And now I, Nephi,
cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn
because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the
stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand
great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word
can be.
And now, my beloved
brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me
that I must speak concerning this thing.
For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye
would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray,
but teacheth him that he must not pray.
But behold, I say unto
you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing
unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name
of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy
performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.
Nephi has been
writing the word of the Lord as it was revealed to him. But he writes he “cannot say more; the Spirit
stoppeth mine utterance” (2 Nephi 32:7).
He mourns the
future because of the unbelief, wickedness, ignorance, and stiffneckedness of
mankind. God has promised us knowledge,
yet they will not search for that knowledge.
They won’t understand the knowledge that Lord will give to us, in
plainness. Peter dealt with this
attitude. “For this they willingly are
ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth
standing out of the water and in the water” (2 Peter 3:5).
Nephi speaks in
plainness so we can understand his word and the word of the Lord. “For my soul delighteth in plainness; for
after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the
understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their
understanding” (2 Nephi 31:3).
Alma2
also made it clear the word of the Lord was given us in plain terms. “And they are made known unto us in plain
terms, that we may understand, that we cannot err; and this because of our
being wanderers in a strange land; therefore, we are thus highly favored, for
we have these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard” (Alma
13:23).
“If the Book of
Mormon said only what we wanted it to we wouldn't need it. But we do need it.
It is written ‘according to the plainness of the word of God’ (Jacob 2:11), ‘in
plainness, even as plain as word can be’ (2 Nephi 32:7). It needs no handbook
(not even this one) to explain its meaning. ‘I glory in plainness,’ said Nephi
(2 Nephi 33:6), ‘for my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner
doth the Lord God work, . . . for he speaketh unto men according to
their language, unto their understanding’ (2 Nephi 31:3). So that leaves us
pretty much without excuse.”[1]
Nephi tells us we
must listen to the Spirit that teaches us to pray. We know we must pray; however, the evil
spirit teaches us not to pray. His
desire is to prevent us from knowing the word of the Lord, of receiving a
testimony of the truthfulness of Nephi’s words.
Nephi’s brother,
Jacob, also warned us against the works of the devil. “But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you
that are pure in heart. Look unto God
with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will
console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down
justice upon those who seek your destruction” (Jacob 3:1). He also warned the Nephites, “remember the
awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of
yielding to the enticings of that cunning one.
Remember, to be carnally–minded is death, and to be spiritually–minded
is life eternal” (2 Nephi 9:39).
King Benjamin
taught his people, “But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions
among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, which was spoken of by my
father Mosiah” (Mosiah 2:32).
The Spirit of the
Lord teaches us to pray. Nephi tells us
we must pray always “that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in
the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ” (2 Nephi
32:9).
Alma1
taught the people to “admonish their brethren; and they were also admonished,
every one by the word of God, according to his sins, or to the sins which he
had committed, being commanded of God to pray without ceasing, and to give
thanks in all things” (Mosiah 26:39).
Christ taught the Nephites, “ye must always pray unto the Father in my
name” (3 Nephi 18:19).
Paul wrote to the
Colossians, “whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17).
Adam was taught by
an angel to do all he does in the name of Christ.
“And after many
days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer
sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said
unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
“And then the angel
spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten
of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.
“Wherefore, thou
shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and
call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore” (Moses 5:6-8).
If we pray to Christ, “he will consecrate [our]
performance … that [it] may be for the welfare of [our] soul” (2 Nephi 32:9).
[1]
Prophecy in the Book of Mormon: The Three Periods, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell
Institute.
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