Questions About Faith
After Alma finished speaking, the people sent word to him with questions: Should they believe in one God to get this fruit he’d been talking about? How were they supposed to plant this seed—this word—in their hearts? What does it even look like to start exercising faith?
Alma answered them: “You said you couldn’t worship God because you’ve been kicked out of your synagogues. But listen—if you really think you can’t worship God, you’re badly mistaken. You need to search the Scriptures. If you think they taught you that, you’ve misunderstood them completely.”
The Prayer of Zenos
“Do you remember reading what the ancient prophet Zenos said about prayer and worship? He said: ‘You are merciful, O God, because you heard my prayer even when I was out in the wilderness. You were merciful when I prayed for my enemies, and you turned them toward me.’ ‘O God, you were merciful to me when I cried out to you while working in my field, and you heard me.’ “’And again, O God, when I went home, you heard me when I prayed.’ ‘And when I went into my closet and prayed to you, O Lord, you heard me.’ “’You are merciful to your children when they cry out to you—wanting you to hear them, not other people. And you do hear them.’ ‘O God, you’ve been merciful to me. You’ve heard my cries even when I was surrounded by other worshipers.’ “’And you also heard me when I was thrown out and despised by my enemies. You heard my cries, and you were angry with my enemies. In your anger, you brought swift destruction on them.’ ‘You heard me because of my troubles and my sincerity. And it’s because of your Son that you’ve been so merciful to me. So I’ll cry out to you in all my troubles—because my joy is in you. You’ve turned your judgments away from me because of your Son.’”
The Testimony of Ancient Prophets
Then Alma asked them: “Do you believe these ancient Scriptures? If you do, then you must believe what Zenos said. Listen to his words: ‘You turned away your judgments because of your Son.’”
“Now let me ask you this—have you read the Scriptures? If you have, how can you not believe in the Son of God?”
“Because it wasn’t just Zenos who spoke about these things. Zenock did too. Listen to what he said: ‘You are angry, O Lord, with these people because they refuse to understand the mercy you’ve shown them through your Son.’”
“So you see—a second ancient prophet testified about the Son of God. And because the people wouldn’t accept his words, they stoned him to death.”
“But that’s not all. These aren’t the only prophets who spoke about the Son of God.”
The Symbol in the Wilderness
“Moses spoke of him too. Remember, he raised up a symbol in the wilderness—anyone who looked at it would live. And many people did look and lived.”
“But few people understood what it meant—their hearts were too hardened. In fact, many were so stubborn they refused to look at all, and they died. They wouldn’t look because they didn’t believe it would heal them.”
“My friends, if you could be healed just by opening your eyes and looking—would you do it quickly? Or would you harden your hearts in unbelief and be too lazy to simply open your eyes, choosing instead to die?”
“If that’s your choice, you’re in terrible trouble. But if not—then open your eyes. Begin to believe in the Son of God. Believe that he will come to rescue his people, that he’ll suffer and die to pay for their sins. Believe that he’ll rise from the dead, bringing resurrection so that everyone will stand before him to be judged at the last day, according to what they’ve done.”
Plant the Seed
“So plant this word in your hearts. As it begins to grow, feed it with your faith. Watch—it will become a tree, growing up inside you into everlasting life. And then may God lift your burdens through the joy of his Son. You can do all this, if you choose to. Amen.”