Talk Preparation Guide for "Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus"

In this talk, Elder Robert M. Daines explores the concept of spiritual face-blindness, where one may fail to recognize and feel God's love and mercy, focusing only on the rules and commandments. He emphasizes the importance of seeking to see and feel the love of Jesus Christ, and how this should be the core reason for most of what we do in the Church. Using personal experiences and scriptural references, Elder Daines encourages us to overcome spiritual face-blindness and truly see and feel God's love.

Topics

Understanding Spiritual Face-Blindness

Elder Daines uses the concept of face-blindness, a condition where one cannot recognize faces, as a metaphor for spiritual face-blindness, where one fails to see God's love and mercy, focusing only on rules and commandments.

I suspect you know someone (perhaps you are someone) who suffers from a kind of spiritual face blindness.

I thought my life was about following rules and measuring up to abstract standards.

Key Points:

Spiritual face-blindness can prevent us from recognizing and feeling God's love.
It is possible to overcome spiritual face-blindness.

Experiences:

Have you ever struggled to feel God's love because you were too focused on the rules?
What experiences have helped you overcome spiritual face-blindness?
How can you help others who may be experiencing spiritual face-blindness?

Desire to See Jesus

Elder Daines stresses the importance of desiring to see and feel the love of Jesus Christ, and how this should be the core reason for most of what we do in the Church.

That is what we all want—we want to see Jesus for who He is and to feel His love.

If you’re ever wondering what kind of lesson to teach, what kind of meeting to plan, and whether to just give up on the deacons and play dodgeball, you might take this verse as your guide: will this help people see and love Jesus Christ?

Key Points:

Our desire to see and feel Jesus" love should guide our actions in the Church.
Recognizing Jesus" love can help overcome spiritual face-blindness.

Experiences:

Can you recall a time when you truly felt Jesus" love?
How have your actions in the Church helped you see and feel Jesus" love?
What can you do to help others see and feel Jesus" love?

Praying for Love and Understanding

Elder Daines shares his personal experience of praying to be filled with love for God and to understand God's love for him. This helped him overcome his spiritual face-blindness.

When I realized I was spiritually face-blind, I started to follow Mormon’s counsel to pray “with all the energy of heart” to be filled with the love promised His disciples—my love for Him and His love for me—and to “see him as he is … and have this hope.”

Key Points:

Prayer can help us understand and feel God's love.
Prayer can help us overcome spiritual face-blindness.

Experiences:

How has prayer helped you understand and feel God's love?
Can you share a personal experience where prayer helped you overcome a spiritual struggle?
How can you use prayer to help others understand and feel God's love?

Understanding Covenants as Relationships

Elder Daines explains that covenants are not just rules, but they are fundamentally about relationships with God. Understanding this can help overcome spiritual face-blindness.

When prophets and apostles talk of covenants, they aren’t like coaches yelling out from (red velvet) bleachers, telling us to “try harder!” They want us to see our covenants are fundamentally about relationships and can be a cure for spiritual face blindness.

Covenants are the shape of God’s embrace.

Key Points:

Covenants are fundamentally about relationships with God, not just rules.
Understanding covenants as relationships can help us see and feel God's love.

Experiences:

How has understanding covenants as relationships helped you see and feel God's love?
Can you share a personal experience where a covenant helped you overcome a spiritual struggle?
How can you help others understand covenants as relationships with God?

Serving God to See and Feel His Love

Elder Daines encourages us to serve God and others as a way to see and feel God's love. He shares a personal experience where serving in the Church helped him feel God's love.

Finally, we can learn to see Him by serving Him. “For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?”

Grab a pick and shovel and join the team. Help carry His love to His children, and some of it will splash on you.

Key Points:

Serving God and others can help us see and feel His love.
Serving in the Church can help us overcome spiritual face-blindness.

Experiences:

How has serving God and others helped you see and feel His love?
Can you share a personal experience where serving in the Church helped you overcome a spiritual struggle?
How can you use service to help others see and feel God's love?