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Face to Face: Seeking a Personal Relationship with God
“And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exodus 33:11).
Is it possible to talk with God as Moses did—face to face? This is not only what we long for, but what God also ardently desires. For Moses that may have meant an actual physical encounter, but for most of us it is an expression that suggests friendship, open communication, honesty, and the conversations of familiarity. But how is that done? And how can we learn how God speaks to us individually? Bestselling author S. Michael Wilcox explores the scriptural expressions and concepts of “pouring out,” “wrestling,” being “filled with desire,” and “knocking” at the door Jesus promised would open to us— particularly in those times when we deeply need heaven to hear us and to confirm to our souls that more than our words are being received.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
23 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
S. Michael Wilcox
53 books143 followersS. Michael Wilcox is an instructor at the institute of religion adjacent to the University of Utah. A frequent speaker at Brigham Young University Education Week, Michael also conducts tours of the Holy Land, Church history sites, Europe, China, and Central America. He received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Brigham Young University, a master’s in media from the University of Arizona, and his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in educational philosophy. He is the author of House of Glory and When Your Prayers Seem Unanswered.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
August 23, 2017
My neighbor keeps bringing me unsolicited church books. I guess she thinks I need Jesus. She's right. And I had been thinking about finding a book on prayer, so she must also be filled with the spirit. I really liked Face-to-Face. In it Brother Wilcox identifies different ways or forms of our reaching out to and feeling after God through various types of prayer. Two especially stood out to me, the pouring out kind of prayer and the prayer of the quiet.
Brother Wilcox taught that when we pour out our hearts to God, especially when we pour out those feelings or mistakes that we struggle to admit even to ourselves, God can take our empties hearts and fill them with His love, peace, and guidance.
My husband is a person who likes to use many words in communication. I tend to be more direct and less wordy. In the past I had worried that my prayers were not as good as his because his were always longer. I had already been taught by the spirit that we are different people; of course our prayers are different, but both are acceptable unto the Lord. What I learned from Brother Wilcox's teachings on the prayer of the quiet was that those silent moments in prayer can often be a soul to soul communion with the spirit of the Lord. They are valuable and can lead us to deeper spiritual insight, guidance, and a direct connection to Him. This added to my testimony that all moments and types of prayer can be used by the Lord for good. It is often in these quiet moments that we really know God.
Brother Wilcox taught that when we pour out our hearts to God, especially when we pour out those feelings or mistakes that we struggle to admit even to ourselves, God can take our empties hearts and fill them with His love, peace, and guidance.
My husband is a person who likes to use many words in communication. I tend to be more direct and less wordy. In the past I had worried that my prayers were not as good as his because his were always longer. I had already been taught by the spirit that we are different people; of course our prayers are different, but both are acceptable unto the Lord. What I learned from Brother Wilcox's teachings on the prayer of the quiet was that those silent moments in prayer can often be a soul to soul communion with the spirit of the Lord. They are valuable and can lead us to deeper spiritual insight, guidance, and a direct connection to Him. This added to my testimony that all moments and types of prayer can be used by the Lord for good. It is often in these quiet moments that we really know God.
August 30, 2013
I received Face to Face: Seeking a Personal Relationship with God by S. Michael Wilcox. And now I am rethinking everything I learned as a child about how to pray. I have always felt like there were so many things I wanted to talk about with my Heavenly Father but that I couldn’t waste his time with what were surely petty things. I have come to realize that nothing is petty to our Father in Heaven; if it is important to us, it is important to him.
The book centers on the concept of reaching. It comes from a description of Enos praying in the Book of Mormon. “”After Enos had prayed all day long and into the night, he ‘did still raise [his] voice high that it reached the heavens.’” (Enos 1:4). Brother Wilcox talks about how this sparked deeper reflection for him as he pondered on the meaning of this reaching to heaven.
The book discusses six different ways of reaching, including pouring out, believing and knocking, among others.
He uses stories from both his own life and from the scriptures to illustrate each point and to make it easily understandable. And in explaining, it fueled a desire in me to go back and study those scriptures again, to see not only what Brother Wilcox saw, but to see what truths, what inspiration and what revelation I can receive from them as well.
The book centers on the concept of reaching. It comes from a description of Enos praying in the Book of Mormon. “”After Enos had prayed all day long and into the night, he ‘did still raise [his] voice high that it reached the heavens.’” (Enos 1:4). Brother Wilcox talks about how this sparked deeper reflection for him as he pondered on the meaning of this reaching to heaven.
The book discusses six different ways of reaching, including pouring out, believing and knocking, among others.
He uses stories from both his own life and from the scriptures to illustrate each point and to make it easily understandable. And in explaining, it fueled a desire in me to go back and study those scriptures again, to see not only what Brother Wilcox saw, but to see what truths, what inspiration and what revelation I can receive from them as well.
August 21, 2013
(4.5)
This book started off strong. I definitely could perceive the author's then childhood thoughts about prayers bouncing of the ceiling and the wonderment of how it reaches "up" to Heavenly Father given the barricade. Then as an adult discovering Paul's words from Athens, "In him we live, and move, and have our being" (Athens 17:28), leading to believe that God is more "around" or "next" than "up" (pg4). Like the author, I still think God is situated above but Paul's statement offers the concept that we can speak to God in a matter of familiarity. A kind of face to face. So viewing God as being reachable provides confidence that we can have an intimate relationship with Him. Wilcox goes on to demonstrate the exchange of "pouring out" (us) and "pouring in" (God). Wow, that struck a chord! Because just a couple of weeks ago did I find myself in despair and "poured out" my aching soul to Heavenly Father in prayer and once all was unloaded, the "pouring in" from Him was immediate comfort. Oh, what a confirmation did it give to me that Heavenly Father was at that moment giving me a huge hug. That was my face to face! Hence, this "pouring" was one way of reaching God that this book pointed out. Others that were discussed included reaching through: wrestling, believing, acting, desire, and knocking (my favorite chapter next to pouring out). Then ending with a solid summary.
A powerful little book that can inbreathe the reader to build a meaningful relationship with God and shows how. Insightful examples backed by scriptures grants this book good ground to construct that feeling of speaking "face to face" with our Almighty God. A definite great addition to a collection of inspiring books.
Jinky is Reading
This book started off strong. I definitely could perceive the author's then childhood thoughts about prayers bouncing of the ceiling and the wonderment of how it reaches "up" to Heavenly Father given the barricade. Then as an adult discovering Paul's words from Athens, "In him we live, and move, and have our being" (Athens 17:28), leading to believe that God is more "around" or "next" than "up" (pg4). Like the author, I still think God is situated above but Paul's statement offers the concept that we can speak to God in a matter of familiarity. A kind of face to face. So viewing God as being reachable provides confidence that we can have an intimate relationship with Him. Wilcox goes on to demonstrate the exchange of "pouring out" (us) and "pouring in" (God). Wow, that struck a chord! Because just a couple of weeks ago did I find myself in despair and "poured out" my aching soul to Heavenly Father in prayer and once all was unloaded, the "pouring in" from Him was immediate comfort. Oh, what a confirmation did it give to me that Heavenly Father was at that moment giving me a huge hug. That was my face to face! Hence, this "pouring" was one way of reaching God that this book pointed out. Others that were discussed included reaching through: wrestling, believing, acting, desire, and knocking (my favorite chapter next to pouring out). Then ending with a solid summary.
A powerful little book that can inbreathe the reader to build a meaningful relationship with God and shows how. Insightful examples backed by scriptures grants this book good ground to construct that feeling of speaking "face to face" with our Almighty God. A definite great addition to a collection of inspiring books.
