Prayer – “What will ye that I should do”
There are times when, in the course of this mortal life,
there are times when we receive communication from our Heavenly Father. This communication comes in different
ways. It is important that we understand
these ways so that we can get the help he has promised to send us. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths.[1]
Through prayer, we ask Heavenly Father for his divine intervention, instruction
and other blessings. We also exert full
effort with all of our skill, knowledge and understanding.
In the Book of Mormon, there are two examples of boat
building that help us understand important principles of divine communication.
The first example is the Brother of Jared also called Mahonri
Moriancumer. At the time of the tower of Babel, the Lord confused all languages
because of the unrighteousness of the people.
Mahonri, a righteous man asked the Lord to allow his family to not have
their language confused. The Lord
granted this blessing and then commanded them to go to a different land. Over the next several years of travel, Mahonri
had not been as prayerful as he should have been. The Lord came to him and chastised him for
three hours because he had forgotten to pray. [2]
The Lord then told him to build the barges they would need to cross the sea.
But the Lord did not tell him how to build the barges. Mahonri had done it
before, but in a different land; he didn’t need instruction on how to build a
boat. Here we learn that God does not always instruct us in the things we
already know. Still, they did receive
some direction. “And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did go to work,
and also his brethren, and built barges after the manner which they had built,
according to the instructions of the Lord.”[3] We learn there were some adjustments to the
design of the boats as directed by the Lord.
These adjustments caused some problems for Mahonri. The boats were air tight and Mahonri didn’t
know how to solve the problem of getting air in the boats. He went to Heavenly Father and was instructed
on how he could drill holes and use plugs to get air into the boats. Here we see that God gave specific
instructions when Mahonri didn’t have any idea how to solve the problem. Then
there was another problem. There was no
light in the boats. Mahonri then asked
the Lord how to solve the problem of having light in the boat. This is where the Lord taught the brother of
Jared a great lesson. The Lord said, “What will ye that I should do that ye may
have light in your vessels?” [4] I
am sure that Mahonri was puzzled when the Lord told him to think about it and
come up with his own solution. God had just
told him how to solve the problem of getting air into the boats, why not tell
him how to solve the problem of light?
Mahonri went up into a mount called Shelem, and the record
says he “did molten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and
clear, even as transparent glass.”[5] Mahonri
went back to the Lord in prayer and said: “Touch these stones, O Lord, with thy
finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall
shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have
light while we shall cross the sea.” [6] The Lord did touch the stones and Mahonri had
light in all of the vessels.
From this account of Mahonri we learn that the Lord wants us
to pray continually, then to use our skill and knowledge to proceed. He will help us when we are stuck, and then
perhaps the most important lesson – He wants us to put forth effort to come up
with solutions and then come to Him for his endorsement. This seems to contradict the scripture in
Proverbs that says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding.”[7] Elder Franklin D. Richards helps to clarify
when he taught, “Above all, and after all you can do, remember that the
greatest help will come from your Heavenly Father. Pray always and be patient.”[i]
We need to pray always and particularly at the beginning of
our efforts. This insures that we always
have the inspiration of the Holy Ghost as we are doing everything in our power.
Bruce R. McConkie said, “There’s a fine balance between agency and inspiration.
We’re expected to do everything in our power and then to seek an answer from
the Lord, a confirming seal that we’ve reached the right conclusion; and
sometimes, happily, in addition, we get added truths and knowledge that we
hadn’t even supposed.”[ii]
There is a second ship building project that will give us
further confirmation of these principles.
Lehi and his family had suffered much in the
wilderness. They finally reached the
sea, in a place called Bountiful. After
a few days, Nephi received a message. It
was to “Arise, and get thee into the mountain.”[8] The Lord commanded Nephi to build a ship. Nephi
had no experience in this area so Heavenly Father gave Nephi specific
instructions: “Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show
thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.” [9] We see again that God will give very specific
instructions.
