Their Souls Are Precious

Lately I’ve been studying about prayer. 

This last week I read in the Book of Mormon (Alma chapter 31) about two very different prayers.  The first one was given by a group of people called the Zoramites who prided themselves on how unique they were from the other group was something that stood out to me.  Their prayer was more of a recitation that each person said, one after the other upon a stand called the Rameumptom. Unfortunately after their rote prayers, they would go home and never speak of their God again until they met again.   Here is their prayer:

Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.

 Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children; and also thou hast made it known unto us that there shall be no Christ.

 But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.

 And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen.

.

Alma on the other hand was deeply affected by the way that the Zoramites had perverted the plain and pure manner of prayer. He was so disturbed by what he saw that he was brought to his knees and poured out his heart to God. His prayer is striking different. He prays with deep devotion to a God that he obviously has a relationship with. Here is his prayer:

O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh, to behold such gross wickedness among the children of men?

Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. 

Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to greatness, with the vain things of the world.

Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish.

Yea, and they say that thou hast made it known unto them that there shall be no Christ.

 O Lord God, how long wilt thou suffer that such wickedness and infidelity shall be among this people? O Lord, wilt thou give me strength, that I may bear with mine infirmities. For I am infirm, and such wickedness among this people doth pain my soul.

O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people.

 O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me—yea, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and also Amulek and Zeezrom, and also my two sons—yea, even all these wilt thou comfort, O Lord. Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in Christ.

 Wilt thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that they may bear their afflictions which shall come upon them because of the iniquities of this people.

 O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.

 Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.

What strikes me the most about these two different accounts is the lack or considerations and blatant disregard for others that the Zoramites had for their brethren the Nephites and the utmost compassion and concern that Alma had for the Zoramites. One group loathing the other and Alma being filled with charity for the people who essentially hated him and what he stood for.

Alma says, “Their souls are precious.” 

After reading that I thought of how I might react in a similar situation. What would I do if someone I knew was struggling spiritually? How would I react if I knew someone was having a spiritual crisis? Honestly I thought that I would shrug it off and say it wasn’t really any of my business. I think my first instinct would be not to get involved.  Alma’s example of fervent prayer for people he hardly knew but cared so deeply for has helped me realize that I need to change my attitude. If I can truly see people for who they really are, then I can feel for them like Alma felt for the Zoramites.  That is the key. Realizing that every person on this earth is precious changes things. It has changed the way I think and hopefully will bring me to my knees in prayer for those in my circle of influence.