Jinky is Reading
October 24, 2014
This is a nice book that made me think about how I pray and the importance of prayer. I think that my most important take away was thinking about prayer as a relationship and not an action. I like the synonyms he focuses on of reaching, pouring out, talking, wrestling, desiring, knocking, believing. I am grateful for prayer. I know that God loves us and wants us to be close to Him.
Here are a few quotes I liked from the book:
Introduction
“I particularly like to approach heaven when I’m outside.”
“I believe our lives are, in a sense, a constant reaching upward towards God. We must talk to him as did Moses, face to face. This is not only what we long for, but what God also ardently desires....[it] suggests friendship, open communication, honesty, and familiar conversations....God is our friend, and friends speak with love, comfort, and trusting truthfulness.”
“The search may not be as difficult as we might make it. Whatever ceilings there may be, they are porous and the fabric thin. Are there not face-to-face possibilities for us all?”
“We also need to learn how God speaks to us individually, for he comes to us as we are. What do we do? How do we commence? What paths do we climb? How do we feel after God? How do we find him? I hope the thoughts I have wrestled with and found helpful for myself will not seem just another exercise in semantics. I have discovered that our standard approach to the problems and challenges of day-to-day living may be augmented by changing the formula, the words or directions we commonly use. This shifts us into new mind-sets that can guide us into deeper communications with heaven and a better understanding of mortality. At various times in our lives, the ceiling blocking our prayers from heaven may be thicker than at other times. We want to thin it!”
“Sometimes the very word prayer can get in the way of talking with God because it has so many meanings and images attached to it.”
Chapter One – Reaching through Pouring Out
“I did pour out my whole soul unto God” (Enos 1:9).
“Hannah had a problem no earthly help could solve. Have you ever felt that way? We are poignantly and briefly brought into her life with the very cryptic introduction, ‘Hannah had no children’ (1 Samuel 1:2).”
“‘I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit; I have…poured out my soul before the Lord...Out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken’ (1 Samuel 1:15-16). Here is a woman perfectly honest with the Lord and with herself.”
“I have found it useful to see my soul as a vessel; I often ask myself what it contains before I kneel before the Lord. There is a difference in my approach when I say, ‘I’m going to pour out my soul to God,’ rather than ‘I’m going to say my prayers.’ There is more intensity, more earnestness, and more honesty.”
“I believe what the Father wants from us is the contents of our souls. I sense that unless we pour out, he cannot pour in....this pouring out and pouring in binds us to one another.”
“‘Avoid being bashful with God, as some people are, in the belief that they are being humble.’”
“Sometimes just the relief of pouring out is so great we don’t need anything else—the pouring out itself is the answer....frequently we just need the understanding, patient, and loving ear that listens.”
“‘Lord, is this such a little concern in thy sight that I shouldn’t even bother you with it? Is my own vision the problem?’ And after that final, full pouring out, he answered, ‘If it is important to you, it is important to me.’”
“‘Lord, forgive me of my sins,’ and leave it at that general level. Sometimes I hear the Lord answer, ‘Why, Mike, what have you done?’ Knowing this is coming, I reply, ‘Well, you know.’ And he lovingly and tenderly responds with, ‘Yes, but it will do you so much good to tell me.’”
“Our own assessment of our goodness or folly is often woefully inadequate. Remorse is not a stable thing; it moves and shifts and gathers momentum until we open the floodgates and let it pour out into the loving ears and heart of a kind Parent who comprehends, forgives, and pours in peace and solace.”
“‘Do you think I am not aware of what is in the center of your heart?...Pour it out!’”
“‘O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee’ (Alma 22:18). There is such great honesty in these questing words. Frank sincerity is always a part of pouring out.”
“‘Is there anything else?’ Our Father in Heaven is a much better listener than I am. Perhaps the answers or comfort or direction we so earnestly want don’t come because the Father knows when there are still things inside that must find an exit. We wonder why he is not answering when he is patiently waiting for us to finish. I think I hear him say to me from time to time, ‘Mike, is it all out?’”
“Sometimes our heart is so full of love it spills over.”
“‘With your bowl of yoghurt, I give you all the beauty of the earth....I give you dignity, and hope, and security....I give you liberty, freedom, and independence....I give you truth and light....I give you a heritage built on the sacrifices of countless thousands who came before you....I give you wisdom....I give you guidance.’
‘Father, if I may, I should like to bless the bowl of yoghurt again.’
‘With your bowl of yoghurt, I give you my Son. What more can I give you to make you happy?’”
Chapter Two – Reaching through Wrestling
“Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer” (Alma 8:10).
“Sometimes when I need to raise my voice high I ask myself if Enos’s words describe what I am doing as I talk with our Father in Heaven....Intensity, concentration, passion, will, and effort are at work in the three prayer-filled areas that Enos focuses on—his own needs, his desires for the Nephites, and his hopes for the Lamanites. The answers simply must come! He won’t stop until they do!”
“Our wrestlings, like Alma’s, may not always bring immediate answers as they seemed to with Enos, though they took him all day and into the night. Yet eventually the desired reply will come.”
Chapter Three – Reaching through Believing
“Having found God and received his promises, we do not want to then lose them.”
“What God promises, God fulfills. That is one of the certainties of the universe.”
Chapter Four – Reaching through Acting
“Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself” (2 Nephi 2:16).
“Balancing many righteous desires and their demands on our time and energy is its own type of feeling and finding.”
“‘If you are not going to follow my counsels, why do you ask for them?’ ‘You’re probably right, Lord. But I don’t want to do it. Can I have another suggestion?’ Does God give suggestions? Or does he only deal in commandments?”
“‘I love your wife more than you do,’ the inner voice said. ‘Do you really think I would ever counsel anything that would not be for her benefit?’ Knowing this, I could act. Many times our heavenly reaches are answered by a returning question.”
“The question is to draw from Moriancumer a desire to see more. It is a hint; the Lord’s hints are always an invitation for reaching. The Lord is usually interested in giving us more than we asked for.”
“I think that sometimes our highest reaching is contained in how we respond to a question God might ask us about our petitions. ‘If I answer, will you act? Will you believe? Will you testify? Will you live it?’ Joseph Smith said, ‘For how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know’ (JS-H 1:12). God knew this boy. He knew he would believe, and act, and testify.”
Chapter Five – Reaching through Desire
“Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire...uttered or unexpressed” (Hymns no. 145).
“We need to tell the Father our desires.”
“It may not be so much a face-to-face conversation, but a soul-to-soul sharing. The mind is always busy, wishing to speak, but the soul may need quiet, wanting to feel. Most of our reaching will probably be of the uttered kind, but there is an equal potential in the unexpressed kind. In fact it may be a higher reaching. Here desire may not mean those things I want or need, but simply love.”
“In 3 Nephi we read, ‘They did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire’ (3 Nephi 19:24). Desire here seems to mean emotion, feeling, love, adoration, and unity rather than requests.”
“Often silence was the greater demonstration of love and the most needful, or the most unifying, or the most healing.”
“To this day, my oldest daughter talks of quiet times rocking in the chair as some of her fondest memories of growing up.”
“In the Prayer of Quiet, the mind calms, the always-probing memory is stilled, desire fills the soul, and the rain falls. Obviously we do not control the rain—it is God’s grace to us—but it comes because we yearn for it. When God’s love does the watering, we need to eliminate the noise.”
“‘Mike, you don’t need to say anything. You don’t need to thank me. Let’s just walk together for a while and share one another’s love.’ Sometimes—not often enough—we simply wish to say, ‘I love thee, Father, and I love thy Son.’ Nothing else is necessary.”
“It is well to seek greater solitude so as to make room for the Lord and allow His Majesty to do His own work in us.”
“When we are reaching with desire we are often inspired about what to pray for, that our hearts and minds may be one with our Father.”
