In Lectures on Faith, Lecture Third, Joseph Smith points out that three things are necessary 'in order that any rational being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation'. They are:
1. The idea that he actually exists;
2. A correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes;
3. An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to his will.
He continues to say that "without an acquaintance with these three important facts, the faith of every rational being must be imperfect and unproductive; but with this understanding it can become perfect and fruitful, abounding in righteousness, unto the praise and glory of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ". (Lectures On Faith, Lecture Third)
Learning that I cannot have perfect faith in God if I do not know God, I resolved that I would endeavour to learn his true character through the scriptures and thereby increase my faith in Him experientially through yielding my heart to him in all matters of my life. I started to look for his characteristics and attributes through the pages of the Book of Mormon and wrote my findings in the margins. As I flip through my scriptures now I find in its' margins two attributes that are more prominent than all the others. They are: 1. that He always fulfils His promises and 2. that He is merciful. It seems that there is evidence of the second attribute on just about every page of the Book of Mormon.
Whilst reading about Alma's mission to the Zoromites I found an amazing pattern of prayer that Alma gave to the Zoromites who had been cast out of the synagogues, by quoting Zenos. He says in Alma 33:3: "Do ye remember to have read what Zenos, the prophet of old, has said concerning prayer or worship?" Clearly prayer and worship to Alma is one and the same. He then quotes Zenos' pattern of prayer and in 5 of the 8 verses this prayer covers, Zenos calls the Lord merciful. During the whole prayer Zenos never asks for anything but acknowledges God's mercy to him in all his doings. Not only does he worship God by acknowledging his most prominent characteristic, that of mercy, he also acknowledges that God is merciful towards us because of His Son Jesus Christ. Two things stand out to me in this pattern of prayer:
1. The verses are so poignant that it leaves no doubt that Zenos knew God and that he knew Him experientially. He had seen God's hand in his life and he acknowledged it with great zeal.
2. I am rather convinced that there was nothing that Zenos needed that he didn't receive from God because he acknowledged His Son in all things. Praying in the name of Jesus Christ takes on a new meaning here. By acknowledging the Saviour, we have more of a right to receive what we pray for in His name. "......Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you". (John 16:23) There is tremendous power in this. It means God can through our asking empower us to overcome anything, to become anything, to survive anything. Becoming being always greater than having. Nevertheless, He can and will honour our righteous desires a hundred fold (D&C 78:17-19).
I wondered as I read Zenos' prayer, if the Father feels worshiped through my prayers. I can tell you right now, probably not. I am sure if we worshipped God through prayer by acknowledging His perfect attributes and His mercy towards us, our faith in Him would grow at an accelerated rate and our prayers would become a more meaningful experience. Expressing such words of praise would make the Father more real to us and the foot of our bed would become the foot of His throne as we kneel there in the attitude of prayer.
Christ's humility in praying to the Father has always amazed me. He who proclaimed himself to be the life of the world, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (3 Nephi 9:18), a god in his own right, knelt upon the ground with the Nephites and prayed, but not just any prayer, for the scriptures record "....The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvellous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father" (3 Nephi 17:16) What did He say? What words could He have possibly used to express such high regard and affection toward the Father He so loved? I cannot imagine but I suspect they were words of utmost respect and devotion, of love and adoration, of submission and gratitude. We too can hear such sublime words of worship. We can hear them each time we bend our knees and come before Him who yearns to gather us into his bosom and bring us home. How? "Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels?" (2 Nephi 32:2) You have been blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. A prayer given by the power of the Holy Ghost is the true order of prayer. Open with an appeal to have the Holy Ghost give you the words you should speak and then speak. Speak with the tongue of angels.
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