Will God really answer your prayer? How has he answered your prayers in the past?
"6 For it came to pass that they did adeceive many with their bflattering words, who were in the church, and did cause them to commit many sins; therefore it became expedient that those who committed sin, that were in the church, should be cadmonished by the church.
7 And it came to pass that they were brought before the priests, and delivered up unto the apriests by the teachers; and the priests brought them before Alma, who was the bhigh priest.
8 Now king Mosiah had given Alma the aauthority over the bchurch.
9 And it came to pass that Alma did not know concerning them; but there were many awitnesses against them; yea, the people stood and testified of their iniquity in abundance.
10 Now there had not any such thing happened before in the church; therefore Alma was troubled in his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king.
11 And he said unto the king: Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are accused of their brethren; yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities. And they do not repent of their iniquities; therefore we have brought them before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes.
12 But king Mosiah said unto Alma: Behold, I judge them not; therefore I adeliver them into thy hands to be judged.
13 And now the spirit of Alma was again troubled; and he went and inquired of the Lord what he should do concerning this matter, for he feared that he should do wrong in the sight of God.
14 And it came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the avoice of the Lord came to him, saying:
15 Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the awaters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding bfaith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi.
16 And blessed are they because of their exceeding faith in the words alone which thou hast spoken unto them.
17 And blessed art thou because thou hast established a achurch among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people.
18 Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my aname; for in my bname shall they be called; and they are mine.
19 And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed.
20 Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have aeternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep.
21 And he that will hear my voice shall be my asheep; and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive.
22 For behold, athis is my bchurch; whosoever is cbaptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall dbelieve in my name; and him will I freely eforgive.
23 For it is I that taketh upon me the asins of the world; for it is I that hath bcreated them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand.
24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they aknow me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand.
25 And it shall come to pass that when the asecond trump shall sound then shall they that never bknew me come forth and shall stand before me.
26 And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed.
27 And then I will confess unto them that I never aknew them; and they shall bdepart into ceverlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
28 Therefore I say unto you, that he that will not ahear my voice, the same shall ye not receive into my church, for him I will not receive at the last day.
29 Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye ajudge baccording to the sins which he has committed; and if he cconfess his sins before thee and me, and drepenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye eforgive, and I will forgive him also.
30 Yea, and aas often as my people brepent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.
31 And ye shall also aforgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his bneighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation.
32 Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will anot repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward.
33 And it came to pass when Alma had heard these words he awrote them down that he might have them, and that he might judge the people of that church according to the commandments of God.
34 And it came to pass that Alma went and judged those that had been taken in iniquity, according to the aword of the Lord.
35 And whosoever repented of their sins and did aconfess them, them he did number among the people of the church;
36 And those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were ablotted out.
37 And it came to pass that Alma did regulate all the affairs of the church; and they began again to have peace and to prosper exceedingly in the affairs of the church, walking circumspectly before God, receiving many, and baptizing many.
38 And now all these things did Alma and his afellow laborers do who were over the church, bwalking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by all those who did not belong to the church of God.
39 And they did admonish their brethren; and they were also aadmonished, every one by the word of God, according to his sins, or to the sins which he had committed, being commanded of God to bpray without ceasing, and to give cthanks in all things." (Mosiah 26: 6-39)
"15 Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi.
16 And blessed are they because of their exceeding faith in the words alone which thou hast spoken unto them.
17 And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people.
18 Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called; and they are mine.
19 And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed.
20 Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep.
21 And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive.
22 For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive.
23 For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand.
24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand.
25 And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me.
26 And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed.
27 And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them; and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
28 Therefore I say unto you, that he that will not hear my voice, the same shall ye not receive into my church, for him I will not receive at the last day.
29 Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed; and if he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also.
30 Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.
31 And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his neighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation.
32 Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward." (Mosiah 26: 15-32)
"And here's the commentary entitled: "God’s faithful servants seek to do His will." :
"Sometimes we might think that a Church leader like Alma always knows exactly what to do. In Mosiah 26 we read of a problem in the Church that Alma had never dealt with. What did Alma do in this situation? (see Mosiah 26:13–14, 33–34, 38–39). What does Alma’s experience suggest about how you might approach difficult problems in your family or your Church service?
What did the Lord teach Alma in Mosiah 26:15–32? Notice that some of the Lord’s answers were not in direct response to Alma’s question. What does this suggest about prayer and receiving personal revelation?"
As a Church leader, Alma turned to the Lord for help immediately when he faced a problem that he had never dealt with before. He wanted to do things according to God's commandments and will, rather than rely on his own judgment alone because He was aware that God makes no mistakes while he was prone to make them. Alma acknowledged God's perfection and power as he put his trust in Him as he was facing such a difficult situation being a Church leader. This experience suggests doing the same thing as Alma did whenever you and I face difficult problems in our family, our Church service, at work, or in any other circumstance.
Just as the Lord's answers were not in direct response to Alma's question, the Lord also responds to our prayers and gives us personal revelation in the same way. And also through my own experience, I realized that the Lord does answer our prayers in ways that we never imagined.
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