“Our intense hunger to know something—anything—from the Lord creates a space for insight.”
“The spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).
“‘More longing for home,’ and ‘More, Savior, like thee’ (Hymns no. 131). Those words filled me with desire. I was overwhelmed with a sense of divine homesickness and love. I knew this world was not my home, but that my home way with my Father in Heaven.”
“He answers privately, Reaches my reaching” (Hymns no. 129).
“Music is a great facilitator for the Prayer of Quiet, the reaching through desire.”
“‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalms 46:10). Stillness is a necessary prelude to the knowing that comes after.”
Chapter Six – Reaching through Knocking
“The keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there....And whoso knocketh, to him will he open” (2 Nephi 9:41-42).
“I’m not convinced that this rejection [of the five unprepared virgins] is only because they are unprepared. I think it may also be because they are not familiar. The bridegroom does not know their voices. Why would he not know their voices? Because he has not heard them before—at least not frequently enough to allow entrance.”
“When entrance is granted, the Lord himself serves the supper. That is humility high as the heavens. This is a supper of truth, knowledge, love, and friendship. We feast on eternal sustenance, with Christ as the preparer and as the one who serves the meal....We know each other; the love is already established.”
“They [the sheep] know the shepherd’s voice! They have heard it before.”
“It takes diligence and practice to learn how to hold our mind centered on one thing or to clear it and wait to see what the Lord may show us on its surface.”
“You and I are not the only ones who wish for heavenly encounters with Deity. God also desires them.”
Final Thoughts – Rivers in Dry Places
“I have found my own life a fairly consistent pattern of connectedness....He has allowed us to find him.”
“I believe that our Father in Heaven wants to reveal his truth and goodness and beauty to us....We must, however, desire the water fervently. Our reaching must lift high as the heavens....May we feel after God and find him. May we know him face to face.”
Here are a few quotes I liked from the book:
Introduction
“I particularly like to approach heaven when I’m outside.”
“I believe our lives are, in a sense, a constant reaching upward towards God. We must talk to him as did Moses, face to face. This is not only what we long for, but what God also ardently desires....[it] suggests friendship, open communication, honesty, and familiar conversations....God is our friend, and friends speak with love, comfort, and trusting truthfulness.”
“The search may not be as difficult as we might make it. Whatever ceilings there may be, they are porous and the fabric thin. Are there not face-to-face possibilities for us all?”
“We also need to learn how God speaks to us individually, for he comes to us as we are. What do we do? How do we commence? What paths do we climb? How do we feel after God? How do we find him? I hope the thoughts I have wrestled with and found helpful for myself will not seem just another exercise in semantics. I have discovered that our standard approach to the problems and challenges of day-to-day living may be augmented by changing the formula, the words or directions we commonly use. This shifts us into new mind-sets that can guide us into deeper communications with heaven and a better understanding of mortality. At various times in our lives, the ceiling blocking our prayers from heaven may be thicker than at other times. We want to thin it!”
“Sometimes the very word prayer can get in the way of talking with God because it has so many meanings and images attached to it.”
Chapter One – Reaching through Pouring Out
“I did pour out my whole soul unto God” (Enos 1:9).
“Hannah had a problem no earthly help could solve. Have you ever felt that way? We are poignantly and briefly brought into her life with the very cryptic introduction, ‘Hannah had no children’ (1 Samuel 1:2).”
“‘I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit; I have…poured out my soul before the Lord...Out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken’ (1 Samuel 1:15-16). Here is a woman perfectly honest with the Lord and with herself.”
“I have found it useful to see my soul as a vessel; I often ask myself what it contains before I kneel before the Lord. There is a difference in my approach when I say, ‘I’m going to pour out my soul to God,’ rather than ‘I’m going to say my prayers.’ There is more intensity, more earnestness, and more honesty.”
“I believe what the Father wants from us is the contents of our souls. I sense that unless we pour out, he cannot pour in....this pouring out and pouring in binds us to one another.”
“‘Avoid being bashful with God, as some people are, in the belief that they are being humble.’”
“Sometimes just the relief of pouring out is so great we don’t need anything else—the pouring out itself is the answer....frequently we just need the understanding, patient, and loving ear that listens.”
“‘Lord, is this such a little concern in thy sight that I shouldn’t even bother you with it? Is my own vision the problem?’ And after that final, full pouring out, he answered, ‘If it is important to you, it is important to me.’”
“‘Lord, forgive me of my sins,’ and leave it at that general level. Sometimes I hear the Lord answer, ‘Why, Mike, what have you done?’ Knowing this is coming, I reply, ‘Well, you know.’ And he lovingly and tenderly responds with, ‘Yes, but it will do you so much good to tell me.’”
“Our own assessment of our goodness or folly is often woefully inadequate. Remorse is not a stable thing; it moves and shifts and gathers momentum until we open the floodgates and let it pour out into the loving ears and heart of a kind Parent who comprehends, forgives, and pours in peace and solace.”
“‘Do you think I am not aware of what is in the center of your heart?...Pour it out!’”
“‘O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee’ (Alma 22:18). There is such great honesty in these questing words. Frank sincerity is always a part of pouring out.”
“‘Is there anything else?’ Our Father in Heaven is a much better listener than I am. Perhaps the answers or comfort or direction we so earnestly want don’t come because the Father knows when there are still things inside that must find an exit. We wonder why he is not answering when he is patiently waiting for us to finish. I think I hear him say to me from time to time, ‘Mike, is it all out?’”
“Sometimes our heart is so full of love it spills over.”
“‘With your bowl of yoghurt, I give you all the beauty of the earth....I give you dignity, and hope, and security....I give you liberty, freedom, and independence....I give you truth and light....I give you a heritage built on the sacrifices of countless thousands who came before you....I give you wisdom....I give you guidance.’
‘Father, if I may, I should like to bless the bowl of yoghurt again.’
‘With your bowl of yoghurt, I give you my Son. What more can I give you to make you happy?’”
Chapter Two – Reaching through Wrestling
“Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer” (Alma 8:10).
“Sometimes when I need to raise my voice high I ask myself if Enos’s words describe what I am doing as I talk with our Father in Heaven....Intensity, concentration, passion, will, and effort are at work in the three prayer-filled areas that Enos focuses on—his own needs, his desires for the Nephites, and his hopes for the Lamanites. The answers simply must come! He won’t stop until they do!”
“Our wrestlings, like Alma’s, may not always bring immediate answers as they seemed to with Enos, though they took him all day and into the night. Yet eventually the desired reply will come.”
Chapter Three – Reaching through Believing
“Having found God and received his promises, we do not want to then lose them.”
“What God promises, God fulfills. That is one of the certainties of the universe.”
Chapter Four – Reaching through Acting
“Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself” (2 Nephi 2:16).
“Balancing many righteous desires and their demands on our time and energy is its own type of feeling and finding.”
“‘If you are not going to follow my counsels, why do you ask for them?’ ‘You’re probably right, Lord. But I don’t want to do it. Can I have another suggestion?’ Does God give suggestions? Or does he only deal in commandments?”
“‘I love your wife more than you do,’ the inner voice said. ‘Do you really think I would ever counsel anything that would not be for her benefit?’ Knowing this, I could act. Many times our heavenly reaches are answered by a returning question.”
“The question is to draw from Moriancumer a desire to see more. It is a hint; the Lord’s hints are always an invitation for reaching. The Lord is usually interested in giving us more than we asked for.”
“I think that sometimes our highest reaching is contained in how we respond to a question God might ask us about our petitions. ‘If I answer, will you act? Will you believe? Will you testify? Will you live it?’ Joseph Smith said, ‘For how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know’ (JS-H 1:12). God knew this boy. He knew he would believe, and act, and testify.”
