Ether 1

(June 18, 2015)

                Of course, it is difficult to know all of the details that were going on at this time.  But the record doesn’t seem to indicate that Jared had any reason to believe that the Lord would drive them out of the land.  That leads to the obvious question of where Jared received the inspiration to ask his brother to pray on that issue.

                Was it literally inspiration that caused him to seek out that relief? Was it a reaction to the societal conditions that left him believing that they would be better off elsewhere?  Was there a scriptural indication that he picked up on?

                In my experience, there are times when the first of these answers is the correct one – there are times in reality when I am prompted as to what I should be praying for.  This is particularly true when what I need to be praying for is something that I would struggle or have difficulty accepting – something I couldn’t get to praying for on my own.  When I should be asking for a gift, but I would believe it to be a curse in my limited understanding, I find myself often led to pray for it through inspiration.

                I can imagine a similar situation for Jared.  He perhaps loved where he was, and couldn’t imagine being driven out of the land.  Yet he felt the gentle pull of the Spirit prompting him as to what he should pray for, and so he instructed his brother in how to pray.  And, of course, we know the result.