T
here is an account in the Book of Mormon, in the book of Helaman, of the prophet Nephi receiving the sealing power; the power that whatever he asks of God shall be granted.
Nephi was "pondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him." And "as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying:
"Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.
"And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.
"Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels."
Many consider upon this verse and think that such power would not be given to them because they would ask too much. Yet ironically, from this and other scriptures, it appears that they would actually ask not enough!
Consider what Nephi and Elijah, two of the few recorded instances of prophets receiving the sealing power, asked for in their prayers! They asked for famine and pestilence to humble the people, and then for rain and bounty and plenty to bless the people. They asked for fire to come down from heaven and consume the firewood of the priests of Baal! They asked for a single barrel of flour and a single jar of oil to never become empty, to provide food for three and a half years. They asked for the son of a widow to be raised from the dead! They asked for great revelations!
Sometimes we mistake that asking for things within the Lord's will limits our requests to smaller, lesser things when in fact the exact opposite is true. Asking for things within the Lord's will greatly expands our requests to greater, more magnificent things!
Truly, the issue is not the quantity and magnitude of what is asked for that is at stake, but rather the quality and specificity of what is asked for. In other words, what is asked for can be extremely great and marvelous miracles. It just needs to be according to the Lord's will!
Nephi did not ask for a war or for an earthquake to humble the people. He asked for a famine. Elijah did not ask that the widow's son be healed before dying. He asked that the boy would be raised from the dead.
We could pray that we be delivered from our trials early, but that might cause us to miss out on greater miracles and blessings after the trial.
Truly, God giveth liberally and abundantly to all that ask Him, but God will give most liberally and abundantly to him that asketh not amiss. (See 2 Ne. 4:35; James 1:5-6). Prayer is one of the greatest and most powerful tools, but sadly one of the most underutilized! What power and blessings would await us if we would but pray according to the Spirit so that we ask not amiss but rather seek the will of the Lord! What wonderful blessings is He already willing to grant us, but that require us to spend some time and effort to discover what those blessings are, and to then pray for them?
I wrote an earlier blog entry about Enos and his three prayers. Enos' final prayer was "that if... the Nephites should... by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people..., that it might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites." The specificity of this final prayer must have been learned and gained over a long period of time through "many long strugglings". The exactness of Nephi and Elijah's requests was also connected to knowing the specificity of the Lord's will. This unlocked the opportunity for greater and greater blessings. The more specific and precise a person knows the Lord's will, the more powerful and great the blessings they can seek at His hand!
Perhaps it's not that we ask too much with our prayers, but that we are a little too lazy to put in the effort to find out what amazing blessings God is already willing to grant. Do we gain less because we pray for things that are less in accord with God's will?
Nephi was "pondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him." And "as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying:
"Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.
"And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.
"Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels."
Many consider upon this verse and think that such power would not be given to them because they would ask too much. Yet ironically, from this and other scriptures, it appears that they would actually ask not enough!
Consider what Nephi and Elijah, two of the few recorded instances of prophets receiving the sealing power, asked for in their prayers! They asked for famine and pestilence to humble the people, and then for rain and bounty and plenty to bless the people. They asked for fire to come down from heaven and consume the firewood of the priests of Baal! They asked for a single barrel of flour and a single jar of oil to never become empty, to provide food for three and a half years. They asked for the son of a widow to be raised from the dead! They asked for great revelations!
Sometimes we mistake that asking for things within the Lord's will limits our requests to smaller, lesser things when in fact the exact opposite is true. Asking for things within the Lord's will greatly expands our requests to greater, more magnificent things!
Truly, the issue is not the quantity and magnitude of what is asked for that is at stake, but rather the quality and specificity of what is asked for. In other words, what is asked for can be extremely great and marvelous miracles. It just needs to be according to the Lord's will!
Nephi did not ask for a war or for an earthquake to humble the people. He asked for a famine. Elijah did not ask that the widow's son be healed before dying. He asked that the boy would be raised from the dead.
We could pray that we be delivered from our trials early, but that might cause us to miss out on greater miracles and blessings after the trial.
Truly, God giveth liberally and abundantly to all that ask Him, but God will give most liberally and abundantly to him that asketh not amiss. (See 2 Ne. 4:35; James 1:5-6). Prayer is one of the greatest and most powerful tools, but sadly one of the most underutilized! What power and blessings would await us if we would but pray according to the Spirit so that we ask not amiss but rather seek the will of the Lord! What wonderful blessings is He already willing to grant us, but that require us to spend some time and effort to discover what those blessings are, and to then pray for them?
I wrote an earlier blog entry about Enos and his three prayers. Enos' final prayer was "that if... the Nephites should... by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people..., that it might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites." The specificity of this final prayer must have been learned and gained over a long period of time through "many long strugglings". The exactness of Nephi and Elijah's requests was also connected to knowing the specificity of the Lord's will. This unlocked the opportunity for greater and greater blessings. The more specific and precise a person knows the Lord's will, the more powerful and great the blessings they can seek at His hand!
Perhaps it's not that we ask too much with our prayers, but that we are a little too lazy to put in the effort to find out what amazing blessings God is already willing to grant. Do we gain less because we pray for things that are less in accord with God's will?
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