Chapter Five – Reaching through Desire
“Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire...uttered or unexpressed” (Hymns no. 145).
“We need to tell the Father our desires.”
“It may not be so much a face-to-face conversation, but a soul-to-soul sharing. The mind is always busy, wishing to speak, but the soul may need quiet, wanting to feel. Most of our reaching will probably be of the uttered kind, but there is an equal potential in the unexpressed kind. In fact it may be a higher reaching. Here desire may not mean those things I want or need, but simply love.”
“In 3 Nephi we read, ‘They did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire’ (3 Nephi 19:24). Desire here seems to mean emotion, feeling, love, adoration, and unity rather than requests.”
“Often silence was the greater demonstration of love and the most needful, or the most unifying, or the most healing.”
“To this day, my oldest daughter talks of quiet times rocking in the chair as some of her fondest memories of growing up.”
“In the Prayer of Quiet, the mind calms, the always-probing memory is stilled, desire fills the soul, and the rain falls. Obviously we do not control the rain—it is God’s grace to us—but it comes because we yearn for it. When God’s love does the watering, we need to eliminate the noise.”
“‘Mike, you don’t need to say anything. You don’t need to thank me. Let’s just walk together for a while and share one another’s love.’ Sometimes—not often enough—we simply wish to say, ‘I love thee, Father, and I love thy Son.’ Nothing else is necessary.”
“It is well to seek greater solitude so as to make room for the Lord and allow His Majesty to do His own work in us.”
“When we are reaching with desire we are often inspired about what to pray for, that our hearts and minds may be one with our Father.”
“Our intense hunger to know something—anything—from the Lord creates a space for insight.”
“The spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).
“‘More longing for home,’ and ‘More, Savior, like thee’ (Hymns no. 131). Those words filled me with desire. I was overwhelmed with a sense of divine homesickness and love. I knew this world was not my home, but that my home way with my Father in Heaven.”
“He answers privately, Reaches my reaching” (Hymns no. 129).
“Music is a great facilitator for the Prayer of Quiet, the reaching through desire.”
“‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalms 46:10). Stillness is a necessary prelude to the knowing that comes after.”
Chapter Six – Reaching through Knocking
“The keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there....And whoso knocketh, to him will he open” (2 Nephi 9:41-42).
“I’m not convinced that this rejection [of the five unprepared virgins] is only because they are unprepared. I think it may also be because they are not familiar. The bridegroom does not know their voices. Why would he not know their voices? Because he has not heard them before—at least not frequently enough to allow entrance.”
“When entrance is granted, the Lord himself serves the supper. That is humility high as the heavens. This is a supper of truth, knowledge, love, and friendship. We feast on eternal sustenance, with Christ as the preparer and as the one who serves the meal....We know each other; the love is already established.”
“They [the sheep] know the shepherd’s voice! They have heard it before.”
“It takes diligence and practice to learn how to hold our mind centered on one thing or to clear it and wait to see what the Lord may show us on its surface.”
“You and I are not the only ones who wish for heavenly encounters with Deity. God also desires them.”
Final Thoughts – Rivers in Dry Places
“I have found my own life a fairly consistent pattern of connectedness....He has allowed us to find him.”
“I believe that our Father in Heaven wants to reveal his truth and goodness and beauty to us....We must, however, desire the water fervently. Our reaching must lift high as the heavens....May we feel after God and find him. May we know him face to face.”
August 28, 2013
There are so many things that I love about this book!
First, I love Wilcox's examples of his own, real life situations to better explain each topic. And not only does he tell you what happened, but he acts out the conversations that he had with God and God with him through his thoughts, feelings, and whispers of the Spirit. It makes it so real and tangible and helps you remember the times that you have had similar experiences. Or realize that you need an experience like this.
Second, I love his use of the scriptures throughout the book. He takes people and their stories and shows us how their experiences help us. And most of his stories are from the Bible which I really like because I am less familiar with the Bible stories than I am with Book of Mormon stories. And he does a great job of helping you understand them.
And third, I love how personal he is. I feel like you can really get to know Wilcox and the great person he is. As I read this book I thought of my own husband and how he can be like this man years down the road. He too was a seminary and institute teacher as my husband is trying to become. I told my husband he needs to read this book next summer when he has a few moments of free time (because working full time and student teaching won't allow it now). It's so well written and really helps you think about your relationship with God. I love that!
If you are looking to build a better relationship with God, definitely read this book! He helps you see how to reach out to Him and how to learn from those experiences. It's a great read!
First, I love Wilcox's examples of his own, real life situations to better explain each topic. And not only does he tell you what happened, but he acts out the conversations that he had with God and God with him through his thoughts, feelings, and whispers of the Spirit. It makes it so real and tangible and helps you remember the times that you have had similar experiences. Or realize that you need an experience like this.
Second, I love his use of the scriptures throughout the book. He takes people and their stories and shows us how their experiences help us. And most of his stories are from the Bible which I really like because I am less familiar with the Bible stories than I am with Book of Mormon stories. And he does a great job of helping you understand them.
And third, I love how personal he is. I feel like you can really get to know Wilcox and the great person he is. As I read this book I thought of my own husband and how he can be like this man years down the road. He too was a seminary and institute teacher as my husband is trying to become. I told my husband he needs to read this book next summer when he has a few moments of free time (because working full time and student teaching won't allow it now). It's so well written and really helps you think about your relationship with God. I love that!
If you are looking to build a better relationship with God, definitely read this book! He helps you see how to reach out to Him and how to learn from those experiences. It's a great read!
December 16, 2013
We all desire a good personal relationship with God, but the real question is how do we get it? How do we get that true communication that makes us feel like we are being heard and valued? This book looks to explain some ways that we can reach out and make our conversations more meaningful for us. By exploring the various ways of reaching out towards the heavens, we can truly develop a more personal relationship with God and understand that our thoughts and prayers are important to him. This can help us to seek out and recognize answers in good times and bad.
This is a subject that I'm always trying to work on. It can be so hard sometimes to really feel like my prayers mean something. I was excited to read this book, and I was not disappointed. I think the author really managed to put in interesting information that was still meaningful. The chapters are separated into different ways you can reach out to the Lord. Some of these include reaching through pouring out, reaching through desire, and my personal favorite, reaching through acting.
I thought the examples used were easy to understand and helpful. This book is not terribly long, so it's easy for even the busiest person to fit it into their schedule. I think a lot of people would benefit greatly from reading it. It helps to make you realize all the different ways there are to reach out and find answers and peace from the Lord. Anyone could use that I'm sure. Take some time to check this book out!
Book provided for review.
This is a subject that I'm always trying to work on. It can be so hard sometimes to really feel like my prayers mean something. I was excited to read this book, and I was not disappointed. I think the author really managed to put in interesting information that was still meaningful. The chapters are separated into different ways you can reach out to the Lord. Some of these include reaching through pouring out, reaching through desire, and my personal favorite, reaching through acting.
I thought the examples used were easy to understand and helpful. This book is not terribly long, so it's easy for even the busiest person to fit it into their schedule. I think a lot of people would benefit greatly from reading it. It helps to make you realize all the different ways there are to reach out and find answers and peace from the Lord. Anyone could use that I'm sure. Take some time to check this book out!
Book provided for review.
August 14, 2013
This is a book that needs to be read...
and then pondered...
and then read again...
there is SO MANY AMAZING thoughts in it!
If we want to talk with God face to face then we need to change from "saying our prayers" to "pouring out our soul to God."
"We (need to) always pour out our spiritual and emotional needs, but also our adorations, gratitudes, and loves."
When we "pour out" it leaves us empty so God an "pour in" the blessings.
If we want to talk with God face to face we need to be reaching through wrestling just like Enos. Instead of saying "I must go and pray" we must we willing to "go and wrestle before the Lord."
