Book of Mormon Lesson 1 Scripture Activity 2

Scripture Activity Two

Here is a list of possible insights I learned from the Zoramites prayer in Alma 31:15-18:

1. They believe in God and that He is holy.
2. They believe He is a spirit. They believe that He has always been a spirit and will always be a spirit. They believed he was the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
3. They believe God has power in their lives. They believed they were separated from their brethren by God. They were grateful to be lead away from their brethren so they would not be bound down by the foolish traditions their brethren followed. The foolish tradition they were grateful to escape from was the belief of Christ. They believed a belief of Christ would lead their hearts away from God.
4. They do not follow the traditions of their fathers because they believed it to be childish.
5. They believed themselves to be the elect of God, that God chose them to be His holy children. They also believed they had been elected to be saved, while all those around them were to be cast by God’s wrath down to hell. They felt gratitude towards God for these favors.
6. They believed God had made it known that there would be no Christ.
7. They end their prayer with thanks again to God that they are chosen. They were grateful and they had a strong belief that they were chosen.

In contrast Alma prayed in Alma 31:26-35:

1.  He address’ God as Lord.
2. He has a relationship with the God and is comfortable asking a question about the wickedness of the children of men.
3. He knows that the Zoramites cry unto the Lord, but their hearts are not in their prayers. Alma recognizes they pray with their mouths, but it is the vain things of this world that are most important to them. He says that they are swallowed up in their pride and they are puffed up with their greatness.
4. Alma enumerates the outward show that indicates where their hearts really are. Included on the list are costly apparel, ringlets, bracelets, ornaments of gold, and all their precious things they are ornamented with.
5. He mentions that they say in their prayers that they are thankful to be a chosen people, yet others perish.
6. He tells the Lord that they believe they have been told that there will be no Christ.
7. He asks a second time how long the Lord will suffer such wickedness among men
8. He asks for strength in this trial and says the wickedness of the people causes him pain of soul.
9. He tells the Lord his heart is exceedingly sorrowful and asks for strength to bear this burden. He asks for patience as he suffers from the iniquity of the people.
10. He asks for comfort for himself and for those traveling with him. He is asking for comfort in Christ. He asks for success in his labor.
11. The success he is asking for is in bringing souls back to Christ.
12. He believes their souls are precious and they are worth saving. He calls them his brethren.
13. At the last he asks for power and wisdom to bring his brethren back to the Lord.

3.       In Alma 31:31-33 Alma says in his prayer that his heart is exceedingly sorrowful. He asks the Lord to comfort his soul in Christ. He then asks the Lord to grant unto him strength, that he might suffer with patience the afflictions which he will receive due to the iniquity of the people.
     In verse 32 he asks for comfort for his soul and for those travelling with him. He asks for success in their work of bringing them back to Christ.
   In verse 33 he asks for strength to bear their afflictions which they receive while working with iniquitous people.

4.  Alma was having success with the Zoramites that were poor and had been cast out of the synagogues. They were asking him if they should believe in one God, they wanted to obtain the fruit Alma had preached to them about. They wanted to know how to plant the word in their hearts and how to begin to exercise faith. He tells them it is a misunderstanding to believe that because they have been cast out of the synagogues that they are unable to worship God. He suggests to them to search the scriptures to see if that is true. From this he is telling them to plant the seed of faith or desire in their hearts, then read their scriptures.
5.     Alma 33:4-11 and Alma 34-17-29 teach about prayer:

1. God hears our prayers. (v 4 for thou has heard my prayer, v5 thou didst hear me, v6 thou didst hear me in my prayer, v7 thou didst hear me, v8 thou wilt hear them)
2. It doesn’t matter where we are where we pray, He hears our prayers. (v4  I was in the wilderness, v5 I did cry unto thee in my field, v6 I did turn to my house, v7 I di turn unto my closet, heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations, thou hast heard me when I have been cast our and despised by enemies, didst hear my cries )
3. God has influence on lives.  (v4  thou didst turn them to me)
4. God has mercy.  (v5 thou wast merciful unto me, v9 thou hast been merciful unto me)
5. God is merciful to His children when they cry unto Him privately v8.
6. God has anger towards the enemies of His servants and will visit them with anger and speedy destruction v10.
7. God heard Alma during his afflictions as he petitioned with sincerity.
   1. Verse 11 includes this phrase; it is because of the Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me. Is it because Jesus Christ our advocate with the Father and seeing Alma suffer for His sake He pled for mercy in behalf of Alma and Alma received blessings from the Father? This takes place prior to the Atonement. Christ has not suffered yet for the sins or pains of the world. He then says he will pray to Him in all his afflictions for it is in God he has joy. Alma also says that judgments have been turned away, because of thy Son. Elder Bruce R McConkie said, “When the prophets speak of an infinite atonement, they mean just that. Its effects cover all men, the earth itself and all forms of life thereon, and reach out into the endless expanses of eternity”. Therefore Alma had an understanding of Jesus Christ and the Atonement. He believed the prophets and what they taught about the coming of their Savior, Jesus Christ. He called on the Father and received the healing power of Jesus Christ.

Alma 34:17-29

1. As we exercise faith, call on God, he will have mercy on us.
2. We must humble ourselves and continue in prayer.
3. We can pray in our fields over our flocks, in our homes over our households. We must pray morning, noon, and night. We can pray over our crops that we will prosper from them. We can pray over our flocks that they will increase.
4. We should pray against the power of our enemies. Pray against the devil, who is an enemy of all righteousness?
5. We are to pray in our closets and secret places. We are to pour out our souls in our wilderness.
6. When we are not in prayer, our hearts can be drawn to the Lord for our welfare and for the welfare of those around us. Elder Eyring said, “Our hearts can be drawn out to God only when they are filled with love for him and trust in His goodness” Love for others is an extension of our love of God.
7. In our dealings with others we are to help the needy, visit the sick and afflicted, give to them of our substance, otherwise our prayers are vain and do nothing for us. Without charity towards others we are hypocrites and deny the faith.  We will be cast out.

My husband recently told me he made a comment in Priesthood meeting about my prayers. I , of course, told him not to talk about me in Priesthood meeting. He told me that my prayers had changed and he feels like I am now praying to a friend. This was just a week or so ago, right as I was finishing my New Testament class. That being said, I personally feel like there is always room for improvement. I believe the scriptures. I believe Jesus Christ lived on the earth. He lived and died for all mankind. He is the light of the world. I receive answers to prayers. The answers I receive are usually answers to my gospel questions. As I am writing this I pulled out my patriarchal blessing because I wanted to remember a specific phrase. Instead I found a short paragraph about being blessed with faith, keeping commandments, knowing Christ and feeling his care for me. That is what I want to improve in my prayers, exactly what my patriarchal blessing is pointing out. With my new found understanding of faith from the lecture this lesson, I will ponder this paragraph and move forward.