The Lord Will Remember the Prayers

In writing about the descendants of his people in the last days, Mormon said this: “But behold, it shall come to pass that they shall be driven and scattered by the Gentiles; and after they have been driven and scattered by the Gentiles, behold, then will the Lord remember the covenant which he made unto Abraham and unto all the house of Israel.” He knew that despite the fact that they had degenerated into wickedness, one day in our time some of them would return to the true fold of God. He then made this statement: “And also the Lord will remember the prayers of the righteous, which have been put up unto him for them” (Mormon 5:20-21). If I understand correctly, he was referring to the prayers offered up by Nephite prophets throughout their 1000-year history. One example that is referenced in the footnotes is the prayer of Enos: “And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires⁠, because of thy faith. And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him—that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed⁠, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed⁠, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forthat some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be brought unto salvation” (Enos 1:12-13). Enos was very specific in his request about the future of the Lamanites, knowing that they would not accept the gospel in his day. The Lord also told him that other prophets-presumably Jacob and Nephi-had similarly petitioned Him. Enos wrote, “And the Lord said unto me: Thy fathers have also required of me this thing; and it shall be done unto them according to their faith; for their faith was like unto thine” (Enos 1:18). Even though the prophets were gone, the Lord still remembered their prayers.

            The Lord confirmed in our dispensation that He would still answer these and other prayers offered the Nephites: “And, behold, all the remainder of this work does contain all those parts of my gospel which my holy prophets, yea, and also my disciples, desired in their prayers should come forth unto this people. And I said unto them, that it should be granted unto them according to their faith in their prayers; Yea, and this was their faith—that my gospel, which I gave unto them that they might preach in their days, might come unto their brethren the Lamanites⁠, and also all that had become Lamanites because of their dissensions. Now, this is not all—their faith in their prayers was that this gospel should be made known also, if it were possible that other nations should possess this land; And thus they did leave a blessing upon this land in their prayers, that whosoever should believe in this gospel in this land might have eternal life” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:46-50). It amazes me that the Lord would refer to prayers offered thousands of years before and still be working on answering them! I think it is a reminder to us that the Lord’s timeline is His own. Often we expect or desire Him to answer us immediately or within a certain timeframe, but that may leave us disappointed. Recently my daughter lost her phone somewhere in our house, and we could not find it. We prayed, searched, prayed, and searched, but it was nowhere to be found. Over a week later, well after I had run out of ideas of places to search, my daughter sat down in a sofa chair in the living room and randomly stuck her hand down the deep crack (not visible) next to the cushion that is permanently attached to the chair. And she excitedly pulled out her phone. The skeptic would certainly say that it was just luck and clearly the prayers weren’t answered because it didn’t happen quickly, but to me they were answered. She found the phone, and it could have easily stayed there many more months in hiding. The Lord answered these prayers in his timeline, and we must trust that even when our prayers feel unanswered, they are never forgotten by the Lord. We certainly hope that He won’t take thousands of years to respond to our petitions, but we can be confident that He knows them all and will intervene in our lives when the time is right. We have to trust that our prayers will be answered as the Lord said in one verse: “He will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way⁠, and according to his own will” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:68).