If we want to talk with God face to face then we need to be willing to "reach."
Reach through Believing
Reach through Acting
Reach through Desire
Reach through Knocking
Filled with many stories including personal and scriptural this book is a treasure that everyone needs to read.
and then pondered...
and then read again...
there is SO MANY AMAZING thoughts in it!
If we want to talk with God face to face then we need to change from "saying our prayers" to "pouring out our soul to God."
"We (need to) always pour out our spiritual and emotional needs, but also our adorations, gratitudes, and loves."
When we "pour out" it leaves us empty so God an "pour in" the blessings.
If we want to talk with God face to face we need to be reaching through wrestling just like Enos. Instead of saying "I must go and pray" we must we willing to "go and wrestle before the Lord."
If we want to talk with God face to face then we need to be willing to "reach."
Reach through Believing
Reach through Acting
Reach through Desire
Reach through Knocking
Filled with many stories including personal and scriptural this book is a treasure that everyone needs to read.
June 20, 2016
Very good book on strengthening our relationship with God. This is one I will be buying so I can read it again and highlight it this time!
February 18, 2019
This was a short book on prayer -- well, more than prayer, really. More like communing with God. I appreciated both the scriptural insights as well as the personal stories. There are different ways in which we converse with the Lord, and I appreciated the broad approach to conversing with and communicating with the Lord.
I especially loved Brother Wilcox's ideas on "pouring out" (as Hannah did) so that God can "pour in" His light and love. Sometimes the "pouring out" is most of the answer to what vexes us.
I also liked his thoughts about the "Prayer of Quiet," which is a chance to be still and feel God's answers for us.
A few quotes I highlighted:
"God is our friend, and friends speak with love, comfort, and trusting truthfulness."
"There is a difference in my approach when I say, “I’m going to pour out my soul to God,” rather than “I’m going to say my prayers.” There is more intensity, more earnestness, and more honesty. The very phrase suggests there will be no holding back. Prayer to me seems to imply only words or ideas. Pour out encompasses the world of emotions and feelings."
"I believe what the Father wants from us is the contents of our souls. I sense that unless we pour out, he cannot pour in. We want to make sure we empty everything to make room for what he will give us in return. In deep communication with our Father in Heaven, this pouring out and pouring in binds us to one another."
"Sometimes just the relief of pouring out is so great we don’t need anything else—the pouring out itself is the answer."
"The emptying itself is half the healing. Then we await heaven’s rivers of pardon, empathy, and mercy to flow in—which they always will if we let them."
"Whatever we find within ourselves we may pour out, and we should do so with the most open honesty—fears, disappointments, hoped-for fulfillments and dreams, wounds, frustrations, everything."
"I know of no child of God who does not need to, on a fairly consistent basis, simply pour out. We will pray, certainly, and that daily, but in addition to those more casual, not-so-consequential conversations, the heart has need to reveal itself at the pouring-out level. Those informal, intimate talks we have with the Lord throughout the day give us dignity born of the realization that a Being of such majesty permits this familiarity, but pouring out unites us to a Father with the trusting, loving innocence of a child."
"I realized that often when I become aware of God’s love or of his presence drawing near, I feel a great need to talk to him, to pour out. Yet many times, I could, if I allowed it, sense the Lord saying to me: Mike, you don’t need to say anything. You don’t need to thank me. Let’s just walk together for a while and share one another’s love. Sometimes—not often enough—we simply wish to say, 'I love thee, Father, and I love thy Son.' Nothing else is necessary."
"Sometimes when I feel the power of music, be it the words or the melody, I wonder: Is the song drawing out of me the emotions, thoughts, love, gratitude that are already there, but expressed in a way beyond my own talents—or is it putting them into me as a free gift of the Spirit? I suppose it is both. Either way, music is a great facilitator for the Prayer of Quiet, the reaching through desire."
"If I were to arrive at home and knock at the front door for admission, my wife or children might call out: “Who is it?” With a simple two-syllable answer, I can gain entrance. I would say, “It’s me!” How interesting! The human voice is so unique that among the billions of humans on the earth, my own particular voice would be recognized. And why? Because the person on the other side of the door has heard it many, many times and is familiar with it ... The voice on either the inside or the outside of the door must be distinguished, the family member or close friend instantly identified. We know that voice through long association because the Master has always been in the thoughts and intents of our hearts."
"We have, throughout the endowment, been feeling after him. All through the temple ordinances the expectation is that we will surely find him ... Having been true to our covenants, and having lived according to what God has already revealed, additional light, truth, wisdom, and knowledge will surely be granted. Conversations with God, through the celestial curtain that has separated us from him during our mortal journey, are the key to our reunion with him for eternity."
"Counseling with the Lord, therefore, requires the free expression of our own thoughts. It is a two-way communication, not only a child listening patiently to the wisdom of a Father, even the wisest of all Fathers. He listens to us as intently as we listen to him."
I especially loved Brother Wilcox's ideas on "pouring out" (as Hannah did) so that God can "pour in" His light and love. Sometimes the "pouring out" is most of the answer to what vexes us.
I also liked his thoughts about the "Prayer of Quiet," which is a chance to be still and feel God's answers for us.
A few quotes I highlighted:
"God is our friend, and friends speak with love, comfort, and trusting truthfulness."
"There is a difference in my approach when I say, “I’m going to pour out my soul to God,” rather than “I’m going to say my prayers.” There is more intensity, more earnestness, and more honesty. The very phrase suggests there will be no holding back. Prayer to me seems to imply only words or ideas. Pour out encompasses the world of emotions and feelings."
"I believe what the Father wants from us is the contents of our souls. I sense that unless we pour out, he cannot pour in. We want to make sure we empty everything to make room for what he will give us in return. In deep communication with our Father in Heaven, this pouring out and pouring in binds us to one another."
"Sometimes just the relief of pouring out is so great we don’t need anything else—the pouring out itself is the answer."
"The emptying itself is half the healing. Then we await heaven’s rivers of pardon, empathy, and mercy to flow in—which they always will if we let them."
"Whatever we find within ourselves we may pour out, and we should do so with the most open honesty—fears, disappointments, hoped-for fulfillments and dreams, wounds, frustrations, everything."
"I know of no child of God who does not need to, on a fairly consistent basis, simply pour out. We will pray, certainly, and that daily, but in addition to those more casual, not-so-consequential conversations, the heart has need to reveal itself at the pouring-out level. Those informal, intimate talks we have with the Lord throughout the day give us dignity born of the realization that a Being of such majesty permits this familiarity, but pouring out unites us to a Father with the trusting, loving innocence of a child."
"I realized that often when I become aware of God’s love or of his presence drawing near, I feel a great need to talk to him, to pour out. Yet many times, I could, if I allowed it, sense the Lord saying to me: Mike, you don’t need to say anything. You don’t need to thank me. Let’s just walk together for a while and share one another’s love. Sometimes—not often enough—we simply wish to say, 'I love thee, Father, and I love thy Son.' Nothing else is necessary."
"Sometimes when I feel the power of music, be it the words or the melody, I wonder: Is the song drawing out of me the emotions, thoughts, love, gratitude that are already there, but expressed in a way beyond my own talents—or is it putting them into me as a free gift of the Spirit? I suppose it is both. Either way, music is a great facilitator for the Prayer of Quiet, the reaching through desire."
"If I were to arrive at home and knock at the front door for admission, my wife or children might call out: “Who is it?” With a simple two-syllable answer, I can gain entrance. I would say, “It’s me!” How interesting! The human voice is so unique that among the billions of humans on the earth, my own particular voice would be recognized. And why? Because the person on the other side of the door has heard it many, many times and is familiar with it ... The voice on either the inside or the outside of the door must be distinguished, the family member or close friend instantly identified. We know that voice through long association because the Master has always been in the thoughts and intents of our hearts."
