Christ’s Church (“Mormons”): Prayer
Thursday, February 28th, 2013BYU (Brigham Young University) is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church.” As part of their undergraduate coursework, BYU students take multiple semesters of spiritually uplifting, stimulating religion classes.
In this series (see below), students enrolled in scripture study classes have shared their thoughts, insights, and reflections on the Book of Mormon in the form of letters to someone they know. We invite you to take a look at their epiphanies and discoveries as they delve into the scriptures.
In publishing these, we fulfill their desire to speak to all of us of the relevance, power and beauty of the Book of Mormon, a second witness of Jesus Christ and complement to the Bible. The Book of Mormon includes the religious history of a group of Israelites who settled in ancient America. (The names they use are those of prophets who taught the Book of Mormon peoples to look forward to the coming of Christ—Nephi, Lehi, Alma, Helaman, and other unfamiliar names. We hope those names will become more familiar to you as you read their inspiring words and feel the relevance and divinity of their messages through these letters.)
Let us know if you’d like to receive your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon, and/or if these messages encourage and assist you spiritually as well.
Christ’s Church (“Mormons”): Prayer
A Letter to my Brother
Colby,
This last week in Book of Mormon class we learned about a very important principle which amplifies the discussion that we had not too long ago at home. I felt that it was very good doctrine and that we could both benefit from it and have a more enhanced discussion next time we meet up. In the fourth verse of the tenth chapter of the book of Helaman, the Lord speaks to Nephi and says “… And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.”
A wonderful discussion ensued in class and I was deeply touched by what was said and what I felt. We are to seek out the Lord’s will and to then follow it. We need not nor should we even try to change the will of the Lord. The Lord knows what we need better than what we know ourselves, and all of our efforts here on earth should be targeted towards trying to find out what the Lord’s will for us is and then tirelessly trying to follow His will.
My instructor, Brother Griffin, went on to reference the Bible Dictionary definition of prayer and said how prayer is the means by which the will of the child conforms to the will of the Father. Thus, we should pray to know what the will of the Father is. The next part of the discussion was related directly to what we talked about last time we were together. In dating and relationships, we should not ask the Lord to change the mind and personality of the girl about whom we are interested, but rather we should ask the Lord to change us personally that we might become a more worthy candidate for the girl. We need always to turn inward and ask ourselves what we can do to change ourselves for the better. This principle can be applied to church callings, marriage, school, work and all other facets of life. We need to seek to better ourselves instead of asking the Lord to change others for our own good.
Brother, I can testify that as we seek to have the “Is it I?” attitude that the apostles once proposed when Jesus informed that one would betray him will help us progress to become more like Him. I have already begun to say my prayers in a way that would help me to change myself and find out the will of the Lord for me and have seen many blessings thus far.
God Speed,
Ty
Additional Resources:
I Believe: Expressions of Faith
If any reading this post have questions or comments, I would welcome them.









