Drawn Out in Prayer Unto Him Continually

The concern of the poorer class of Zoramites when they came to Alma was this: “Behold, what shall these my brethren do, for they are despised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they have cast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have no place to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do?” (Alma 33:5) They mistakenly felt that they could only worship God at the synagogue, and since they were not allowed in, they did not know what to do. In response to this concern, Alma referenced Zenos who wrote in the scriptures about “prayer or worship” and Alma quoted these words from him: “Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was in the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine enemies, and thou didst turn them to me.” Zenos affirmed that God hears us through prayer even in the wilderness. Alma’s citation of Zenos continued to include reference to the Lord hearing him in his field, in his house, in his closet, in the midst of congregations, and when he was cast out by his enemies (Alma 33:3-10). Alma’s message to these Zoramites, using the words of Zenos, was that God would hear their fervent prayers anywhere. In fact, the synagogue wasn’t even mentioned by Zenos in this list, perhaps because he too was “cast out” and “despised” by his enemies and may have even been precluded from the synagogues of his day like these poor Zoramites.

Even though Alma addressed the concern of the Zoramites directly with these words of Zenos, Amulek also gave a similar list of how they could and should worship outside the synagogue. He exhorted them, “Begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you; Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save. Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him. Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks. unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening. Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies. Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.” Here he focused not only on where they could pray but also what they should pray for: for mercy, for their fields, for their flocks, for their household, for power against their enemies and against the devil, and for their crops. Essentially they could pray anywhere and for anything, in direct contrast with the Zoramites who said only one memorized prayer in one location. Amulek then encouraged them to pray always: “Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you” (Alma 34:17-27). These teachings from Alma and Amulek invite us to consider which extreme we are more like when it comes to our prayers: the rote and rare prayers of the Zoramites or the constant, fervent prayers these missionaries encouraged. We may at times be more like the Zoramites than we think with repeated prayers in only a few specific locations at a few appointed times. Instead of seeing prayer as a specific event we should seek to draw near unto him with full hearts turned unto him continually in prayer.