"We have, throughout the endowment, been feeling after him. All through the temple ordinances the expectation is that we will surely find him ... Having been true to our covenants, and having lived according to what God has already revealed, additional light, truth, wisdom, and knowledge will surely be granted. Conversations with God, through the celestial curtain that has separated us from him during our mortal journey, are the key to our reunion with him for eternity."
"Counseling with the Lord, therefore, requires the free expression of our own thoughts. It is a two-way communication, not only a child listening patiently to the wisdom of a Father, even the wisest of all Fathers. He listens to us as intently as we listen to him."
January 26, 2017
Thoughts from Face to Face, by S. Michael Wilcox:
In a sense, our lives are a constant reaching upward toward God. The term “face to face” should seldom be read literally - usually it is more figurative, and may be descriptive of each of us as we “feel after” our Father in Heaven. Sometimes prayer, scriptures study, fasting don’t seem to be enough…we need a “face to face” finding. We also need to learn how God speaks to each of us individually . Sometimes it can help to change the “formula” - the words or phrases or directions we commonly use.
“I believe what the Father wants from us is the contents of our souls.” Unless we “pour out,” He cannot pour in. Guilt is one of the most painful, discouraging, debilitating things to keep in one’s soul…what Alma called ”remorse of conscience.” This type of regret has a purpose, but it should be among the first things we pour out to God. He delights in forgiveness, and offers it to us unreservedly and without restraint.
Our own assessment of our goodness or folly is often woefully inadequate. Things that need pouring out always seem to expand, send their roots deeper, grip more tenaciously. Pour it out! God’s dignity is large enough to take all kinds of recriminations, accusations, questions, hurt feelings. Get it all out.
Pouring comes from our abundance:
Abundance of guilt (remorse of conscience)
Abundance of complaint (bitterness of soul)
Abundance of grief (sorrowful spirit)
With almost any pouring out, one is usually not enough. Whatever the source of “abundance,” the soul may fill again. Pouring out is a constant need in life.
When talking with anyone (and when God is listening to us) it is better to wait for the silence that comes when the soul is really empty after a true during out. Only then, simply ask “Is there anything else?”
When answers to prayer don’t seem to come, we might ask ourselves if there are still things inside that must find an exit. We wonder why He is not answering when He is patiently waiting for us to finish. Pouring out need not always be about bad things…we might also pour out our adorations, gratitudes, and loves…these, also, are needs.
Gratitude centers on the gift, adoration centers on the giver of the gift.
Pouring out is one way we can raise our voices or feel after God, but wrestling is another. Intensity, concentration, passion, will, and effort are at work in the three prayer-filled areas that Enos focuses on in his long prayers. Reaching out to God through pouring out suggests, “I’m full and must get it out.” Wrestling says “I’m empty and desire filling.”
Wilcox says, “I have wondered at times when I wrestle, struggle, labor, or hunger for God’s help, if there is really no need to if I could only see right. So I have learned to question my questions, fear my fears, and doubt my doubts. That is good for the health of one’s spirit.” We may think we are wrestling with the Lord when in fact, we are wrestling with our own anxieties.
Some promises, guidance, revelations, or testimonies must come many times. We must hold on to those when they come, remember them, cherish them for the times when we are challenged. Sometimes our doubts and anxieties lead us to create the very problems we fear and are trying so desperately to avoid. We must have the utmost faith in God’s promises, but often we must also reach beyond the earthly evidence that would lead us to disbelieve them. We must “live the if.” As we feel after our Heavenly Father, He will provide experiences to strengthen our belief, experiences where we can believe anew, again and again, until fulfillment comes.
At times, we need to reach for God’s help to have the strength to act as well as to believe. The Lord’s hints are an invitation for reaching out to Him. He is usually interested in giving us more than we asked for, and there are numerous examples of this in the scriptures and modern day LDS history. When God asks Moriancumer “Believest thou the words which I shall speak,” He combines present/past tense “believest” with future tense “shall speak.” In other words, do you believe God even when He hasn’t spoken yet? And if you do, that carries with it the implication that some attendant action will be required.
Even when we ask wrong or irrelevant questions, God will often answer them with the answers to the questions we should have asked. Sometimes “assurances never asked for descend and settle in, for our Father is a Father of ceaseless, infinite understanding.”
Desire has (or should have) a strong link to prayer, both expressed, but maybe especially, unexpressed desire . Rather than always asking for specific blessings, it might be worthwhile to try to get in touch with innermost desires, and express those…or at least discuss them with God.
Unexpressed desires describe a “reaching,” a feeling after that does not rely on words. It’s soul to soul, something that cannot only be done with the head. As we grow in spiritual maturity, we move from prayers of recollection (active mind) to prayers of quiet (calm mind, soul-felt desire). The latter is characterized by deep yearning. We must eliminate the noise - “scurrying around with the intellect to come up with lots of words and thoughts to use in thanking God for this blessing and piling up sins and faults to make it obvious that these gifts are undeserved.” The prayer of quiet, Teresa of Avila says, “is a state in which the soul enters into peace, or rather in which the Lord gives it peace through His presence. It is well to seek greater solitude so as to make room for the Lord and allow His Majesty to do his own work in us." The apostle Paul said it another way: “The Spirit also helpers our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself taketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26) .”
Environment matters. Music is helpful in this type of reaching, as are the quiet, beautiful, solitudes of nature. We live in a bustling world of noise…it is increasingly difficult to access this particular feeling after and finding God, yet it may be one of the most necessary.
Billions of voices in this world, and yet we are taught that God hears and knows my own unique voice. How is this possible? Because He has heard it many, many times, and is familiar with it. Part of the goal of prayer and communion with God is to constantly build that familiarity. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord says “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.” Sometimes that is rendered, “ye never knew me.” Either way, it suggests that the actions and works of the individual have not allowed the close understanding that comes with frequent conversations and unity of purpose. This is similarly true for the sheep who hear the voice of the shepherd.
Pondering may be thought of as a search for all possible courses of action from which we can choose. Then, when we meet God face-to-face, we have all our choices before us and can ask for help in moving in the best direction. God is trying to teach us, and that will ultimately demand a great deal of independent thought. Learning the pondering process may well be more important than anything that results from it. It involves a meditative mind, which can see potential paths more easily when the soul is tranquil and composed.
In a sense, our lives are a constant reaching upward toward God. The term “face to face” should seldom be read literally - usually it is more figurative, and may be descriptive of each of us as we “feel after” our Father in Heaven. Sometimes prayer, scriptures study, fasting don’t seem to be enough…we need a “face to face” finding. We also need to learn how God speaks to each of us individually . Sometimes it can help to change the “formula” - the words or phrases or directions we commonly use.
“I believe what the Father wants from us is the contents of our souls.” Unless we “pour out,” He cannot pour in. Guilt is one of the most painful, discouraging, debilitating things to keep in one’s soul…what Alma called ”remorse of conscience.” This type of regret has a purpose, but it should be among the first things we pour out to God. He delights in forgiveness, and offers it to us unreservedly and without restraint.
Our own assessment of our goodness or folly is often woefully inadequate. Things that need pouring out always seem to expand, send their roots deeper, grip more tenaciously. Pour it out! God’s dignity is large enough to take all kinds of recriminations, accusations, questions, hurt feelings. Get it all out.
Pouring comes from our abundance:
Abundance of guilt (remorse of conscience)
Abundance of complaint (bitterness of soul)
Abundance of grief (sorrowful spirit)
With almost any pouring out, one is usually not enough. Whatever the source of “abundance,” the soul may fill again. Pouring out is a constant need in life.
