AS ONE

 

I have always found the Intercessory Prayer touching and have reflected on it many times in my hope of understanding Jesus’s plea that those of us who believe on Him might be one with Him and the Father, as they are one (John 17:20,21).

As I have thought about it over the years, I concluded that we can be one with God the Father and the Son in our common purpose which is eternal life, which would involve our submission to God’s will. That’s unity and being one with God.  

However, I am of the opinion that there is a deeper meaning to being ‘as one’ in this prayer. It is not just being ‘as one’ but being one as ‘the Father is IN Christ and Christ IN Him’ so that we might also be IN them (v 21).

This deeper meaning would suggest that God the Father is IN us because He has access to the secret chambers of our hearts. Often this fact is brought to our attention as a warning to keep us on the straight and narrow by encouraging us to pursue the path of righteousness in our thoughts, desires and actions (Mosiah 4:30; Ezekiel 11:5; Genesis 6:5; 2 Nephi 9:20; Helaman 9:41; D&C 6:16; Alma 12:14; Jacob 1:4-6; Proverbs 6:16-19).

When we succeed in narrowing our distance from Him, and the reality of Him is a certainty in our lives, we are more inclined to be watchful of what we harbour in our hearts because we don’t want to live in shame. There is nothing He doesn’t know about us, including our needs, because of His power and because He is the Father of our spirits (Matthew 6:8).

The deeper meaning of being IN the Saviour is of course His experience with the Atonement where He got to know us intimately. The other side of the coin is our responsibility to have Him in US. This involves allowing the Holy Ghost access to burn the Saviour’s teachings and His love for us into the tablets of our hearts.

The advantage of having the Godhead in us is their knowledge of the intents of our hearts. This means when we are not performing to our best ability, their understanding of our situation and suffering of the moment means that they know it is not because of rebellion but because of lack of capacity. Sometimes our actions do not equate our intentions because we momentarily lack power due to our mortal weakness. This paves the way to mercy and grace.

The purpose of the Saviour’s mission was and still is to unite us with the Father…..to help us know Him through Him, that we might be IN Him and He IN us….He is the way, He is the intercessor……He is our all.

He hears me when in the solitude

Of my darkest nights on Him I call.

 

He hears me when in the silence, my heart

Tries to hide my fears that I might fall.

 

He hears me when in the crowds, my mind

Wanders and doubts begin their insidious call.

 

He hears me whether I cry to Him or not

Because He knows my very soul,

He knows it all. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: He Hears Me by Greg Collins)

THE SEER OF THE SOUL

 

When I read about 3^rd Nephi, I am convinced that righteousness is always rewarded with special blessings. It is not surprising to me that 3^rd Nephi was placed in America’s history at such a time when the Saviour would grace that continent with His presence following His resurrection and appoint him as one of His Twelve Disciples  (3 Nephi 12:1). If anyone deserved to have that privilege out of all the prominent leaders of the Book of Mormon, 3^rd Nephi did.

Consider the Saviour’s description of this man: “Blessed art thou Nephi, for thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee….thou hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments…and because thou hast done this, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will (Helaman 10:5).

Imagine the Lord trusting you to such an extent that He would say to you: “Ask for what you will and it shall be given you”. Now imagine one step further, that God would obey you and do whatever you TOLD Him to do, because this is the promise he gave Nephi, a promise He lived up to. After He gave Nephi power to smite the earth with famine, with pestilence and destruction ‘according to the wickedness of the people’, He took this power to the next level when He told him He shall smite the people if Nephi tells him to (v 6,7,9).

One might think that a person could only earn such trust from God if there was enough evidence of submission to God’s will in his life. And that evidence certainly existed in Nephi’s life for the Lord had seen it but there is something much deeper to this. The evidence was in Nephi’s past actions but the trust of what he would do in his future teaches us of the omniscience of God. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that omniscience is one of the characteristics of God:

“The Lord in a revelation for John Whitmer spoke of that which was in the latter’s heart, which only the Lord and John Whitmer knew, witnessing that God was omniscient concerning the needs of that individual (D&C 15:3).

“Paul said to the saints at Corinth, ‘And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain’ (1 Corinthians 3:20). In the period just before the flood God saw not only the wickedness of man in the earth, but he saw also, ‘every imagination of the thoughts’ of men’s hearts (Genesis 6:5). He knows ‘the things that come into your mind’ (Ezekiel 11:5). Jesus himself said before we pray, ‘Your father knoweth what things ye have need of (Matthew 6:8). Indeed as Nephi said, ‘God… knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it’ (2 Nephi 9:20).” (Things As They Really Are [1978], 22)

It was the omniscience of God that Christ possessed that enabled Him to honour Nephi’s every word of command. Because He knows all things, can perceive all things, can see all things in the past, present and future, God can form His judgment of us at any given time. He knows what is in our hearts and in our minds. He knows us at all times and in all situations. To Enoch He said: “I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made, and mine eye can pierce them all…..” (Moses 7:35,36).

Who is a God like Thee

Jehovah, our King?

Who sees our frailties

And knows our needs.

 

Who is a God like Thee

Jehovah, our King?

Who knows our sins,

And pierces our souls

With eyes of mercy

His commands for us to heed.

Who is a God like Thee?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)