2 Nephi 32:3 and pray always

2 Nephi 32:3 has always been a favorite scripture, but it tells us that the scriptures will tell us all things that we should do. I've wondered about that since currently, my concerns about Young Women might be answered with scripture, but what about how to potty train Jonah? Or if I should buy a wheat grinder? I've always assumed that the answer was, while reading scripture I will be open to the Spirit which will answer my questions as I read. While I still think this is accurate, and have experienced it work this way, I had another idea while reading in Alma.

I think the scripture in 2 Nephi is also referring to prayer with our study. Then fast forward to Alma 34:19-27 which says we ought to pray over every thing we do. Perhaps that is the key. That as we pour our hearts out to the Lord and counsel with him, we will find the answers we speak in his word and from his Spirit. I don't think it's just saying, pray about everything or pray often. I think it's saying that the Lord will answer our questions individually, so if we pray about the little things, we will find those answers too.

2 Nephi 6

I love Jacob. He is very eloquent. In verse seven, he says (talking of an Isaiah prophecy), that "they shall not be ashamed that wait for me." I wonder, why would we ever be ashamed? Is this a charge not to be, or is this saying that in the day that he comes again? I'm not sure, but I'd like to know more.

Hm, from chapter 9:18But, behold, the ^arighteous, the ^bsaints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the ^ccrosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall ^dinherit the ^ekingdom of God, which was prepared for them ^ffrom the foundation of the world, and their ^gjoy shall be full ^hforever.

1 Nephi 17

Chapter 17 has a lot in it worth thinking about. It makes me want to read it again, but I'm already behind on pages and the point is to get an overall picture, so I'll have to come back. Still, here are a few things I thought of:

-The lord "straitens" the children of Egypt as they wander for their wickedness (vs. 41) but he does so by sending them flying serpents. In of itself, it seems like a punishment, and it is. Still, he also sent a way for them to not only be healed, but a type of Christ. Perhaps the entirety of the punishment was really a way to bring them to Him, not as a punishment and then a separate lesson. I'd like to keep that in mind in the modern day, too. Even the wicked who are rightfully punished are His children and he desires to bring them to him.

-In verses 26-31, Nephi talks of miracles that took place "on his word." I always assumed that meant, by his power. It probably does. Still, when I read it this time, I thought, "I wonder if that also means, as he promised?"

1 Nephi 13

In this chapter (and earlier), Nephi sees the eventual decline and destruction of his descendants. In verse 35, the Lord says that he will visit the Nephites and that they will write many precious things. After they have been destroyed, these precious things will be hidden and shall come forth at a later time for the remnant of the seed of the Nephites and Lamanites. I always assumed that what we have in the beginning of the Book of Mormon was written for the benefit of the Nephites, where the later things are for our day. After all, by the time Mormon and Moroni were writing, there were no righteous left to even read what they were writing. I still think that this is true, to an extent, but after reading this verse, I think that when Jacob, Enos, etc. say "and on these plates it was commanded I write the things of God", perhaps that was because Nephi knew what they would be used for. I imagine he was sad as he wrote, but also hopeful that the things he wrote would later save his great-great-many great-grandchildren.

1 Nephi 11

In this chapter, Nephi sees an extended version of his father's vision of the tree of life. After he beholds the tree and testifies that is indeed "precious above all" (vs. 9), the Spirit commands him to look and behold the virgin Mary. First off, "precious above all" is a bold statement. We read that and think, "of course it is, this is the love of God" but in our day to day activities, is it really more precious than all? More precious than....whatever I had planned? That is not to say that we neglect our lives or other interests, but perhaps there is a way to devote the entirety of our lives to worship and faith. Whenever something starts to seem really important (or urgent, which is even worse), step back and remember what is really the most precious.

So in verse 13 he sees and verse 15 describes his vision of the virgin Mary: "A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins." In verse 18, the Spirit tells him that he is beholding the mother of the Son of God. Reading that verse today really struck me. Nephi might have cried. Think about it, he has faith the Lord will come, but no one knows when. He's not even around when Samuel the Lamanite starts to give a time frame, it's just sometime in the future; kind of how we are with his second coming. And here, he has a vision of the Savior's birth. I am a visual person. I also long to see the Lord's face more than any other thing. If I were granted a vision of Him coming again, it would make me cry. How lucky he must have felt to see the virgin bearing a child in her arms (vs 20).