When talking with anyone (and when God is listening to us) it is better to wait for the silence that comes when the soul is really empty after a true during out. Only then, simply ask “Is there anything else?”
When answers to prayer don’t seem to come, we might ask ourselves if there are still things inside that must find an exit. We wonder why He is not answering when He is patiently waiting for us to finish. Pouring out need not always be about bad things…we might also pour out our adorations, gratitudes, and loves…these, also, are needs.
Gratitude centers on the gift, adoration centers on the giver of the gift.
Pouring out is one way we can raise our voices or feel after God, but wrestling is another. Intensity, concentration, passion, will, and effort are at work in the three prayer-filled areas that Enos focuses on in his long prayers. Reaching out to God through pouring out suggests, “I’m full and must get it out.” Wrestling says “I’m empty and desire filling.”
Wilcox says, “I have wondered at times when I wrestle, struggle, labor, or hunger for God’s help, if there is really no need to if I could only see right. So I have learned to question my questions, fear my fears, and doubt my doubts. That is good for the health of one’s spirit.” We may think we are wrestling with the Lord when in fact, we are wrestling with our own anxieties.
Some promises, guidance, revelations, or testimonies must come many times. We must hold on to those when they come, remember them, cherish them for the times when we are challenged. Sometimes our doubts and anxieties lead us to create the very problems we fear and are trying so desperately to avoid. We must have the utmost faith in God’s promises, but often we must also reach beyond the earthly evidence that would lead us to disbelieve them. We must “live the if.” As we feel after our Heavenly Father, He will provide experiences to strengthen our belief, experiences where we can believe anew, again and again, until fulfillment comes.
At times, we need to reach for God’s help to have the strength to act as well as to believe. The Lord’s hints are an invitation for reaching out to Him. He is usually interested in giving us more than we asked for, and there are numerous examples of this in the scriptures and modern day LDS history. When God asks Moriancumer “Believest thou the words which I shall speak,” He combines present/past tense “believest” with future tense “shall speak.” In other words, do you believe God even when He hasn’t spoken yet? And if you do, that carries with it the implication that some attendant action will be required.
Even when we ask wrong or irrelevant questions, God will often answer them with the answers to the questions we should have asked. Sometimes “assurances never asked for descend and settle in, for our Father is a Father of ceaseless, infinite understanding.”
Desire has (or should have) a strong link to prayer, both expressed, but maybe especially, unexpressed desire . Rather than always asking for specific blessings, it might be worthwhile to try to get in touch with innermost desires, and express those…or at least discuss them with God.
Unexpressed desires describe a “reaching,” a feeling after that does not rely on words. It’s soul to soul, something that cannot only be done with the head. As we grow in spiritual maturity, we move from prayers of recollection (active mind) to prayers of quiet (calm mind, soul-felt desire). The latter is characterized by deep yearning. We must eliminate the noise - “scurrying around with the intellect to come up with lots of words and thoughts to use in thanking God for this blessing and piling up sins and faults to make it obvious that these gifts are undeserved.” The prayer of quiet, Teresa of Avila says, “is a state in which the soul enters into peace, or rather in which the Lord gives it peace through His presence. It is well to seek greater solitude so as to make room for the Lord and allow His Majesty to do his own work in us." The apostle Paul said it another way: “The Spirit also helpers our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself taketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26) .”
Environment matters. Music is helpful in this type of reaching, as are the quiet, beautiful, solitudes of nature. We live in a bustling world of noise…it is increasingly difficult to access this particular feeling after and finding God, yet it may be one of the most necessary.
Billions of voices in this world, and yet we are taught that God hears and knows my own unique voice. How is this possible? Because He has heard it many, many times, and is familiar with it. Part of the goal of prayer and communion with God is to constantly build that familiarity. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord says “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.” Sometimes that is rendered, “ye never knew me.” Either way, it suggests that the actions and works of the individual have not allowed the close understanding that comes with frequent conversations and unity of purpose. This is similarly true for the sheep who hear the voice of the shepherd.
Pondering may be thought of as a search for all possible courses of action from which we can choose. Then, when we meet God face-to-face, we have all our choices before us and can ask for help in moving in the best direction. God is trying to teach us, and that will ultimately demand a great deal of independent thought. Learning the pondering process may well be more important than anything that results from it. It involves a meditative mind, which can see potential paths more easily when the soul is tranquil and composed.
February 7, 2017
I love love LOVE this book! It was an answer to so many prayers, and exactly what I needed to hear. It's changed the way I approach prayer- I love thinking of it as a "pouring out" so the Lord can pour something in. This book is packed with ways you can "reach" in your relationship with God. But I also love that Wilcox makes the point that God is reaching for us, too. He wants a relationship with us just as much (if not more) than we do. Please read this! It's simply amazing.
August 6, 2018
This is a very special book by a special scholar. I finally dusted off my 2 year old signed copy and read it in 3 sittings, alternately nodding or weeping in agreement with Michael Wilcox's insights. Here's my full review: https://bookreviewsbykristie.wordpres...
February 1, 2019
I learned a lot from this book and it was well written and thought through. He wisely did not bloat his works and he did not use an abundance of quotes. He speaks from experience and present a good amount of personal experiences that are easy to learn from. I feel this a necessary read because it takes us to the core of how we build a relationship with Heavenly Father.
April 8, 2019
This book explores the scripture in the Book of Mormon where after praying all day and into the night, Enos "did still raise [his] voice high that it reached the heavens" (Enos 1:4). That "reaching" isn't necessarily the destination, it was the act of reaching. Brother Wilcox gives us ways that we might "reach" in order to have a more personal relationship with God.
October 16, 2022
I love Michael Wilcox's gentle writing, his way of dissecting scripture, his use of language. And all of that is found in this book. I was a little disappointed, though, that his answers (to the question of how to eventually come face to face with God) weren't a little more earth-shattering. I wanted more than I got.
November 16, 2020
Such a beautiful book, I'm so glad I picked it up. I have had it on my shelf for awhile and finally picked it up for Sunday reading. Highly recommend for anyone interested in building their communication with God.
September 25, 2021
The tenderness of the experiences, the divine and filling truths shared is undeniable. What a beautiful journey this has been. This is one of those books you have to reread because new is not best. Again is.
May 6, 2022
This has been one of the best books I've read this year. Brother Wilcox gives a beautiful, in depth description of ways we reach toward God. In that reaching, we can have face to face encounters. We pour out everything to Him and He pours into us.
July 31, 2024
I really love Michael Wilcox. I try to read everything by him. This book helped me to develop a better relationship with the Savior. Michael Wilcox always has wonderful insights and helps me to think and ponder about gospel truths.
September 7, 2024
Face to Face was really good. I could have read it again right after I finished it the first time. It's the kind of book that you can learn a lot from even though it doesn't tell you anything new.
September 15, 2025
So much goodness here. I love how he described various types of prayer and ways we can reach for God.
(The writing is a bit more poetic than I am used to reading. But when I focused real hard, the ideas and content here were great!)
(The writing is a bit more poetic than I am used to reading. But when I focused real hard, the ideas and content here were great!)
March 30, 2018
This book gave me many new ideas about making my prayers more meaningful and drawing closer to God and to my Savior. I especially enjoyed his descriptions of reaching, wrestling, pouring.
April 13, 2019
This book presents answers to many of my struggles.
July 6, 2021
I nearly always enjoy Brother Wilcox and this book was no exception. Great book on prayer!
September 16, 2022
I love this author. I enjoyed what he presented here but feel a little at a loss as the principles described are less tangible: I get it but I don't.
October 17, 2016
Some good thoughts. Well written.
