1 Nephi 1:5
"Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people."
As a group we are extremely interested in this event.
I have mentioned a couple of times already that it is impossible to put across in this blog all of what we have shared with each other and what we have learned as we have discussed principles of the Book of Mormon together. Now the lack will be even greater. We spent several meetings delving into this principle and I will only be able to share a fraction of what we have found.
Please search on your own. Hopefully this will encourage you to do so.
What Lehi is doing here, the very real feelings in his heart, for his people who he knows are under the judgments of God is very important to understand.
We first discussed that Lehi believed the words of the many prophets sent to cry repentance to those in Jerusalem.
We do not know all the details of how Lehi arrived to where he felt to pray with all his heart in behalf of his people but here he is now doing just that. He is seeking to intercede for his people.
We decided to review together other possible examples of individuals seeking to intercede for others in the scriptures.
We immediately found Nephi interceding for his brothers and his people.
"But behold Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them." (1 nephi 2:18)
"Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much unto the Lord my God, because of the anger of my brethren." (2 Nephi 5: 1)
"...I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry." (2 Nephi 33: 3)
We decided that Jacob was filled with the spirit of intercession because of what he exclaimed.
"...behold ye know that I have spoken unto you exceedingly many things. Nevertheless, I speak unto you again; for I am desirous for the welfare of your souls. Yea mine anxiety is great for you; and ye yourselves know that it ever has been. For I have exhorted you with all diligence..." (2 Nephi 6: 2-3)
"Behold, my beloved brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you; if I do not, by any means, get shaken from my firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of my over anxiety for you." (Jacob 4: 18)
Next came Enos.
"...I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto god for them." (Enos verse 9)
"And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites." (Enos verse 11)
"And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him -- that if it should be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be brought unto salvation." (Enos verse 13)
Mormon in the Words of Mormon:
"And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people." (Words of Mormon verse 8)
We considered that the sons of King Mosiah were also filled with this spirit of intercession.
"Now it came to pass that after the sons of Mosiah had done all these things, they took a small number with them and returned to their father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them that they might, with these whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren the Lamanites -- That perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God,...that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God,...Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." (Mosiah 28: 1-3)
"And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth..." (Alma 17:9)
The record shows the intercession of Alma the younger.
"Now Satan had gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people of the city of Ammonihah; therefore they would not hearken unto the words of Alma. Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance." (Alma 7:9-10)
"And now, my brethren, I wish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great anxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not procrastinate the day of your repentance;" (Alma 13:27)
"O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto the in Christ. Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee." (Alma 31: 34 - 35)
Those who were the children of God gathered together oft to intercede for those who knew not Christ.
"Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God." (Alma 6:6)
We found record of Nephi son of Helaman interceding for the Nephites.
"And it came to pass that in this year Nephi did cry unto the Lord saying: O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather let there be a famine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee." (Helaman 11: 3-4)
"...And it came to pass that when Nephi saw that the people had repented and did humble themselves in sackcloth, he cried again unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, behold this people repenteth;... Now because of this their humility with thou turn away thine anger, and let thine anger be appeased in the destruction of those wicked men whom thou hast already destroyed. O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, yea, thy fierce anger, and cause that this famine may cease in this land. O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth rain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain. O Lord, thou didst hearken unto my words when I said, Let there be a famine, that the pestilence of the sword might cease; and I know that thou wilt, even at this time, hearken unto my words, for thou said that: If this people repent I will spare them. Yea, O Lord, and thou seest that they have repented, because of the famine and the pestilence and destruction which has come unto them. An now, O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, and try again if they will serve thee? And if so, O Lord, thou canst bless them according to thy words which thou hast said." (Helaman 11: 9-16)
Nephi son of Nephi did likewise.
"Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful. And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God on behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the traditions of their fathers. And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day;..." (3 Nephi 1:10-12)
The Lord taught intercession to the Nephites as part of His law.
"...behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you." (3 Nephi 12:44)
Again in the book of Mormon we see Mormon seeking to intercede.
"Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my god all the day long for them..."(Mormon 3: 12)
Moroni, speaking of those saints who had gone before him in the land:
"...behold I say unto you, that those saints who have gone before me, who have possessed this land, shall cry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord; and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which he hath made with them. And he knoweth their prayers, that they were in behalf of their brethren." (Mormon 8:23-24)
"And behold, these things which we have desired concerning our brethren, yea, even their restoration to the knowledge of Christ, are according to the prayers of all the saints who have dwelt in the land. And may the Lord Jesus Christ grant that their prayers may be answered according to their faith;..." (Mormon 9:36-37)
Most of the first chapter of Ether recounts the intercessions of the brother of Jared for his brother Jared and their families and friends.
Here is the brother of Jared seeking to intercede again for those with him when they had to cross the ocean in the arks.
"Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity, and hast driven us forth , and for these many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been merciful unto us. o Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness; ..." (Ether 3:3-4)
Moroni sought to intercede for us Gentiles.
"And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity" (Ether 12:36)
These are the more apparent examples of intercession we have found in the Book of Mormon. There are probably many more we have not found.
There are also examples in the other scriptures.
Remember that Abraham sought to intercede for those who were in the doomed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Moses interceded on the mount for Israel so the Lord would not destroy them.
One example from the New Testament that is quite touching is the example of Stephen.
"And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." (Acts 7:59-60)
Stephen cried out to God, seeking to intercede for those who were in the very act of killing him.
The purpose of laying out these examples is to show that for ourselves we have established that the scriptures hold a great amount of evidence that living in such a way so as to find it natural to intercede for others is necessary in order to find God.
I will share more of what we continued to learn about intercession in the next part.
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