Alma's Power in Prayer

Alma, the man whose spiritual life was saved in large part because of the prayers of his father, gave us incredible examples about the power of prayer.  It started with his great moment of change when he cried in prayer, “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness” (Alma 36:18).  The Lord answered his prayer so that he was “filled with joy” and miraculously found forgiveness of his sins.  Alma became the chief judge and ended up leading the armies against the Amlicites.  In a precarious point of the war, he cried to the Lord, “O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save a preserve this people” (Alma 2:30).  Because of his prayer the Lord gave him strength to overcome Amlici and win the battle.  Soon afterwards he gave up the judgment seat and became a mighty missionary, constantly showing the great power of his prayers.  Upon reaching Ammonihah, he “labored much in spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city” (Alma 8:10).  Later in the same city, after suffering for many days in terrible conditions in jail, he cried to the Lord, “How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith in Christ, even unto deliverance” (Alma 14:26).  Immediately thereafter they broke the bands and came forth out of the prison like “two lions.”  In the next chapter as Alma visited the sick Zeezrom and cried unto the Lord, “O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ” (Alma 15:10).  Zeezrom then “leaped upon his feet, and began to walk,” a clear miracle resulting in part because of Alma’s mighty faith in prayer.  Later on another mission Alma was again in earnest prayer, supplicating the Lord for the Zoramites: “O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength….  O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me success….  Give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee” (Alma 31:31-35).  Subsequent chapters show the great power that the Lord gave him and Amulek as they taught the Zoramites: The Lord “gave them strength… according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith” (Alma 31:38).  Alma gave us great teachings about the importance of prayer—such as the famous counsel to his son in Alma 37:36-37—but it was his repeated example of heartfelt pleadings with the Lord that teaches us the most.