August 21, 2013
Michael Wilcox is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors! I've currently only read one other book of his, When Your Prayers Seem Unanswered, which I reviewed when I first started my blog, and there are many others I want to read. I was excited to read another one of his books, and it didn't disappoint!
He poses the question of what do we do when we feel that prayer is not enough. We need to change the formula which will shift us into a new mind-set. His formula consists of six things we need to do and the names of his chapters are: (1) Reaching Through Pouring Out, (2) Reaching Through Wrestling, (3) Reaching Through Believing, (4) Reaching Through Acting, (5) Reaching Through Desire and (6) Reaching Through Acting.
In the first chapter, Reaching Through Pouring Out, he shares several examples in the scriptures where people poured out their hearts to God and how this suggests a little more then simply praying. Pouring out suggests there will be no holding back and doing this can bring relief to our souls. As we pour out our hearts to God, God is able to pour in the things we need. This applies to both the good and bad in our lives (confusion, anxiety, gratitude, joy, etc.). While reading this section, I realized that I had a situation I was feeling anxious about and I felt I needed to pour out my heart to God, so I did. I let God know every care, concern and thought I had on the issue and didn't finish until there was nothing left. I felt such relief and comfort that all was going to be okay. Pouring out doesn't need to be done daily but should be done frequently. Since I have other situations where I need to pour out my heart (yes, there are good things, too), I think I have this covered for a very long time.
In his Reaching Through Wrestling section, he tells of two areas of the gospel that he has wrestled with and how he came to receive a testimony of each of them. "I think often of the interior of the soul as a beautiful building held up by masterfully carved pillars that represent those irreplaceable truths we all fervently wish to know with unshakable firmness." (p. 71) Sometimes the doctrines we wrestle with become some of our strongest pillars to hold our testimonies in place.
There's lots of other inspiring and motivating information in this book; I have touched on a small portion of what you will get when you read this. This is another one of those books that isn't long but it's full of meat so it's not a short read, either. He speaks so eloquently and presents the information in a coherent way. I know I didn't understand everything he talked about so I will get even more out of it the next time I read it. This is a book that I highly recommend reading!!
Mel's Shelves
He poses the question of what do we do when we feel that prayer is not enough. We need to change the formula which will shift us into a new mind-set. His formula consists of six things we need to do and the names of his chapters are: (1) Reaching Through Pouring Out, (2) Reaching Through Wrestling, (3) Reaching Through Believing, (4) Reaching Through Acting, (5) Reaching Through Desire and (6) Reaching Through Acting.
In the first chapter, Reaching Through Pouring Out, he shares several examples in the scriptures where people poured out their hearts to God and how this suggests a little more then simply praying. Pouring out suggests there will be no holding back and doing this can bring relief to our souls. As we pour out our hearts to God, God is able to pour in the things we need. This applies to both the good and bad in our lives (confusion, anxiety, gratitude, joy, etc.). While reading this section, I realized that I had a situation I was feeling anxious about and I felt I needed to pour out my heart to God, so I did. I let God know every care, concern and thought I had on the issue and didn't finish until there was nothing left. I felt such relief and comfort that all was going to be okay. Pouring out doesn't need to be done daily but should be done frequently. Since I have other situations where I need to pour out my heart (yes, there are good things, too), I think I have this covered for a very long time.
In his Reaching Through Wrestling section, he tells of two areas of the gospel that he has wrestled with and how he came to receive a testimony of each of them. "I think often of the interior of the soul as a beautiful building held up by masterfully carved pillars that represent those irreplaceable truths we all fervently wish to know with unshakable firmness." (p. 71) Sometimes the doctrines we wrestle with become some of our strongest pillars to hold our testimonies in place.
There's lots of other inspiring and motivating information in this book; I have touched on a small portion of what you will get when you read this. This is another one of those books that isn't long but it's full of meat so it's not a short read, either. He speaks so eloquently and presents the information in a coherent way. I know I didn't understand everything he talked about so I will get even more out of it the next time I read it. This is a book that I highly recommend reading!!
Mel's Shelves
July 16, 2013
S. Michael Wilcox has written this book about prayer and it is very good! I learned a lot of scripture and history so that is always a good thing! Mainly it's about strengthen and establishing a spiritual relationship with God.
"Pascal taught that "God has established prayer...to communicate to his creatures the dignity of causality" (Pascal, Pensees, 166). He gives us opportunity to join him in his work of creation through reasoning with him...I have repeated to myself many hundreds of times Paul's beautiful words from Mars Hill, wherein he says that we are invited to "feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27). Again, the rhythmic alliteration somehow gives Paul's words a musical lift that endear them even more to me. This is a book about feeling and finding, about reaching for the Father we trust and love. Paul's "though" seems to suggest the search may not be as difficult as we might make it. Whatever ceilings there may be, they are porous and the fabric thin. Are there not face-to-face possibilties for us all?" -pg. 7
(In reference to the phrase "pouring out my soul to God")-
"I have learned the purpose and the power, the need and the hope, of pouring out even when no answer is forthcoming. We stand face to face with God because he always listens and many times that is enough. We feel his compassion or understanding, or his forgiveness, or his acceptance of our love-we receive his divine smile. Sometimes we pour out not because we are going to change God's mind, or because we expect an answer. Our pouring out arises out of our own need. We pray because we must pray, and prayer becomes its own answer. God's listening is the simple restorative for our spiritual health. Pour out-that God may pour in!"
"Pascal taught that "God has established prayer...to communicate to his creatures the dignity of causality" (Pascal, Pensees, 166). He gives us opportunity to join him in his work of creation through reasoning with him...I have repeated to myself many hundreds of times Paul's beautiful words from Mars Hill, wherein he says that we are invited to "feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27). Again, the rhythmic alliteration somehow gives Paul's words a musical lift that endear them even more to me. This is a book about feeling and finding, about reaching for the Father we trust and love. Paul's "though" seems to suggest the search may not be as difficult as we might make it. Whatever ceilings there may be, they are porous and the fabric thin. Are there not face-to-face possibilties for us all?" -pg. 7
(In reference to the phrase "pouring out my soul to God")-
"I have learned the purpose and the power, the need and the hope, of pouring out even when no answer is forthcoming. We stand face to face with God because he always listens and many times that is enough. We feel his compassion or understanding, or his forgiveness, or his acceptance of our love-we receive his divine smile. Sometimes we pour out not because we are going to change God's mind, or because we expect an answer. Our pouring out arises out of our own need. We pray because we must pray, and prayer becomes its own answer. God's listening is the simple restorative for our spiritual health. Pour out-that God may pour in!"
November 4, 2013
This is a quick read (150 pages), but gives great advice on how to develop a more personal relationship with God through changing the way we pray. Instead of saying our prayers, we should be reaching out to God, pouring out all the good and bad inside us to make room for him to refill us with His light and truth. He explains how to receive this closeness and connection with God that those in the scriptures have developed through wrestling, beleiving, acting, desiring, knocking, and pouring out. I love how he brings new insight to scriptures, but the best parts of the book are his personal examples. You can tell that he has learned this wisdom not just through studying, but experience. He has been through hard things, struggled with difficult questions and doubts, and shares the sweet moments when he realized how close God really is.
April 1, 2016
I enjoy anything that S. Michael Wilcox writes but I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. As I continued to read, I found that this book has taught me a lot. The title of the book is, "Face to Face" Seeking a personal relationship with God. The Author states: "God is our Father, is he not? And therefore we may all talk with him face to face." He also suggested something I have never thought of before. He told the story of the Five foolish Virgins and the author said, "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not"(Matthew 25:11-12). I'm not convinced that this rejection is only because they are unprepared. I think it may also be because they are not familiar. The bridegroom does not know their voices? Because he has not heard them before--at least not frequently enough to allow entrance."
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