Today I read Ether 1, I have always been fascinated by the Jaredites. Partly because their history spanned twice that of the Nephites but we only have a 10th of the record of them. It also gives us an insight into how small and compact their writing must have been. When Ammon meets Limhi in the book of Mosiah, Limhi tells him that his people found 24 plates filled with engravings. Moroni later tells us that these plates contained the vision that the brother of Jared saw which included the entire history of the world as far as we know. That is a lot to include on just 24 plates!
As we start out learning about the history of the Jaredites we learn that during the time of the tower of Babel when the lord confounded the original language of the people and scattered them Jared and his brother, Mahonri Moriancumer, were spared because of the efforts of Mahonri. Jared requested of his brother that he pray unto the Lord that he would spare their language and that of their friends.
As I read this chapter today, I couldn't help but wonder, why didn't Jared just pray on his own? It seemed kind of weird to me that Jared would ask his brother to pray unto the Lord instead of just praying himself. Now I do not know anything of the culture of that time, I do know that based on how it is written that Mahonri was a prophet of the Lord and it seemed to be a well known fact that he had the Lord's favor, at least to his brother it was well known. Who knows but perhaps Jared felt since Mahonri was a prophet, he was more likely to get a favorable answer, who knows.
I also am intrigued that Jared had his brother ask the Lord if they were to leave the land. That to me shows remarkable insight into the workings of the Lord and an understanding of His ways which again showed me that Jared understood the things of the Lord. Perhaps since he did understand the Lord so much he was trying to follow the established pattern of the Lord by having his brother talk to God on their behalf. But Jared saw what was happening, and we can infer based on his questions he poses to Mahonri, he understood why it was happening and that they should distance themselves from such a place of great iniquity.
I often wonder why the Lord had the Jaredites take their animals with them. Seeds for planting I can understand, because even though the Americas were inhabited before this time, vegetables and fruits would not have necessarily still be around for them to cultivate. Fruits would have a greater chance than vegetables I think. But animals, surely there were already animals on the continents. Perhaps they brought animals for the journey so that they would have more to subside on than just grains, fruits and vegetables. I mean after all they are going to be living on the seashore in the land Moriancumer for 4 years! Although they did not know this at the time.
I also like the way that the last verse if phrased, the Lord is going to bless Mahonri and his family because of Mahonri's faithfulness in praying to him all this time. Prayer has been on my mind a lot lately. I honestly find it particularly difficult to pray, because of my own weakness; my mind seems to wander when I try and say silent prayers. But ever since I read Alma 32 3 months ago when prayer is likened to worshiping the Lord prayer has been on my mind.
The brother of Jared was a mighty man of prayer. He was used to conversing with the Lord and used to getting answers back from the Lord. Hence we know he was a prophet. The odd thing about this chapter though, to me at least, it makes it seem like he was the only one who was praying. Like I said, I really don't understand why when Jared, obviously a devout man of God, saw what was happening to the people around him didn't pray himself. He certainly had faith in the Lord and in His compassion, but seemed to believe that compassion would only be extended to another and not him personally.
I do not know this for a fact, it is pure speculation and I do not wish to slander Jared. But how many of us have felt like Jared at times in our lives? How many of us have felt "unworthy to pray" and fallen prey to the devil's tricks that teach us not to pray? How many of us have bought into the false mentality that the Lord will answer another's prayer but not mine? Whatever the reasons Jared had for just allowing his brother to do the praying instead of him, we can learn valuable lessons from it. Prayer is for everyone! We are all commanded to pray always. Elder Bednar explains that to mean we are to pray without ceasing and always have a prayer in our hearts. We are to dedicate each and every day to the Lord in our prayers.
We can all be mighty men and women of prayer if we so choose. But it must be a choice. We cannot simply pray like a drone and do it just because we are commanded to. Just like all other aspects of the Gospel of Christ, we must learn to love to pray. We should look forward to it, like we would a phone call to a cherished friend. We should all learn to be comfortable speaking to our Father in Heaven. As we do, our lives will change for the better, I promise it. You can put it to the test and you won't be disappointed. The best part about praying until you enjoy it, you can pray to Heavenly Father to help you enjoy praying, and He will help you. Give it a try! Until tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment