God Knows Me

God brought this knife back to a small boy.

God knows me--knows everything about me and so does His Son Jesus Christ.

In The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, God knew Nephi (He knows all of us. We are His children. He is literally the Eternal Father of our spirits). Nephi's earthly Father, Lehi, has visions and revelations of God the Eternal Father and of His Beloved Son, The Messiah, Jesus Christ (see 1 Nephi, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ). Inspired by his father's testimony, Nephi sought God. He believed his father's words. He knew Heavenly Father's character. He knew Heavenly Father's attributes. God, our Heavenly Father, knows all of humanity. Each and every soul! He loves us! He cares for us! He seeks us as a tender parent! (See 1 Nephi 8:37.) His deepest desire is our welfare, success, and happiness, now and forever. 

When we pray, God hears us. One of the most profound questions we will ever ask in life is whether we hear Him. Nephi heard Him (for examples see 1 Nephi 2:16-24; 3:1). Nephi remembered Him. Doing so gave Nephi great power--to obtain the Brass Plates, to build a bow and provide food for his family, to escape his brothers time and time again, and to build a ship. Because Nephi heard God, his family was very, very blessed. He saved their lives (more than once--see 1 Nephi 16, 2 Nephi 5). Nephi heard Jehovah, the antemortal Jesus Christ (see John 1:1).

Heavenly Father's Promise To ALL

"If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you." (1 Nephi 15:11, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ)

How People in the Book of Mormon Overcame Challenges Through Faith in Jesus Christ

This morning I've been contemplating how people in The Book of Mormon overcame their challenges through faith in Jesus Christ. There were those who became firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ (Helaman 3:35).

Nephi overcame great challenges, as did his father Lehi. What did Nephi do? Nephi always remembered. He always remembered God. He always remembered that God had directed them! He seems to have had a simple and tremendously powerful faith in God's character and attributes. When all around him were failing, Nephi remembered!!! (See 1 Nephi 16 in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.) How did he do it? Was it because he was faithful in prayer? I can't help but think that that was part of it. (Those who stayed close to God in Lehi's vision of the tree fell down and worshipped.--1 Nephi 8:30.)

I believe that sincere prayer--daily prayer--can keep us close to God. For Latter-day Saints, prayer is a conversation with God. It is worship and our attempt to commune with God. Sometimes it is relegated to meaningless recitation, but at its best, prayer brings us into harmony with God. The purpose of prayer is for the one who is praying to come closer to God--to draw near to him--to become one with Him. When we pray, our souls can draw nearer to God. In the end, nearness to God and learning to seek unity with him are what bring us great joy. Through true prayer, we may know God (See John 17:3 and Joseph Smith History 1:15-20). There is deep and abiding satisfaction in learning to become like God.

Consider, from The Holy Bible and The Book of Mormon, what Jesus Christ has taught us about prayer.

The Most Correct Book on Earth

Precepts from The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1 Nephi

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than any other book,” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:461;)

So, there it is. The Prophet whom God chose to show the world His truth, Joseph Smith, is saying that if we live according to the principles in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, we will get nearer to God than through any other book.

This morning, I asked myself what precepts the Book of Mormon teaches. As I considered, a few points came to me about the first book of the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi.

1. God can speak to us. There are numerous examples of God speaking to mortals in the first book of the Book of Mormon. The stage is set by a man (Lehi) hearing prophets--men who are delivering prophetic warnings to the people of Jerusalem. Lehi is so affected by their preaching that he seeks seclusion and begins speaking to God in behalf of his people. The result is a vision. He sees many things. Because of the things he sees, he declares, "Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!" (1 Nephi 1:14) 

2. What we believe and what we share with them can affect them--positively--forever. Lehi shares his visions--the things he learns from God--with his family. One of his sons--Nephi--believes his father. Inspired by his father's experiences, he seeks God and begins to have visions and revelations of his own. (1 Nephi 2:16; could a believing parent hope for anything greater for his or her child?!)

