36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all
thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the
Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the
affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will
direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the
Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the
morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye
shall be lifted up at the last day.
38 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the
thing which our fathers call a ball, or director—or our fathers called it
Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.
39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of
so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers
the course which they should travel in the wilderness.
40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God;
therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those
spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore
they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of
God, day by day.
41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small
means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to
exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and
they did not progress in their journey;
42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not
travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of
their transgressions.
43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that
these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give
heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper;
even so it is with things which are spiritual.
44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of
Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was
for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a
straight course to the promised land.
45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For
just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course,
to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course,
carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.
46 O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness
of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them,
that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is
prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.
47 And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred
things, yea, see that ye look to God and live. Go unto this people and declare
the word, and be sober. My son, farewell.
Alma 37:36-47
Alma continues talking to Helaman.
He counsels him to pray to the Lord for his support. “If ye
abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall
be done unto you” (John 15:7).
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth [GR reproaches, censures] not; and it
shall be given him.
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering [GR doubting,
hesitating]. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the
wind and tossed” (James 1:5-6).
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we
ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
“And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15).
Let everything he does to be done to the Lord.
“Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee
the desires of thine heart.
“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he
shall bring it to pass.
“And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light,
and thy judgment as the noonday.
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not
thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who
bringeth wicked devices to pass” (Psalm 37:4-7).
Let his thoughts be directed to the Lord. “Look unto me in
every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36).
“Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be
established” (Proverbs 16:3).
Let all the affections of his heart forever be placed upon
the Lord forever.
“For what should we pray? We should pray about our work,
against the power of our enemies and the devil, for our welfare and the welfare
of those around us. We should counsel with the Lord pertaining to all our
decisions and activities. We should be grateful enough to give thanks for all
we have. We should confess His hand in all things. Ingratitude is one of our
great sins.”[1]
Helman should counsel with the Lord in all he does. “I
sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears…
“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him
out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:4, 6).
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding.
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy
paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
“The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul
that seeketh him” (Lamentations 3:25).
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he
that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
If he follows His counsel, He will direct him towards the
good. When he goes to sleep at night, pray and ask the Lord to watch over him.
When he gets up in the morning, be full of thanks to God for
all He has done for him. “Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make
known his deeds among the people” (1 Chronicles 16:8).
“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the
morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” (Psalm 5:3).
“And ye must give thanks unto God in the Spirit for
whatsoever blessing ye are blessed with” (D&C 46:32).
“The Book of
Mormon teaches us over and over again that even if we feel inadequate
spiritually, if we will just come to the Lord Jesus Christ in humility, he can
take even our worst messes, even the ones we ourselves have made, and make them
work to our benefit and healing and blessing.”[2]
“The hasty impulse, the know-it-all attitude, the pride that
keeps us from asking—these are dangerous approaches to any problem. From the
youngest in years to the oldest of age, there is no one who can be always sure
he is right, no one who has learned so much of life that he doesn't need the
counsel of others and a prayerful approach to all problems. ‘Counsel with the
Lord in all thy doings,’ said Alma, ‘and he will direct thee for good.’ There
is safety in counsel, no safety without it. ‘They that will not be counselled,
cannot be helped.’ (‘The Spoken Word,’ February 25, 1968.)”[3]
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