In addition to this, no one knows for certain what’s going to happen in the future, and most of the time we don’t know what the consequences of our decisions will be.

With so much uncertainty, the choices we make using only our own limited knowledge, are in reality educated guesses where we hope we’ve made the right choice. Many times this can feel like we’re shooting at a target in the dark.

To illustrate this, suppose you had to find the correct answer to the sum of five numbers but you were only given three of them. Without knowing what the other two numbers were, it would be impossible to know what the correct answer was. In the same way, we can’t know with certainty what decision we should make when there are so many things we don’t know.

However, God knows what’s in the mind and hearts of men, and he knows the future. More than this, because of his great wisdom, he knows what the best solution is to every situation. Therefore, why would we not want to consult with God when making a decision?

In every council meeting, there is one person who must make the final decision, but they do so after listening to and weighing the advice from others. When we counsel with God, we are the ones who must make the final decision. As such, God is not so much telling us what we should do, but rather is allowing us to decide for ourselves after listening to what he has to say. What God does is allow us the freedom to follow his counsel or ignore it. This is what agency is all about.

God wants us to use our agency to think for ourselves, but part of studying things out includes asking for God’s input. Without doing that, it’s no different than trying to find the sum of five numbers but only knowing three of them.

The Lord has said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). But if we don’t ask and seek God’s counsel, then we won’t receive the advice we need to make the wisest decision of how to properly proceed.

But there’s another reason why we should counsel with the Lord when making decisions and that is to make sure we’re not interfering with HIS plans. Part of our spiritual growth requires us to go through hard times, but no one looks forward to them with joyful anticipation. In fact, we try to avoid unpleasant situations as much as possible. Therefore, it is only natural for us to make decisions based on what we think is in our best interest.

However, sometimes what we think is the best course of action can be counterintuitive. Sometimes God allows bad things to happen to bring about his purposes. For example, the scriptures tell us that in the last days wickedness will increase, that iniquity will abound, the love of many will wax cold and that people will hate, betray, and kill one another. That doesn’t sound like anything we want to experience.

However, the Lord has said that he will prove us to see if we will keep his commandments, and those who remain faithful during times of great adversity will receive a greater reward than those who were overcome by the temptations of life. Therefore, learning to endure severe trials is part of our spiritual growth,

When we talk about agency, it’s easy to think that God just dropped us off on earth and left us to decide for ourselves what we wanted to do, but nothing could be farther from the truth. God is our Father who deeply cares about us and wants what’s best for us. Like all good fathers, God’s goal is to help us become the best we can be. Therefore, he is watching over each of us individually and has a keen interest in our spiritual development.

Because of that, God is constantly speaking to us, but there are also many other voices trying to get our attention. The agency he gives us is to decide if we want to listen to his voice or that of someone else. Those who listen to God’s voice gain two advantages.

Since there are many voices trying to convince us to follow what they say, it can be hard to tell which is from God and what is from the world. Therefore, the first advantage to following God’s counsel is that the more we do it, the easier it becomes to distinguish his voice from all others.

The second advantage is that the more we choose to listen to God’s counsel, the more frequently we receive it. Or perhaps a more accurate way to say it is that we’re willing to accept what he says more frequently, and as we do, we begin to make wiser decisions.

 

Related articles can be found at The Nature of Man