48 And
the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to multiply
and to wax exceedingly strong again in the land. And they began to grow
exceedingly rich.
49 But
notwithstanding their riches, or their strength, or their prosperity, they were
not lifted up in the pride of their eyes; neither were they slow to remember
the Lord their God; but they did humble themselves exceedingly before him.
50 Yea,
they did remember how great things the Lord had done for them, that he had
delivered them from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all
manner of afflictions, and he had delivered them out of the hands of their
enemies.
51 And
they did pray unto the Lord their God continually, insomuch that the Lord did
bless them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and prosper in
the land. (Alma 62:48-51)
This block of verses is one
of the happiest in the Book of Mormon (excluding the bliss of 4 Nephi) because
the Nephites manage to wax strong, prosper, and grow rich without being lifted
up in pride. How is this
extraordinary state achieved?!
This is like the holy grail of Mormondom, next to Zion itself, yes?
We get a clue in two things
that are mentioned.
First, they were not slow to remember the Lord. They remembered all the great things God had done for them
in preserving their lives, and they remembered He had delivered them out of
their afflictions—from death, from imprisonment, from their enemies, etc.
Consider that this comes at
the end of a long period of war with the Lamanites in which a good portion of
the population was captured, imprisoned, perhaps enslaved, and subjected by
Lamanite armies. Whole cities were
captive and during this difficult period it seems that they mustered great
faith they would be delivered.
(They wouldn’t remember the Lord’s deliverance if they hadn’t first
given Him credit for it, and they wouldn’t have given credit for it if they
hadn’t pleaded for it in prayer many times during captivity.) In the war chapters the perspective we
read of most often is that of the Nephite liberators, but these verses above
speak of another perspective—that of the captives and how they bore with the
occupation of their lands by the enemy.
(Perhaps they kept their hope alive by remembering the deliverance of
Limhi and Alma the Elder from two generations ago?)
Think of how the Nephite
victories that set them free would have strengthened their faith in God. Can you imagine them saying to each
other, “At last! Freedom! We prayed for this day and it has
come! The Lord hears us and knows
us!” Can you imagine the
celebrations?
When a large percentage of
the population has direct experience with divine deliverance from affliction
and danger and persists in remembering the Lord, think how that plays out
across all the millions of relationships and interactions. (I’m sure that this careful remembering
is what the Lord wants for all of us today.. we see it in the purpose of the
sacrament.)
Second, we are told that they did pray unto the Lord continually. I suppose that this was not a practice
they picked up when everything straightened out again; rather it was the way
they coped during their afflictions and they refused to abandon it. What a neat thing that so many people
kept up a constant conversation with the Lord throughout the day.
Once again, this reminds me
that I need to pray much more often.
I think one of the main ideas that pulls me away from prayer is that I
think I have to learn to be more self-reliant and try to do things
myself.. But that’s so silly! Here we are on earth to be tested and I
know that I can’t escape sin on my
own or become like Christ without being changed (which requires His help), so I
NEED to pray!
I love the example that the
Nephites set here with their careful memory of divine deliverance and their
constant prayer. Just think what
our wards could be like if we followed it. Or our society.
(Sigh)
Today let’s try to pray
continually over all our afflictions and even joys. Let’s see how many days we can keep it up.
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