As we have learned, Abraham desired to become like God and to receive greater revelations and privileges. Therefore, to that end he sought for the higher commandments, which are associated with the Melchizedek Priesthood and which yield those results. These greater commandments helped to conduct Abraham, a “follower of righteousness,” into the Lord’s presence. Likewise, when the Nephites stood in the presence of the Lord, they received greater commandments that had to do with celestial living. Their account becomes our model.
The Greater Commandment to Pray Always
Of the many commandments that the Lord gave to the Nephites on the occasion of his appearance, we will single out three that directly produce a Zionlike life. The first is the commandment to pray always. Jesus ”commanded them that they should not cease to pray in their hearts.”
At a minimum, praying always would mean that we should assume a reverent, prayerful attitude while we go about our daily activities. This would include continual communication, worship, awareness, gratitude, accountability to God for our actions, and recognizing our total dependence on the Lord. This prayerful attitude is the engine that drives humility and the purification of the heart; this attitude raises the antenna of revelation and flags opportunities to serve.
Continual prayer forms a shield of protection against the adversary, whose attacks are as persistent as should be our prayers. To the Nephites, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him. . . . Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name.”
Then Jesus raised the issue of light as a reason to pray. As much as he was the Light and had set a bright example, so his disciples must become lights themselves, for the purpose of drawing people to the Light by means of their prayers and actions:
Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you. . . . Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up-that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed. And ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world.
We must personalize and live this commandment; but if we neglect to live it, we will lose the protection of prayer and become vulnerable to the attacks of Satan: “And whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation.”
Constant prayer helps us to retain light. As we know, light is synonymous with truth, spirit, intelligence, power, law, life, agency , and glory, to name a few things. Whereas a celestially resurrected body “shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in [it],” a telestial body must receive ongoing transfusions of light in order to progress spiritually: That which is of God is light; and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”
The Lord has told us how we can infuse light into our systems. A few transfusion methods are participating in scripture study, partaking of the sacrament, being anointed with oil, performing charitable service, participating in temple worship, and, of course, praying. The more our bodies are filled with light, the more we can comprehend all things. Therefore, we should pray always.
Continual prayer facilitates the creation of Zion people by offering them an avenue of communication with God. But there is more. Continual prayer provides Zion people access to God’s protection and power of discernment. Continual prayer gives them a way to infuse light into their beings, thus increasing their capacity to assimilate or enjoy truth, spirit, intelligence, power, celestial law, spiritual life, and glory, and agency. Once lighted through constant prayer, a Zion person is commanded to light other people and bring them to the Light, even Jesus Christ.
Prayer fulfills the law of asking and receiving. The simple act of praying is a powerful agent to access God and draw upon his goodness, abilities, and resources. Asking the Father in the name of Jesus Christ for those things that we need is central to the law of consecration. Once we have covenanted to live that law-and indeed are striving to live it-we are forevermore entitled to ask for those things that we need and want from the higher kingdom so that we might build ours.
And what is the eternal kingdom that we are striving to build by asking and receiving? Our families. Therefore, the Lord instructed, “Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed.” Continual prayer is the vehicle to ask and receive, and sincere prayer carries the Lord’s absolute promise: “And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.”
From all indications, it seems that once the Nephites, in their interaction with the resurrected Lord, had experienced the power of prayer, they never returned to offering casual prayers. Surely they recognized prayer’s inherent power to make them Zion people, and obviously they employed it. If we wish to become Zion people with the ability to ask for and receive blessings, we must follow this same pattern.
The Greater Commandment to Have All Things in Common
Almost as an aside, Mormon noted that after the Savior’s visit, the Nephites experienced a cultural transformation that was as extraordinary as the mighty change that they had experienced in their hearts. Mormon wrote: “And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another.”
It is difficult to overstate the significance of this occurrence. The cultural change that had happened among the converted Nephites was the polar opposite to life as they had known it. Once they had made a covenant to assume this new way of life, they determined to live that new way without external legislation. That is, they managed to live a new way by individual choice.