As Nephi was preparing to begin he realized that he needed metal
tools. Nephi could have asked the Lord
to make the tools miraculously appear in similar fashion as the appearance of the
Liahona. But instead, Nephi knew that he could make the tools himself if he could
find ore to melt. This is when he went
to the Lord: “And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to
molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou
hast shown unto me?” [10] He received the specific directions to the
ore, made his tools, and with God’s direction, completed the boat.
As Heavenly Father dealt with the brother of Jared and with
Nephi we see that he consistently followed a pattern of communication.
1. Pray
must be constant.
2. If
knowledge and skill are in place, pray for inspiration and guidance, then
proceed.
3. If we
don’t know what to do, we pray, study, ponder and try to figure it out. When we have a plan, we go to Heavenly Father
to confirm that it is what He wants.
4. When we
are at a complete loss as to what to do, and we don’t have the capacity to
figure it out, the Lord will provide an answer in one way or another.
We can easily apply these concepts to our modern lives. For
example, what can we do when we want to have more success at school. Do we pray that Heavenly Father will bless us
with straight A’s and then sit back and do nothing? Of course not. If we do as the Brother of Jared and Nephi
did, here is the process we would follow:
1. We start
by praying that Heavenly Father will bless is in our efforts to get good
grades.
2. We lay out
our plan for studying and working to get good grades. We pray for confirmation that these plans are
good plans. If we don’t have a good feeling,
we figure out adjustments to the plan and pray again.
3. We pray
for help that we will remember the things that we study. We pray during classes, that we will be able
to understand what is being taught.
4. When we
get stuck on something, or can’t figure out how to accomplish something, we
pray for specific help, instruction and inspiration.
5. We pray
for help while studying and say things like: “Help me to be able to focus on my
studies.” “Help me to stay awake and concentrate a little longer.” “Help me to remember the things that are most
important.”
6. During
exams, we pray for help and inspiration to remember everything.
This is further illustrated with an example from the life of
Grandpa Packer (Clyde Dean Packer) who was a medical doctor and a Melchezidic
Priesthood holder. He had great skill as
a surgeon and over time had acquired a great knowledge of medical information. He was a great man spiritually and recognized
that he needed Heavenly Father’s help.
There were many times when he was doing a surgery or some medical
procedure and he received inspiration that helped him. He acknowledged that Heavenly Father helped
him many times. This help came as inspiration
or other personal revelation. He would
often pray for help and inspiration, going over the plan in advance with
Heavenly Father and making adjustments accordingly. This is similar to Mahonri as he laid out his
plan (prepared the stones) and then went to the Lord to ask for His help
As Nephi didn’t ask for the tools to be automatically
created, Grandpa Packer would not simply use his priesthood to heal every
patient. That is not how Heavenly Father
works. That would take away our agency
and our responsibility. While teaching
his sons, Nephi’s father said, “…there is a God, and he hath created all
things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon”
(italics added).
These examples imply that there is a balance between what we
do on our own, and what we ask our Heavenly Father to do. But that is not the case. In reality we do not find a balance. We give one hundred percent effort to each of
the two areas. We ask Heavenly Father for his divine intervention, instruction
and blessing in every aspect of what we do.
Then, we work with all of our skill, knowledge and understanding.
As a boy, I would often go over to my cousin’s house on
Sunday afternoon. One Sunday when I was
about 11 years old a group of friends gather together at his house. We decided to go outside and throw the
football around. Then we had this great
idea to catch a diving pass and land on a big pillow. It was fun to pretend we were football stars
diving for the winning touchdown! Then
we figured it would be even more fun if we jumped from a ladder onto the pillow
while catching the football. Well, as
you can imagine, that didn’t work out so well.
I leapt from the ladder, caught the ball, and missed the pillow. Initially I just had a headache. Later, as I went home it got much worse and I
was in a lot of pain. My Dad did two
things, he gave me a shot to help with the pain, and he gave me a priesthood
blessing. When I felt better, I felt in
my heart that both things had helped.
