In Times of Trouble

Jerusalem's arch enemy, the king of Assyria, was on the warpath and headed toward Israel's capital. King Hezekiah, one of the few shining lights in the otherwise long line of Juda's unrighteous rulers, sent messengers to the prophet Isaiah to learn what God would have him and his people do in the face of this threat. Weakened from previous wars, Hezekiah feared his people lacked the strength to stand against the Assyrian army.

As was customary for warfare in those days, the invading army hurdled insults and threats against the defenders before mounting the actual attack--a type of psychological warfare. Rab-shakeh, the Assyrian king's lackey, had delivered the scathing diatribe to Hezekiah and his people, not only belittling the Jews but insulting their God, saying that Jehovah was no better than the pagan gods of the other people Assyria had already conquered.

Hezekiah, in distress, and with genuine humility, knowing he needed God's help, sent this message to Isaiah to pray for the people and learn the will of the Lord:

It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
-- 2 Kings 19:4

Isaiah prayed, and the Lord replied with a revelation for King Hezekiah. Isaiah prophesied that the king of Assyria would be distracted by other enemies and return to his own land without attacking Jerusalem. Furthermore, the king would be murdered in his homeland before he could ever again come against Hezekiah's people.

Hezekiah gave the response to Rab-shakeh, who returned to the camp of the Assyrians only to find them already joined in battle against Libnah. The Lord sent a plague into the camp of the Assyrians, which wiped out the army and sent their king packing to the safety of his palace, where he was later killed by his own sons. Isaiah's prayer on behalf of Hezekiah and his people was answered.

In times of trouble, prayer is our best remedy. When we humble ourselves and entreat the Lord for help, He is inclined to use His power in our behalf. He knows our troubles, and He knows what we need before we ask Him. But in the asking, we incline ourselves to Him and prepare ourselves to receive His help. Because we petition the Lord, we are more likely to recognize His hand when He moves to rescue us. Our gratitude is more ready and sincere, and our faith is increased. Prayer does not make God do things He does not want to do, but it opens us to His blessings and prepares us to recognize them when they come.

A Joint Effort

Discouragement settled quickly on the children of Israel as they made their way from the crossing of the Red Sea towards the promised land. They frankly grew tired of the daily miracle of manna. So, they started to complain against God and against Moses. When would we get something real to eat, they wanted to know. Had Moses brought them out into the wilderness just to kill them with hunger and thirst?

Just when they thought things couldn't get any worse, God made them worse, just to prove a point. He sent "fiery serpents" among the people, "and much people of Israel died" (see Numbers 21:6).

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
--Numbers 21:7

In their spiritual immaturity, the people felt they had no power with God. They had not learned to ask and receive. So, they turned to their prophet in their distress. Though they lacked faith in themselves, they had faith in Moses. Yet Moses wished that every man in the camp of Israel could be a prophet (see Numbers 11:29).

Moses inquired of the Lord and received instruction. The Lord told him to create a serpent of brass and fix it on a pole so that everyone in the camp could see it. God promised that every infected person who looked at the brass serpent would be healed.

Moses brought the unusual answer to the people. Yet many refused to believe and act on Moses's direction, and they perished. On the other hand, those who had faith in Moses's revelation and followed his instructions were instantly healed as promised.

We learn a lot about pride and stubbornness from this incident. We also learn that prayer works. God hears and answers.

We learn further that we can pray for others over whom we have stewardship and receive direction to bless them. Our prayers can add power to the prayers of others, and our faith can bolster their faith. Our faith, however, cannot replace their faith, and our prayers cannot substitute fully for their prayers. Moses could not look at the serpent for others and heal them. Each had to look for himself or herself. Each had to exercise his or her own faith.

Prayer works best when it is a joint effort.

Inquire of the Lord

One great purpose of prayer is to inquire of the Lord. To inquire is simply to seek information. Thus, prayer is the doorway to revelation. Unless we ask, God does not answer. He may entice us, and He may even drive us, but He does not force Himself upon us without our consent. We consent when we pray.

One of many examples of inquiring of the Lord found in the scriptures is Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, the covenant son of Abraham. When she had conceived and her form began to fill out, she realized she was carrying twins. Not only was she going to have twins, the two babies already seemed to be at odds with each other in the womb. We read:

And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord.
-- Genesis 25:22

We can ask God anything. He rarely answers "why" questions, however. In this case, Rebekah's question was not so much, "Why do I have twins?" but "What does this in utero struggle mean for the future of my children?" The Lord revealed to Rebekah that her two quarreling boys would be the progenitors of two separate and distinct nations, and most importantly, the older brother (and his posterity) would serve the younger (see Genesis 25:23), meaning the younger of the two would carry the Abrahamic covenant. The first of the babies to enter the world was named Esau, and the second was named Jacob, whom the Lord would eventually rename Israel.

