HEAVENLY PRAYER

 

In my last post I wrote about the Lord’s trust in 3^rd Nephi whom He gave power over the earth and over the people. So great was His trust in Nephi that He promised He would obey his instruction to smite the people if Nephi deemed it necessary (Helaman 10:10). It gets interesting from there.

The wording of the promise of power made to Nephi does not instruct Nephi to ask God to smite the earth with famine, but rather it just gives Nephi power to do so himself. When the time came in seventy and third year of the reign of the judges for the people to be saved from annihilation by the sword, Nephi, however, importuned the Lord to stir them up in remembrance by a famine instead (Helaman 11:4). No exercise of his power, but supplication to God in acknowledgement of His power.

And when the people repented, again a supplication for an ending to the famine (v 10-16). In verse 14, Nephi does not remind the Lord that He promised He would do whatever Nephi told him to, but he makes a point in reminding Him that He said He would save the people if they repented. Can you see? The power given him never went to Nephi’s head.

In his October 1944 conference talk, President Marion G. Romney spoke of two necessary components of a righteous prayer. He said that first, submission to God’s will is paramount and second, we should live so righteously that we will enjoy the companionship of the spirit which will dictate what we ask for.

Nephi followed this perfect formula. When he asked for the famine, in just one verse, he made no demands but rather submitted to God’s will by saying ‘let there be a famine’ (Helaman 11:4). He pleaded with Him to end it in seven verses, four of which were laced with ‘wilt thou’ (v 10-16). No demands, only exceeding humility and submission to God’s will. No wonder the Lord trusted him.

And this is the proof that Nephi prayed under the direction of the spirit. He and his brother Lehi had many revelations daily (v 23). It is simply not possible to have the spirit with you to such an extent and not have it dictate to you what you should pray for and when. I’d say Nephi followed the formula to the letter.

We can be given utterance for heavenly prayers if we have the companionship of the Holy Ghost on a daily basis. If we are serious about receiving the blessings that the Father would have us receive, we will pray in such a way.

Sometimes we are afraid to submit to God’s will in our prayers because we think His will is bound to be contrary to our desires, so we continue to pray for what we want instead. The key to receiving our desires, however, is very often our willingness to submit, no matter what.

And if we have the companionship of the spirit, our earthly desires will become less important anyway. Faith is another component of receiving what we pray for under the influence of the Holy Ghost. God cannot give us something we do not believe He will give.

Consider the Lord’s prayer. Jesus did not tell us what to pray for but He taught the ‘manner’ after which we should pray (Matthew 6:9-13). Manner here insinuates a pattern: first came acknowledgement and praise, second came submission to God’s will, third came humility in expressing dependance on God, fourth came the petition for forgiveness, fifth came the petition for protection, and the conclusion was as the beginning, acknowledgement of God’s superiority and power.

Even Jesus, a God in His own right, acknowledged the higher power than himself and prayed to the Father incessantly during His time on earth. That’s humility and that’s submission.  

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Advocate by David Bowman)