Alma 33

33:1-14 - Alma has just finished his sermon about planting the seed of faith in one's heart, and the people have a lot of questions including how many Gods they should believe in, "how they should plant the seed... or in what manner they should begin to exercise their faith." The IM teaches that "Alma used the scriptures repeatedly to address the false doctrine taught by the Zoramites. He first dealt with the false notion that you can only pray on the Raneumptom. Using the scriptures he explained that they could pray and worship God anywhere; in their 'wilderness,' in their 'field,' in their 'house,' and even in their 'closet.' Alma then addressed the fact that all prophets have testified of the coming of a Christ." Interestingly, Alma would understand this principle first hand because of the bondage that he experienced as a child while, I assume, he lived with his father Alma, under the rule of Amulon. Amulon had outlawed prayer so "Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts." The parts of Zenos that Alma quotes here is quite interesting, both from a theological stand point but also for me personally, and verse 4 was particularly thought provoking because clearly he's prayed over those who cause him problems and the Lord "didst turn them to me." I got fired from a job once several years ago, and I remember going through the process that led up to that, and I think I might have mentioned it before, but I was trying to change all these things that they said I didn't do right, and I was trying so hard to make it work because I really wanted to continue to work there, and I would pray, "please help me be able to do this... or that..." and finally after I had done everything that they asked, or at least I knew that I couldn't do anything else, I didn't know what to pray for but I was scared, so I finally just prayed that they would soften their hearts towards me, because it's the only thing left that I could ask for, and it gave all the control to the Lord. Unfortunately, their hearts were not softened towards me because I was fired a few weeks later, but the Lord was so merciful to me because I got to stay home with my babies more and I was able to stop being dependent on my then husband and I was able to leave him, and I wouldn't have been able to do that if I had still been working there. And when I moved out of state, the Lord provided me with means to support us, and now I have an amazing job and great friends and family and kids, and life is good, so even though I thought at the time that the Lord had failed me, he had in fact not only kept his word but had allowed me to live more abundantly. So now when I feel vulnerable to others or I feel like I can't do anything more, I pray for people's hearts to be softened towards me, and I know that I will be taken care of no matter what. Especially here, listening to Zenos in verse 4, he talks about being in the "wilderness," and having "enemies," and I don't know his story, but I remembered that Nephi was driven into the wilderness by his enemies, Alma was driven into the wilderness by his enemies, this story has repeated itself many times throughout the scriptures, and I couldn't imagine anything more stressful than being forced to leave the security of your homes, your livelihood, the lifestyle that you've known and loved and running away from people who are actively trying to kill you, into a place that is full of unknowns with a family that you have to provide for. Looking at it like that, there's an excellent chance that I will never have to experience that terror, and still in those circumstances in the scriptures, we can see that the Lord took care of those who kept his commandments, and he will take care of me too, I just need to take a deep breath here. And of course, the Lord in all his mercy, comforts me when I'm overwhelmed in an April 1993 general conference address entitled "Receiving Divine Assistance through the Grace of the Lord," where Gene R. Cook teaches "Jesus taught that we pass through all these trials to refine us 'in the furnace of affliction,' and that we should not bear them unaided, 'but 'in (the) Redeemer's name.' In spite of our feeling, at times, that He has forgotten us, He testifies, 'Yea, they may forget, yet will I now forget thee... behold, I have engraven thee upon the palms of my hands.' ...However, to pass successfully through the trials we encounter, we must keep our eyes and our hearts centered on the Lord Jesus Christ... We should have great hope in knowing, however unworthy we may feel or weak we may be, that if we will do all we can, He will come to our aid and provide for us whatever we may lack." So that was just a little tangent that I needed to go on to put somethings together for myself. Back to prayer and worship, the IM quotes President Henry B. Eyring as teaching, "When God has commanded us to pray, He has used words like 'pray unceasingly' and 'pray always' and 'mighty prayer.' Those commands do not require using many words. In fact, the Savior has told us that we need not multiply words when we pray. The diligence in prayer which God requires does not take flowery speech nor long hours of solitude." Now that seems kind of counter intuitive, if we think about the typical approach to prayer, on our knees, folding our arms, but here we are told that that's not the way that prayer is supposed to be done. President Eyring continues "Our hearts can be drawn out to God only when they are filled with love for Him and trust in His goodness." So we are constantly in a state of prayer when we are filled with our love for God, and we trust Him, that's interesting I'm going to have to think about that. In the manual True to the Faith, in the section on Worship, it says that along with prayer, putting God first, going to church and partaking in priesthood ordinances, "in addition to showing outward expressions of worship, you should have a worshipful attitude wherever you go and in everything that you do. Alma taught this principle to a group of people who had been cast out of their places of worship. He helped them see that true worship is not limited to one day of the week. Speaking to the same group of people, Alma's companion Amulek encouraged them to 'worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth.'" Constant prayer, having a prayer in your heart always seems to be connected with having a "worshipful attitude," and I would think that that means keeping the commandments, being grateful for all the amazing blessings that we have in our lives, and being positive. A negative attitude, complaining, or treating others or yourself poorly is not a worshipful attitude.

33:15-23 - Alma takes us from Zenos's teachings about God to the different prophets that have taught and have "spoken concerning the Son of God." Verse 17 is quite a graphic reminder that Satan isn't here to simply oppose God but to destroy, while speaking of Zenock's testimony of God "the people would not understand his words they stoned him to death." They refused to hear his words, not that they couldn't understand because it was too far above them, but they wouldn't hear, like they had their hands over their ears, but what never fails to astound me is the extreme people will allow themselves to be pushed to, "hey that guy is saying stuff I don't agree with, why don't we bludgeon him to death with some big frickin rocks!" The more Satan does to silence God, the more acknowledgement he gives to God's power and importance. Alma reminds the people that "because of the ancient Israelites' murmuring in the wilderness, the Lord sent venomous serpents to humble the spiritually poisoned. Many people died, and the repentant people turned to their prophet and pled with him to ask the Lord to remove the serpents. God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and elevate it on a pole. The Lord promised that everyone who looked upon the raised serpent would be healed." A couple of interesting points here, first was that the people asked to have their burdens removed, but instead the Lord gave them a way to be healed instead. Like many times we ask for our burdens to be removed, I know I do, pretty much every day, but instead of taking away our problems, the Lord has given us a way to move forward with it, grow from our trials, and find joy in the journey. A second point is the easiness of simply looking and living. The IM says "Because of their hard hearts and disbelief, many of the Israelites refused to take advantage of the simple manner of healing." To me this means that it's so simple to simply believe in Jesus, logically, emotionally not so much some times, but everyone believes in something, even if it's that there's nothing of importance in this life, they still believe that that is the truth, so we all believe in something, believing that Jesus is the Christ, that by obeying his commandments and drawing near to Him will make us happy, is simple, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." In addition to the easiness of the way, in an October 2011 general conference address entitled "It Is Better to Look Up," Carl B. Cook taught, "President Monson's encouragement to look up is a metaphor for remembering Christ. As we remember Him and trust in His power, we receive strength through His Atonement. It is the means whereby we can be relieved of our anxieties, our burdens, and our suffering. It is the means whereby we can be forgiven and healed from the pain of our sins. It is the means whereby we can receive the faith and strength to endure all things." Another message from the Lord to me, and I'm grateful for it. Today was very encouraging and strengthening.