Steering Our Rudder

In the last Priesthood session of general conference, President Monson told the story of the Bismarck, a massively powerful German ship that was eventually sunk because the very small rudder was jammed by a torpedo and the ship could no longer steer.  He said, “Like the vital rudder of a ship, brethren, we have been provided a way to determine the direction we travel.”  Though the rudder is small and “hidden from view,” it is “absolutely essential in function.”  I take the rudder to be the decisions that we make in life--and how do we “steer” this rudder?  President Monson continued, “We pause to pray; we listen to that still, small voice which speaks to the depths of our souls the Master’s gentle invitation, ‘Come, follow me.’” 

I really like this analogy for our lives.  Each day we fill our time with many visible activities that the world might judge us on or congratulate us for or perhaps criticize us because of.  We might get recognition for what we do in sports, in work, in our family, or in school, but like with the Bismarck the world will not see or perceive what is most crucial in the directing of our lives.  Even for those of us who have been taught about the power of prayer and the importance of the Spirit, do we really recognize them for the essential role that these should play in guiding all aspects of our life?  Alma taught that “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” and that the Lord doth work by “very small things” (Alma 37:6-7).  Spending a few minutes in sincere prayer and seeking to listen to the voice of the Spirit is surely a very small thing to the world and something that would be judged secularly as having little effect on our lives.  But these activities can have an enormous impact to steer our lives in the direction that the Lord wants to lead us.  Acts 10 is a good example of the power of prayer to change the course of our lives.  We are given two similar stories.  Cornelius was a man who “prayed to God alway,” and at some point in one of these prayers an angel came to him saying, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God” and he was given direction to seek out Peter.  Because of this he became the first Gentile convert to the gospel.  Similarly, Peter who was apparently hungry, decided that it was more important to pray first and “went up onto the housetop to pray” (Acts 10:1-10).  The Lord then revealed to him the great change that would come as the gospel would start to go to the Gentiles.  What if he had opted for food instead of prayer?  Obviously we might not have a similar angelic manifestation with our prayers, but the principle is the same: the Lord has guidance that He wants to give us, and He often waits until we pray to give it to us.  Think about the Brother of Jared: he made no physical progress for four years while they “dwelt in tents upon the seashore” because he “remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord” (Ether 2:13-14).  How much communication and direction do we miss because we remember not to call upon God with full purpose of heart?  As President Monson said, “To sail safely the seas of mortality, we need the guidance of that Eternal Mariner—even the great Jehovah. We reach out, we reach up to obtain heavenly help.”