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"Cry Unto the Lord," Alma 34:18-29

Alma 34:18-29

Pray and do good.

I read through these passages this morning, at first, without any resolve to realign my course. Even though I am familiar with this  passage, my life is not quite in harmony with what Amulek teaches here:

On Prayer:
  • First off, Christ is mighty to save. And if we had any question about that fact, or if we needed a refresher on the scope of Christ's magnificence, the footnote on "mighty" points to Hebrews 7:24-25:
"But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."
  • To be humbled and to continue in prayer onto him: There is no more pressing reminder from day to day than this one.
  • Several statements that Amulek make point to praying over those things which sustain our livelihood. (Fields and flocks in their day.) 
  • Pray for our family (household), morning, mid-day, and evening. Daniel was also noted for praying three times a day. (I only pray twice a day, and even then...) 
  • Cry unto him against the power of my enemies. I've never really given this much thought. For a long time I've felt that I didn't have enemies. But here I am, not entirely in a position of peace because of influences that have had sway on family members that I love. These influences, those that embody such, these are my enemies. Not that I would be hostile towards them, but I'm coming to recognize and unveil the enemies of my soul, and they are real. 
  • The next verse aptly points to the true opposition: the devil, the enemy of all righteousness. For so long I have been wondering in ignorance oblivious to the reality of the opposition that was being waged against my own family. Today, my own house is divided because of the opposition.  But now I know what I am praying for. 
  • Again, Amulek returns to the need to pray for our crops in the fields and our flocks. What are my crops that they can prosper? What are my flocks that they might increase? How can I do this better? 
 ----
The end of this section on prayer illustrates in my mind the need of constant prayer, or that there is an intensity to the quality of my prayers that must be in place of their effectiveness to be realized. The deliberate use of the word "cry" throughout this passage illustrates that intensity of effort. "Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full."

Then Amulek concludes with a call to charitable action. We must do something good: receive the needy and the naked, visit the sick and afflicted, give to those in need if ye have. For all it is an issue of where do spend our free time, in what do we spend our free time working on? 
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