God's favorite questions to answer are "what" and "who", as in "what do you want me to do?" (see 1 Sam 3:9-10) and "who do you want me to help?" (for example, see 1 Kings 17). Other questions He seems happy to answer are "How do I need to change in my life?" (see John 3:1-21). and "What lack I yet?" (See Matthew 19:20). Another good question is "How do you want me to do such and such?" (1 Nephi 17:9).

We learned from Oliver Cowdry's experience, however, that proper inquiry requires proper preparation. The Lord chastised Oliver, "you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me." (Doctrine and Covenants 9:7) God expects us to do our homework. We have to exhaust the resources He has already given us and stretch our intellect before our inquiry will bear fruit. We are totally dependent on God, but He does not want us to be weak. He wants powerful people. He will provide the power, but only after we have stretched and grown and increased our capacity to receive His power.

I believe every prophet learned to inquire, and every revelatory experience came from a question. Joseph Smith experienced the opening vision of this new dispensation because he had a question, "Which church should I join?" (see Joseph Smith-History 1:18). Virtually every revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants came as an answer to an inquiry. The Brother of Jared's marvelous revelation came because he needed to know how to solve a problem of providing light in sealed barges (see Ether 3:1-6). Moses needed to know how to get the children of Israel across the Red Sea (see Exodus 14:15-16). Nephi wanted to know what his father's dream of the tree of Life meant (1 Nephi 11:1). President Kimball wanted to know if the traditional policy of excluding men from the priesthood based on race was still necessary (see Official Declaration 2).

And so it is with us. Though we are ordinary people, we are not ordinary in the Lord's eyes. We are all His children whom He wants to bless, teach, and enlighten. Like Rebekah, Nephi, the brother of Jared, Elijah, Moses, Joseph Smith, and Spencer W. Kimball, if we are troubled by something, we can inquire of the Lord. If we ask the right question with real intent to act on the answer, and if we have done our homework, God will answer in clear and unequivocal tones. We will know He loves us.

Pray for Others

Sarah, Abraham's wife, was a beautiful woman. So much so, that as the couple traveled through foreign lands, the rulers of those lands often lusted after Sarah. Fearing the rulers would kill him so they could take his fetching bride, Abraham used subterfuge to fend off potential threats to his life. He made it known that Sarah was his sister and carefully avoided the fact that she was also his wife. She was, in fact, his half-sister, being the daughter of his father but not of his mother, so, saying she was his sister was a true statement.

The first time Abraham used this convenient trick was in the land of Gerar, where Abimelech was king. Believing Abraham was an honest man, and taking him at his word that Sarah was only his sister, the king brought Sarah into his house with the intention of making her his wife. Before Abimelech could consummate the marriage, however, this innocent and righteous man was visited by the Lord in a dream. In the dream, the Lord told him that Sarah was in fact Abraham's wife, and the king would be committing adultery if he married her. Then the Lord made this statement to Abimelech:

Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
-- Genesis 20:7

The king immediately returned Sarah to Abraham, scolded him for putting the king and his household in moral danger, and made things right with Abraham. And accordingly, Abraham did in fact pray for Abimelech and his family. The record reports:

So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
-- Genesis 20:17

As the Bible attests, since the beginning, praying for others has been a common practice.

When we attempt to intercede with God on the behalf of others, we are acting in a small way like Christ, who is our faithful Intercessor with the Father. We add our faith to the faith of others, or in some cases we put our faith forward when others lack faith, to invoke the power of God for those who need His help.

Faith is a force multiplier. God reacts and responds to faith.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.
-- James 1:5-6

Though we are commanded to pray for others, it is a mystery to me how praying for others works. Heavenly Father already knows those for whom we pray. He loves them, knows what they need, and is anxious to bless them with powerful blessings. How my petitions on their behalf could trigger God to act is beyond my comprehension. Nevertheless, it works.

I do not have to understand how electricity works before I flip the switch on the wall to turn on the lights. I am satisfied for now to trust that prayer works, even though I cannot explain the principles of prayer in scientific terms.

What I believe is that praying for others is important for me and beneficial for others, and great good comes of it. Because God guides and inspires my prayers, perhaps He is revealing to me His will for the person for whom I pray. Maybe He is helping me recognize His hand and power in the lives of others when I see my prayers answered. Perhaps prayer is a way of teaching me love, compassion, and charity for others. And maybe my prayers should be more about what I can do to help God bless others than about getting Him to do all the work.

Whatever the process and whatever the outcome, I will continue to pray for others with faith and hope in the efficacy of the effort.