According to their desire

The Story

I had an interesting conversation today.  It ended with a simple conclusion: believers in God often expect to receive answers to any and all questions they ask, or for any guidance they seek.  the conversation reminded me of a scripture:

        Alma 29:3-4   
        3 ...I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. 
        4  I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know
            that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death 
            or unto life; yeah, I know that he allotteth unto men, yeah, decreeth unto them 
            decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto 
            salvation or unto destruction.  
the context of this story is that Alma wants to be an angel to proclaim the gospel to everyone everywhere, and he feels ashamed to want something more than the Lord gave him.  The Book of Mormon never states explicitly, but we can assume that Alma was translated and was able to fulfill his wish.

The reality of getting what we want through Divine Intervention involves at least 4 principles: desire, faith, prayer, and agency.  

Desire

Desire is pretty simple.  We want something. 

Faith

Faith is believing we can obtain what we want.  It leads to action.

Prayer

Prayer enlists the divine help of our Father in Heaven in accomplishing a goal or affirming righteous action.   But most important it acts as a check to ensure that our goals are in line with his.  

Agency

This may be the most important principle period, especially with desire.  God usually doesn't tell us what we should want on a personal level.  God's communication for what we must do is a collective communication through scripture or modern day prophets.  Luckily for us, everything else is left up to us, and we have the opportunity to verify our desires through prayer.  I say verify because God'd natural laws allow us to get what we want even if we don't pray for it, as long as it fits in with our level of faith.  This should seem like a duh! I already knew that.  Cause its life.  

Question at hand

So why do we pray then if God already knows what we want and established natural laws to set them in place?  Well, I guess we like miracles.  Miracles in human terms are 1) blessings without having to pay the price and 2) things we can't do for ourselves.  I don't think God ever grants the first, but he is more than willing to do the second.  I found that usually the answer to my prayers occurs in a feeling.  The immediate form is peace, and at other times it is the necessary emotion to accomplish what I chose to do.  Occasionally the divine intervention comes with a game plan  the actions i should or shouldn't do to accomplish what I want.  

The whole point of this is that God isn't going to plop down some gigantic house or great deep doctrine or even a perfect spouse.  He will, however, give us direction in our studies of the gospel to find pertinent principles, and confidence when we date.  I'm sure He helps with steps to get big gigantic houses, but He is probably sad those people didn't choose something better. 

I think the reason I'm thinking about this so much is because I felt that God told me to come to Jerusalem, which goes against most things about revelation.  My only conclusion:  this has something to do with one of my two main priorities I consistently I pray over to receive guidance.  I guess I'll know when it's over.  But for right now, I'm still working on faith.