Because of the new condition of their hearts, they determined to become stewards who were accountable to God; no longer would they see themselves as owners of the Lord’s property. Forevermore, they would labor to build up the Church and their Zion instead of selfishly pursuing individual wealth-building enterprises. They would fully embrace the Royal Law of the gospel: “Thou shalt the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” The result of their transformation was that they became one and had all things in common.
Their faith in living this new cultural experiment paid off with unbelievable and unanticipated blessings. Mormon recorded that contentions and disputations ceased; “and every man did deal justly one with another;” poverty, servitude, and social stratification were eradicated; the people became equal; peace prevailed; and great and marvelous miracles became the norm. Moreover, the people experienced unequalled prosperity. Now unified, they built great cities, and “did wax strong, and did multiply exceedingly fast, and became an exceedingly fair and delightsome people.”
Continuing, we read that they married within the Covenant, “and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them.” They became strictly obedient and “did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in fasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord.” The love of God dwelt in the hearts of the people. “And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God. There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings.”
We might expect that our initial attempts to implement the law of Zion so that commonality could prevail would feel like a temporary cultural shock, causing us to rethink our priorities. But if we can summon courage and push through the learning curve, incredible blessings await us, which will more than compensate for the effort.
The Greater Commandment to Be “Even As the Lord Is”
For the commandments to pray always and have all things in common, Jesus is our Exemplar. When he prayed for the Nephites he focused their attention on his example: “Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye have all witnessed.” Jesus is our model of a celestial lifestyle: “I have set an example for you.” Pertaining to the law of consecration, which produces commonality among all people, the Lord said that this law is “even as I am.” If we were to choose one word to describe Jesus’ with the Father and the relationship to which we must aspire if we hope to become even as he is, that word would be oneness: “I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.”
If we are commanded to become like him, we might ask ourselves, What are the Father and the Son like? Perhaps Joseph Smith offered the best description: “God is the only supreme governor and independent being in whom all fullness and perfection dwell; who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient; without beginning of days or end of life; and that in him every good gift and every good principle dwell; and that he is the Father of lights; in him the principle of faith dwells independently.”
Of course, at this stage of our existence, we can only appreciate these divine traits; for now, these traits are beyond our reach. Therefore, our efforts should be centered on developing these divine traits. As we continue to progress, we rely on the Lord’s promise that our journey will lead us to inheriting all that God has and become all that he is.
As we strive to become even as the Father and the Son are, we remember that we have in common with them our co-eternalness; that is, our origin is the same; likewise, because we are literal children of God, our potential destiny can be the same. Our challenge, therefore, is to become co-equal with the Father and the Son, and that is accomplished by following their example and developing their traits and their level of oneness.
To become like God is to internalize his lifestyle so completely that we will not depart from it. Describing God, Joseph Smith said that he was the same before the creation as he is today: “He changes not, neither is there variableness with him; but that he is the same from everlasting to everlasting, being the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and that his course is one eternal round, without variation.” For us to become even as the Father and the Son are, we must strive for a consistency of righteousness.
The Prophet continued to list a set of characteristics and attributes that the Father and the Son possess in perfection. We must develop these traits if we are to become like them. The Prophet began with the characteristics of mercy and graciousness (“indulgent, generous, displaying divine grace and compassion”). Continuing, the Prophet said that God is “slow to anger” and “abundant in goodness.” Moreover, “He is a God of truth and cannot lie”; “He is no respecter of persons”; that is, if we work righteousness, he is obliged to accept and bless us, just as he accepted and blessed Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph Smith, and all who sought his face-and if we do wickedly, he is obliged to send consequences, regardless of our previous favor. Finally, “he is love.”
The Prophet went on to say that God’s character is a set of perfect attributes; that is, he possesses the following qualities in totality. These are:
- Knowledge-He knows all things past, present, and future.
- Faith or power-He is all powerful.
- Justice-He is completely fair and equitable.
- Judgment-He is perfect in both his reasoning and his rulings.
- Mercy-His grace, compassion, long-suffering, pity, clemency, forgiveness, kindness, sympathy, understanding, leniency, and benevolence are infinite and unending.