My Father knew what to do from his own knowledge and expertise,
but he also knew that his priesthood power played a big part. He knew it was necessary to seek the
blessings of Heavenly Father by using his priesthood authority. He had done all that was possible medically with
his skill, knowledge and understanding and then he used his priesthood drawing
on the powers of Heaven to heal me.
The life of Joseph Smith Jr. also illustrates an important
aspect of reliance on Heavenly Father. In the early history of the Church, Joseph
needed to find a location where he could safely translate the golden plates. Heavenly
Father warned him that there were people who were laying in wait who wanted to
destroy him. Joseph didn’t know where to
go next. He received the Lord’s
direction as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants: “Yea, for this cause I
have said: Stop, and stand still until I command thee, and I will provide means
whereby thou mayest accomplish the thing which I have commanded thee.”[11]
I imagine Joseph being very relieved, and putting his trust
in Heavenly Father, as he stood patiently waiting for the directions to come. Joseph had a great relationship with
God. He had great faith and had been the
recipient of regular inspiration and revelation. This was a time when he didn’t know what to
do next and he needed to pause and let Heavenly Father direct him.
In the New Testament, there is also a scripture that
demonstrates these principles. In
Matthew it says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you:”[12] To
“ask” is the first direction we are given.
This is prayer at its most basic – asking for what we need. To “seek” implies the work we must do to find
the way. We seek for the path; seek out
the answer, relying on Heavenly Father’s inspiration, using all our skill,
knowledge and understanding. To “knock”
is action on our part as we go to Heavenly Father and ask Him to open the door
for us, because we can not do it for ourselves.
As always, our Heavenly Father knows the appropriate time
frame. Often, His inspiration seems to
come at the last minute, or comes exactly at the time we need it. Missionaries
of the Church are taught to open their mouths and teach. They are told that if they have prepared, God
will give them what to say in the hour of their need. In Luke we read, “For the
Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.”[13] In
the Old Testament we read what God told Moses, “Now therefore go, and I will be
with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.”[14]
In this final phase, our dependence on Heavenly Father to
show us the way, there is a key. This
key is preparation – doing our part. We must prepare with knowledge, and skill.
We must prepare spiritually so that we are open to receive all communication
from Him. “…if ye are prepared ye shall
not fear.”[15]
In order to appropriately invoke the benevolent blessings of
our Father in Heaven, we must have faith, pray continuously and work hard. We must utilize everything we can - our
intelligence, training, and seeking counsel from others. We must put forth our full efforts while
constantly praying for guidance and direction.
This is what God expects. In Proverbs, it states a beautiful and concise
conclusion to these thoughts. “A man’s
heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.[16]
Then we can take comfort in the fact that when we are
completely lost, a loving Heavenly Father will show us the way.
[2] Book of
Mormon, Either 2:14
[3] Book of
Mormon, Either 2:16
[4] Book of
Mormon, Ether 2:23
[5] Book of
Mormon, Ether 3:1
[6] Book of
Mormon, Ether 3:4
[7] Old
Testament, Proverbs 3:5
[8] Book of
Mormon, 1 Nephi 17:7
[9] Book of
Mormon, 1 Nephi 17:8
[10] Book of
Mormon, 1 Nephi 17:9
[11]
Doctrine and Covenants, Section 5, verse 34
[12] New
Testament, Mathew 7:7
[13] New
Testament, Luke 12:12
[14] Old
Testament, Exodus 4:12
[15]
Doctrine and Covenants, Section 38, verse 30
[16] Old
Testament, Proverbs 16:9
[i] Franklin
D. Richards, “Being a Successful Member Missionary: A Conversation with Elder
Franklin D. Richards of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy”,
Ensign, 1977, October
[ii] Bruce
R. McConkie, “Agency or Inspiration?,” New Era, Jan 1975, 38