A common fallacy in the thinking of many is to suppose that prayer to God is ended with the word, AMEN. Prayer, as some are inclined to believe, is an admixture of meaningless words, or a concoction of ideas that nobody ran digest. To them it is the expression of a frustration; a recitation to be forgotten when Amen is said. That is not so! Prayer should linger in the heart long after any words are uttered. “And when you do not cry unto the Lord,” Amulek said, “let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto Him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.” However, let us always remember that to bring about the end or conditions for which we pray, it is necessary to accompany our prayers with good works. And when we cry unto the Lord let us remember also that “only by obedience to His commandments, by faithfulness to our duties, by the goodness of our deeds,” can we make our prayers heard by Him.
Amulek went a step further than only to declare prayer, its necessity and its hallowing effects upon the individual, but he also pointed out to the Zoramites that “if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need … your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.”
The same doctrine preached by Amulek to the Zoramites regarding prayer was also preached by King Benjamin to the Saints in Zarahemla almost fifty years before:
And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of His goodness and have tasted of His love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceeding great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and His goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the Name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of Him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.
And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.
And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.
But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.
And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.
Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—
But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the Kingdom of God.
For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?
And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on His Name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has He suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; He has poured out His Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceeding great was your joy.
And now, if God, Who has created you, on Whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.
And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which does not belong to you but to God to Whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.
I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.
And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.
And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.
And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.
And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order. (Mosiah 4:11-27)
In all the religious observances of the Nephites it is plain to be seen that the lesson of service to others was deeply impressed on them as part of their belief. We today, members of Christ’s Church, have reached the same conclusion as did they. It is not to be escaped: that we serve God best by sharing with the needy the gifts we receive from His bounteous hands; by showing compassion for the distressed, by upholding the falling, by loosing the bound. Truly, we can ennoble our lives no more graciously than by serving God with deeds of loving-kindness to our fellow men.
2 Ne. 9:30)
Sharing with others the gifts we receive at God’s hands renders us more unselfish, and like Him, more longsuffering, and too, doing so, adds comfort to our hearts when we are faint. It awakens within us a love for His children, and at the same time helps us “to use our powers for the benefit of our fellow men, so that the hearts of His children may be gladdened by” the service we therein perform. It helps us put to the highest use the gifts He continually bestowes upon us.
The Psalmist cites God’s blessings on the charitable man in these words: Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: … The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make his bed in his sickness. (Ps. 41:1) We can show by our actions that we truly are His children and that He is the loving Father of all.
It is indisputable that “feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and afflicted and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally,” makes us more obedient to God’s laws. Serving God’s children is a sacrifice when in offering it we put our trust in the Lord. There is no surer way to remember the Lord, His goodness and mercy, than to serve His children who want and have not. It is a sacrifice on our part in which the Lord delights.
Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. Pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. (See Ps. 62:8)