Night of Introspection

Sometimes we all come across things that give us moments of introspection. I love these moments though not always I must admit. Here is mine which was provided by Nephi and the Holy Ghost

"How is it that ye have not harkened unto the word of the Lord? How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord? Yea, how is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us, in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we should obtain the record? Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things, according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith? Wherefore let us be faithful. And if it so be that we are faithful unto him, we shall obtain the land of promise..." (1 Nephi 7:9-13).

"But it came to past the I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea even give me strength that I may burst these bands which I am bound. And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet..." (1 Nephi 7:17-18)

Sometimes in my life I need to step back and ask myself where I stand in life and in the gospel. These are the questions Nephi asked of his brothers and some of the family of Ishmael. They took offense to these, but do we? I think they are good if we change them to our own situations. We all have Laban's in our lives or struggles with something. We all have things the Lord delivers us from. But what is really interesting is Nephi's solution. He prayed with the power of faith to merely have the strength to break the bands. Let me phrase it this way he prayed to have the strength to solve the problem by his own. I mean to say that with the gift of strength he could use that to break the bands himself. But the scripture doesn't say he broke the bands. It says that the bands were loosed. That is to stay maybe the Lord made the ropes so loose they just fell off his hands and feet and he didn't even have to exert any energy to get them off.

Do we ourselves have have the faith and do we pray like this? Do we have a problem and linger on how hard it is or how it makes us feel? Nephi immediately prayed with faith to have the bands loosed. What if I next time had a trial and immediately prayed to have those bands loosed what would happen I wonder?

This is so simple and I myself often overlook the simplicity of it. Some may say well that wont happen because its too easy or you need to show more faith in God for a longer period of time. I think if we have faith, at whatever level of strength we are at the time and pray that means we will believe that he will help us. Otherwise it is doubt and they cannot exist at the same time. I often have this doubt and expect a blessing but don't always expect it right away. What if I had the faith and belief he would help right away, maybe this next time will be different.