- Truth-Beyond being incapable of lying, he deals with things as they really are; he is accurate, genuine, precise; he is honest, loyal, devoted, and sincere; his integrity is impeccable; he deals with unimpeachable facts and certainties.
When the Lord commands us to become like him, he expects us to aim for these characteristics and attributes. Our eventual goal is to become like him: that is, celestial governors in our own right; independent beings in whom all fulness and perfection dwell; gods like the supreme God, who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, without beginning of days or end of life; beings who possess every good gift and in whom every good principle dwells; celestial fathers and mothers of lights, in whom the principles of faith dwell independently.
These are samples of greater commandments–to pray always, to have all things in common, and to be even as Jesus Christ is–that have power to help us become Zion, the pure in heart, and to qualify to someday stand in the presence of God.
Author’s Note
Click here to view a new video presentation called, “The Pure in Heart.”
This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.
Whitney, Saturday Night Thoughts, 133-34; Whitney, Gospel Themes, 115.
See, for example, 3 Nephi 12-14.
3 Nephi 18:16, 24-25; emphasis added.
John 16:24; 3 Nephi 27:29; D&C 4:7; 49:26; 88:63; 103:31.
3 Nephi 18:20; emphasis added.
Smith, Lectures on Faith, 2:2.
Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 395.
Smith, Lectures on Faith, 3:13-18.
Smith, Lectures on Faith, 4:5-10.
Smith, Lectures on Faith, 2:2.
Have you ever become so frustrated with your wayward child that you wish something difficult would happen to shake him up? Then you repent and go back to status quo. But what if your prayer was to ask for a conversion experience-something that would offer the child an opportunity to rethink his position and exercise his agency in a positive way?
Here are two stories from parents: one who is in the process of rescuing her wayward children, and another who prayed for an accident!
Dear Larry,
I have a short comment to make that impacted our lives in a big way. We were sitting with a very young stake president (i.e. he had no teenagers yet!) who turned out to be very wise! As my husband and I were interviewed, he asked about our children. We told him that the oldest four were beginning to go down a dangerous path. After he asked a few questions, he said, “The Lord must truly trust you to send you such special, strong spirits!”
We were immediately comforted. Suddenly, we understood that our wayward children were indeed special in the eyes of the Lord. Moreover, we felt encouraged that the Lord knew us and our children, and he knew that we could do this hard thing. We stopped panicking and learned to turn to the Lord more than we ever had before. Now, fifteen years later, two of our wayward children have returned and are strong. We are still waiting for the last two to commit and come back. But while we are waiting, we have the continuing sweet assurances from the Spirit that all will be well.
Sincerely,
Willing to wait on the Lord’s timing
Dear Willing to wait on the Lord’s timing:
You have learned a key principle about perspective: Your situation is not curse; it is a trust. If you had been called to be the Young Women’s president, and had several girls who were wayward, you would be concerned, but you would not take their choice of waywardness personally. You would realize that you had been called of God at this very time for this very situation–it is a trust. Because you would have that perspective, although you might feel overwhelmed, you would know that Heavenly Father prepares and qualifies those whom he calls. Knowing that you are participating in his plan of salvation for these girls, rather than having to invent a plan of salvation, would give you the courage to move forward. Now you would know that sanctifying yourself so that you would have increased spiritual power is the key to working with these girls.
We parents should feel the same way. We have a trust; we were prepared for and will be strengthened to accomplish that trust. We don’t have to create a plan; we simply need to increase our spiritual capacity to better participate in God’s plan, as he reveals it to us. Here is our mantra: Every effort we put forth to sanctify ourselves has a redeeming effect on those for whom we are praying. I wish every parent could discover what you and learned.
Thanks for writing to me.
Larry
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Dear Larry,
During his senior year in high school, my son Alex began dating a girl named Beth (names changed). Over time, I noticed that he was becoming touchy and curt with family members. Soon, his obstinacy turned to anger. Our relationship, once open and warm, was now terribly strained. My slightest suggestion offended him, and I felt as if I was walking on eggshells.
