"..To an Experiment Upon My Words," Alma 32:22-29

Alma 32:22-29

As I read these next few verses, I'm contemplating the relationship between the seen and the unseen, God's commands given to prophets  to write the word of God, and how that becomes something that can be seen, so that we can believe in those things which are not seen. And then light, the light of God, the light that Joseph saw in the grove after he exercised his faith!

Alma had to teach these poor and impoverished people how to believe. He had to give them instructions on how to have faith.

1. The first step is humility. 
2. The next is a desire to believe. 
3. The final step is to plant the seed of faith in the word of God. 

There is a parallel here in the Savior's teaching about the sower and the seeds found in Matthew 13:3-23.

It's also noteworthy that one of the first things Alma says is this:

...remember, that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word. (vs. 22, emphasis added)

This process is possible because 1) God is merciful, and 2) He wants you to believe.

 Verse 28 is critical because it represents the experimentation of faith, those first steps of discipleship.

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A quick revisit of verse 23 reminds me of those precious doctrines concerning the children and their capacity to receive spiritual impressions and promptings. Doctrine and Covenants 128:18 emphasizes this as a concluding thought.