3. You might catch some flak for what you believe and how you live your religion. Because of what he sees and knows, Lehi is compelled, if not commanded by God to warn the people of his city. The citizenry, however, does not take it well. God tells Lehi to leave Jerusalem. His life is in danger.

Lehi's son Nephi also suffers some abuse because of his beliefs. Two of Lehi's older sons are unbelieving. They react with complaining and anger to their father and their brother's faith. They would rather be left alone to simply live life in Jerusalem.

For more, dive into The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Or, click here to order a free copy.

A conversation with a Friend about Book of Mormon personages Laman, Lemuel and Nephi

I had a good conversation with a friend recently about the difference between the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi, and his rebellious brothers Laman and Lemuel. I was about to shoot off this email about our conversation when I realized this would make a very nice blog post. I have removed the friend's name to protect his identity. Enjoy!

Hello [friend],

I was looking at my notes from our conversation the other morning. At a regional conference (a meeting of multiple stakes) recently, one might say that Elder Jeffery R. Holland laid into us as church members for coming to conferences or church meetings, and going home and doing nothing about what we heard. He admonished us to become, "doers of the word and not hearers only" (see James 1:22). I've been trying to be better about doing that. I was impressed as I read over my notes of our conversation of how much of it I forgot already!

Here's a brief summary:

Bryce: "What do you think made the difference between Laman and Lemuel and Nephi (see the book of 1 Nephi  in the Book of Mormon)?"

[friend]: "The way they turned out?"

Bryce: "Yeah."

. . .

I read starting in 1 Ne. 15:7: Nephi's brethren are arguing about what the things their father taught mean. They couldn't understand the analogy mentioned in verse 7. In verse 8, Nephi asks, "Have ye inquired of the Lord?" Their response, "We have not, for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us." Nephi's response, "How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord?"

I didn't realize it, but my recounting of our conversation is not that dissimilar to Nephi's recounting of his conversation with his brethren!

Is Nephi saying that if we are not asking God questions that we are not keeping the commandments? (see v. 9-10) 

Bryce: "Basically, it looks like he's saying if you: (Verse 11): a) don't harden your heart, b) ask in faith, c) believe you will receive, d) and diligently keep the commandments,  d) God will answer our questions and teach us--he will speak to us and communicate with us."

[friend]: "Sounds easy enough."

Bryce: chuckles. "Sounds easy enough."

Bryce: "So, it looks like prayer and keeping the commandments made the difference [between Nephi and his brethren]. 

Why does prayer and keeping the commandments make the difference? Prayer attunes our hearts to God. Our obedience allows God's spirit to work on us and in lives. [My thought this morning as I reviewed this: God is very respectful of our agency. He will not meddle in our lives uninvited. Prayer and obedient striving are how we invite God into our lives. Through prayer, we can explicitly ask God to help us. I, and I think you, know that God is intimately aware of us. The scriptures say that his arms are stretched out to us. Prayer is how we reach out to him and take his hand. God's greatest desire is for us to take his hand and become like him. But, God will not intrude upon our agency. If we do not ask, he cannot assist. If he violated our agency, he would cease to be God. So, in short, God's greatest desire is to help us. His arm is stretched out still. But for him to tamper with the agency we fought for in the war in heaven would be contrary to to his eternal plan. God longs to help us, but eternal law requires that we ask. Does that make sense?]

I think I'll leave off there for now. I would like to report that my prayers have changed since our conversation. I have been blessed to take time to pray and my prayers have been sincere. I know that God knows everything. He knows my struggles in all aspects of my life. He knows and loves me and my family. I know that if I will seek him in prayer, he will guide me in the best ways to overcome and face the challenges I have in my life. I want to be increasingly grateful for God's attentive care. But, as I've stated above, it takes effort to reach through the veil and take God's hand. I pray that you and I can be faithful. I pray that we can and will seek God in prayer. God's promise is that if we seek him diligently, we will find him. I invite you to join me in seeking God in prayer (also see this talk, "Draw Near unto Me," from a General Conference of days gone by).

Bryce