I suspected that Alex’s change of personality had to do with Beth, but I had no idea what was going on. Beth came from a difficult home life and seemed desperate to escape from it. She was frantically searching for love, marriage and stability-and she thought she had come up with a solution.
I continued to feel anxiety over Alex’s well being, but he wouldn’t allow me to talk to him. I sensed that he was in danger when he was with Beth, but there was nothing I could do. I felt so helpless. Finally I turned to God for help. I began praying. I went to my knees many times during the day. I prayed long into the nights. When worry awakened me, I got up and prayed more.
One night, after I had once again taken my concerns to God, I had a dream. I saw Alex facing a twenty-gun firing squad, and amazingly, Beth was the one that was holding every one of the guns! I awoke from the dream sweating, slid out of bed to my knees and began to beg God for direction. Presently, a series of impressions began to flow into my mind. I became aware that I had presumed Alex was well informed about proper moral conduct. After all, he had been reared in an active LDS home, hadn’t he? Surely he knew the rights and wrongs of dating relationships. But the impressions told me that my assumptions were faulty. Alex was naïve about some things, and that deficiency had now put him at terrible risk. I needed to teach him, but how? He spent very little time at home, and when he did he was not responsive to my counsel.
I again turned to God knowing that nothing I might say could persuade Alex to listen to me. Something extraordinary would have to happen to get his attention. I prayed, “Please create a situation so that Alex’s heart can be softened and I can teach him.”
The thought came to me, “That for which you are asking may require your son to experience a difficult situation. Is this what you really want?”
I had to ponder my response. I did not want my child to be hurt, but I knew that something had to happen quickly to turn him around. I answered, “Yes.”
The following week, an extraordinary event occurred. With little thought of caution, Alex jumped into his car and pulled out directly in front of an approaching van. His car was struck hard on the passenger side, smashing in the door. Amazingly, no one was injured, but was terribly shaken and distraught. He knew the accident was his fault. He had to endure the humiliation: the gawking onlookers; the police investigation; the ticket; the tow truck; apologizing to the people in the van.
I learned about the accident from a neighbor. The first thought that shot through my mind was, Alex is all right. This is your answer. When I arrived at the scene of the accident, Alex appeared pale; he was trembling. I ran to him and held him in my arms as he buried his head in my shoulder and sobbed. He apologized over and over for his carelessness. From that moment, the old Alex began to return. He became sweet, helpful, and patient with family members, willing to talk.
The night following the accident, when Alex was working late, I was awakened by the thought: It is now time for you to teach him. Knowing that my son would soon be arriving home, I dressed and went downstairs to wait. There, I knelt by the couch and prayed for guidance. When Alex walked through the door, he found me on my knees.
“I’m sorry I am late,” he said. “I was talking with Beth after work.”
“That’s alright,” I said. “Can we talk for a minute?”
We didn’t talk for a minute; we talked until morning. I explained to him some delicate issues about proprieties in relationships between men and women. I gently expressed my concerns. He asked questions. During our entire discussion, he listened carefully without offering a trace of resistance. Within a few days, Alex broke up with Beth. We were later to learn that Beth’s solution to her problems was to become pregnant so that she would have a way to escape her abusive family life. When the weight of their relationship had lifted, Alex became relaxed and congenial. The experience proved pivotal in his life. He went on to receive a good education and is now happily married and has a beautiful family.
Sincerely,
Mom who prayed for an accident
Dear Mom who prayed for an accident,
What amazing faith and perspective you have! More parents need to understand that within the Plan of Salvation is a personal plan of salvation for each of us. As the name suggests, the plan is for the purpose of salvation. It is not our plan, but we parents are commissioned to participate in the plan. When we understand that, we can stop all the guilt trips, feelings of isolation and embarrassment, and just go to work. Our challenge would be to infuse more spiritual power into our lives so that we could better recognize and respond to the Spirit. Personal sanctification-That is the key to rescuing wayward children. I congratulate you for your discovery!
Larry