LDS LGBT answers to prayer

[bridget_night]

Questions and comments: So many lds lgbt kids went through a lot of turmoil because they felt the church and God was rejecting them. My own son was a wreck as a teenager over this. Finally he became angry at the church and God and rejected both. He joined the online 'raving atheists' group, but found it hard living without God and his faith in Jesus Christ. He was my most stalwart, faithful, believing child growing up. He would talk to God all the time and felt he was getting answers. It was hard as a mom to see him loose his faith and change 180 degrees. Today he is 36 and finally found his way back to believing in Jesus Christ.

Over the years when I was struggling with my husband to understand this issue, I would talk to many lds gay guys. I would read the stories of lds gay women and men who so wanted to do God's will. What surprised me was some of the personal revelations they got from God on this issue. Some were not only affirmed by God that He had created them this way and loved them dearly, but told they would have a gay relationship/marriage with children. Some of these revelations and answered prayers were given to them in lds temples.

Now my question is, "Why would God tell these young men and women, something that is totally against lds/scripture teachings?" I am sure some would tell them it is all from the devil or from their own carnal desires. But, I never got that feeling from these sincere, good youth. They just wanted to know God's will for them.

Now back to my son's experiences of coming back to his faith in Christ. When my husband found a gay affirming church with a gay pastor, I slowly saw our son's faith in Christ returning. Our son would attend this church and became friends with the gay pastor. This pastor, would come with his husband to our home and play scrabble with him. They laughed alot and had fun together. Then came serious talks. My son would share how depressed he was after being let go from his favorite job of 8 years, and then loosing a boyfriend. He wanted a serious relationship and gay marriage. This gay pastor, laid hands on my son's head and gave him a special blessing. He asked God to help my son find a good stable relationship, a better job, and His faith in Christ again. Our son was so touched that a pastor would do that as. That was a year ago.

Today, my son is happily engaged to a 43 year old dentist from the Philippians. He just got a super job in his field, and is reading the Joyce Meyers bible commentary every day that a close friend of his just gave him. He has gone from a very negative person to a positive one. This Easter he posted on his facebook wall about his faith in the Risen Christ. You can imagine how happy we are for him and to go to his upcoming wedding this fall. So many of our lds friends and relatives told us how miserable our son's life would be if he left the church. It has been just the opposite. So how does the church explain that?

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[On Own Now]

I'm so happy for you all. What a testament to the power of love!

[AmyJ]

You have a gift for asking the more challenging questions that get to the heart of the matter:)

"Why would God tell these young men and women, something that is totally against lds/scripture teachings?" I am sure some would tell them it is all from the devil or from their own carnal desires. But, I never got that feeling from these sincere, good youth. They just wanted to know God's will for them.

I feel that there are several levels of revelation going on:
a) Personal - It's your skin in the game, so you ponder/medidate/decide and act.
b) Community - Group of individuals make the same (or similar) choices for a variety of reasons. Blatant Examples: The WoW would not have been given the status it has without community buy-in or peer pressure. Church communities have created a culture that cares what young people do and largely keeps them away from some bad situations. Community decisions to form hedge laws have also created tons of heartache (or at least indigestion) which brought us here in one way or another.
c) Church Teachings - This is what is rolled out as needed (or 6 months ish) to advise the individuals and communities what to focus on (among other things). It is also synthesized from the personal and community revelations and influences the revelations received & the questions asked by leaders.

I don't know what rules govern what God says or doesn't say - but I believe that God can and might say something important to individuals because they need to hear it and are in a position where they can hear it. The community level and church teaching level revelations may need to focus on something else more (so they aren't given the message), or those individuals might not be in a position to hear a specific message.

So many of our lds friends and relatives told us how miserable our son's life would be if he left the church. It has been just the opposite. So how does the church explain that?

I feel that they can't.
At the end of the day, the pastor received revelation/inspiration/power to bless your son that inspired your son to hope for (and look for) happier things.

The traditional view held at community and church teaching levels would hold that that power was false, the revelation/inspiration should not have happened because no one fit the church doctrine of qualification to make that come to pass.

However, there are emerging cultural currents of communities in the church that will not blink twice at this miracle and will rejoice with you

[Curt Sunshine]

"(Humans) are that they might have joy," and joy is not a cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all answer.

[Roy]

Hi bridget!

I am overjoyed that your son is doing well. That is all that we can hope for any of our children - that they may be healthy, happy, and productive contributors in their sphere.

As for your answers to prayer, I believe that the significant majority of people that receive an "answer" to prayer report feeling some variation of love, reassurance, support, and/or acceptance.

I know in my experience I felt this overwhelming love and acceptance for me and my unborn and deceased daughter. It through me for a loop because I had come to expect that God required all these steps and qualifications before you could be truly acceptable to Him. That was not the feeling I had at all. It was not "well done my good and faithful servant." It was more like, "My dearest son, I love you immensely - as I have always loved you."


I do not know all the implications of this doctrinally other than to rejoice in the love that I have received.