As He Went Forth

After telling us that his father had lived in Jerusalem all his life and that in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah there were many prophets who came calling the city to repentance, Nephi wrote this: “Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.” It appears that Lehi hadn’t yet been called to preach to the people at this point and what Nephi subsequently described was his father’s commission to go and prophesy to the people. If that’s the case, then Lehi likely was praying to the Lord for his people because of what he had heard the other prophets say concerning their pending destruction. What struck me in this verse was that he prayed unto the Lord “as he went forth,” suggesting I believe that Lehi was actually walking and praying at the same time. Clearly he was outdoors because “there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him,” and he may have even been outside the city of Jerusalem since after the vision “he returned to his own house at Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 1:4-7). I imagine him alone on some trail, pouring his soul out to God in his mind while in route to some destination. This description is for me a reminder that all prayers need not be when we are formally kneeling down or closing our eyes—we can and should seek to commune with Him even when we too “go forth” about our days.

                I love the invitations from Alma and Amulek to the Zoramites that also remind us that we can and should pray anywhere that we are. Alma quoted these words of Zenos: “Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was in the wilderness…. Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my field…. Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations” (Alma 33:4-5,9). The wilderness, the field, and in the midst of congregations all suggest places we wouldn’t normally think of as a typical place to pray. Amulek invited the people: “Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks…. Ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness” (Alma 34:20,26). Whether we are at home or in the wilderness, in our daily labors or alone in a closet, we can and should pray there too. These all highlight the overarching invitation of the scriptures to pray always as Nephi taught: “But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul” (2 Nephi 32:9). The Savior similarly invited the Nephites and us, “Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:18-19). When the Savior was among the Nephites at one point “he commanded the multitude that they should cease to pray.” This might seem to us to contradict His admonition to pray always, which is perhaps why He also “commanded them that they should not cease to pray in their hearts” (3 Nephi 20:1). Even when we cannot pray formally, we can always continue to pray in our hearts as the Savior invited them and us. Even as Lehi prayed to the Lord “as he went forth” on his way, we too can always pray wherever we go forth each day.