Receiving Help of the Lord

I take away two key things that we need to do to receive help of the Lord from Mosiah 4.  The first is to plead with the Lord in prayer.  King Benjamin spoke of this in the context of receiving a forgiveness of sins, but I think it applies to other desires that we have of the Lord.  He told his people they needed to “ask in sincerity of heart” and that they should humble themselves “even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily” (Mosiah 4:10-11).  He described the way that they had already been calling on the Lord this way: “Ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins” (Mosiah 4:20).  To beg the Lord is not casual asking or a half-hearted prayer.  But just praying, asking, and pleading with the Lord is not enough according to King Benjamin.  He also taught them that just as they sought help of the Lord, they should seek to help those in need around them.  He told them, “Ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need” (Mosiah 4:16).  He further implored them, “O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.” (Mosiah 4:21).  He repeated this again just a few verses later: “I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief” (Mosiah 4:26).  These things were needed in order for the people to receive fully what the Lord was giving them—a remission of their sins—and so I think it is with us.  To receive of the Lord’s help we should plead with him in prayer but also seek to help those that we can around us.  Amulek taught the same thing to the poor among the Zoramites.  After telling them to cry unto the Lord for “mercy” and for help in their “fields” and “houses” and “crops” and all aspects of their lives, he said, “If ye turn away the needy, and the naked… your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing” (Alma 34:17-28).  We cannot be like the man in Christ’s parable who was forgiven of an enormous debt and then turned around and could not forgive a small debt to someone else (Matt 18:23-35).  If we plead with the Lord for help but don’t help those around us, then our prayers will be in vain.