THE POWER OF PRAYER
I was touched as I read in the account of Ether today about the power of prayer. The brother of Jared continuously instructs his brother to ask of the Lord, and each time--the Lord answers. I was first impressed with the faith to seek the Lord, and second impressed with power of prayer. I keep thinking that because they first had the faith to seek the Lord, they must have had complete trust that the Lord would direct and answer.Faith in the Lord is a powerful thing. There is a difference between believing in the Lord and believing that the Lord will direct our path. Many times in my life I lean more on the simply believing in the Lord, and then I go about my activities trying to accomplish all that I must without the Lord's divine intervention. It requires great faith to stop and realize how much better we would be with the Lord directing our path, and then to trust that He can and He will. It seems to me to be a circle of faith: to first have the faith to stop and counsel with the Lord, to then listen for His direction, and then to move froward with faith.
For me, I have the faith that this pattern in life works; however, I don't often use it. When I have exhausted all other scenarios, I then seem to turn to the Lord. Why not begin with the Lord? Why must I struggle on my own? I do believe the Lord trusts us in orchestrating our lives, but I don't think that means that we can't counsel with him in all things. In fact, in Nephi we are instructed to ...counsel with the Lord in all dealings...(1 Nephi 37:37).
At the end of this chapter two powerful messages seemed to cap off my original impressions. First, in verse 42 it states, "I will go before thee." This simply promise of the Lord reminds me that the Lord is willing to be with us. However, we must first seek Him in order to have that companionship. The second phrase that hit home was in verse 43 it states, "And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me." The Lord here tells us that He will bless us when we seek Him. When we choose to allow Him in to our lives, He will make things happen to our benefit, but WE MUST trust in Him enough to first ask.
