That's the catch!

Mosiah 27

Alma and the sons of Mosiah are creating mayhem for the church through their persecutions of the believers. An angel of the Lord comes to them, shakes the earth and basically gives them a good scolding from the Lord. This would be enough to cause anyone to do some serious change. And so it was with Alma and the sons of Mosiah

This is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. One can read this chapter from two different angles – 1) As a parent and the power of prayer can have on a wayward child, or 2) As one living in a dark abyss (v29) as was Alma the younger, whose soul was racked with eternal torment and was snatched from this miserable state and “born again”.

Alma prayed for his son, Alma that he might be brought to the knowledge of the truth. That prayer resulted in a miraculous visit from an angel of the Lord who visited Alma the younger and his partners in crime. This gives courage to the parents of wayward children. Why was Alma the younger privileged to have such a miraculous outcome to his parents' prayers? I've asked myself that question over and over. Is it because his father was a prophet? Maybe, but not necessarily. Other prophets have had wayward children who did not come around. Just everyday parents have sent similar pleadings to Heavenly Father and have had miraculous results – my parents included. I feel like my own conversion was miraculous. I didn't see an heavenly angel. I saw many earthly angels ready to assist the Lord in rescuing me, however. Maybe Alma's experience warranted an angel from the Lord because of prior commitments he had made before coming to this earth. Of course, we can't really know that one. But I do believe we all made covenants to do certain things before we were born.

How can this apply to me today? Of course, we pray for our children. I like Alma's prayer in v14. He prayed with much faith . . .that he might be brought to the knowledge of the truth. We pray that our daughter's heart will be softened and she will have the courage to reach out for the help she needs. I will incorporate “. . .to be brought to the knowledge of truth.” I like that phrase and will start using it. I have a powerful belief that Heavenly Father listens to the prayers of parents. All I said when I had had enough was “Heavenly Father, I'm ready to do what it takes to answer my parents' prayers.” That was the most powerful prayer I've ever given. It was the first prayer in probably nine years, but it was most effective. I never miss an opportunity to tell others of this experience. I, like Alma the younger, was taken from the darkest abyss and my soul is pained no more. However, we must remember that Agency is so important to the Lord that he was willing to lose a third of his children to see that we could have this agency on earth. And that's the catch!