Now that we have made ourselves humble, are willing to run the experiment, and have started to search for the answers in the scriptures or by the living prophets. We might not know yet if this will even work. Remember, we are still trying the experiment that Alma alluded to. We don’t yet know the outcome, but we have a desire, even a hope, that something good will come of this all. We found out, through a study of the scriptures that we needed to start believing in this so called Christ, the Savior, the Redeemer. How is this done? How do we believe in someone we have never heard, talked to, or seen? Amulek (the missionary companion to Alma) from the Book of Mormon answers this question by challenging the Zoramites when he said:
“Therefore may God grant unto you, brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;
“Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.
“Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.
“Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
“Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
“Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.
“Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
“But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
“Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those around you” (Alma 34:17-28)
According to Amulek, the next big step to obtaining faith in Jesus Christ is through prayer. What is prayer and how is it done? In order to answer this question, it is important that we understand a little about our past, what we as Latter-Day Saints call: the Preexistence. In the Preexistence, we all lived in heaven with God. God is our Heavenly Father and we all are his children. As his children, we talked and walked with God. We learned from him and were growing up to be like him. However, part of the growing process was to come to earth, which meant that we would have to leave his presence to experience mortality. On this earth, we need just as much, or even more, help to get through the trials as we did then. We can receive this help through communication with him by means of prayer. Prayer is communication with God, our Heavenly Father who loves us with all his heart. He cares for us and wants us to come back home. We, his children, are his greatest joys. The Bible Dictionary states that:
“As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part. Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other” (Bible Dictionary: Prayer).
Prayer can be kneeling, sitting, or standing. Prayer can be done vocally or silently in your mind. Prayer can be done alone in a private place, or in a group setting. What is important in prayer is that we actually communicate with Heavenly Father with a sincere heart and humility to know his will for us. And, when we learn what his will is, we should seek to follow it. It is in this way that we accomplish what Amulek challenged, to “begin to exercise your faith unto repentance”. Repentance is the process of changing our lives to meet God’s standards and expectations. Many prophets call this process a “turning to the Lord”, or in other words, turning our lives around to face God. The only way we can do this is by first “turning” to God in prayer. Elder Bruce R. McConkie, a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, listed three reasons why it is essential to pray:
- We are commanded to do so.
- Temporal and spiritual blessings follow proper prayer.
- Prayer is essential to salvation.
Elder McConkie continues, and here is the lesson, by saying:
‘No accountable person ever has or ever will gain celestial rest unless he learns to communicate with the Master… And “how knoweth a man the master whom he hath not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?”‘.
According to Elder McConkie, prayer is essential to getting to know not only God, our Eternal Father, but also Jesus Christ who he hath sent. How can we really have faith in someone that we know nothing about? We can only have faith in Jesus Christ by learning about him, his perfect character and love. We can learn about him through reading, just like we can learn about history, but there comes a new dimension from actually talking to the individual. We learn about them in a more personal manner when we speak to him. And, when you speak to him, he will speak back. I promise you this. God is real. He is our Heavenly Father. Christ is real. He is our Savior. As we learn about them, their perfect attributes: perfectly honest, perfectly loving, perfectly just and merciful, we can then have the faith enough to overcome any obstacle. It is only then that our faith will lead us to repentance, forgiveness and on to salvation and exaltation. This is my testimony to all the world!
