1 Nephi 2:17-18
And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.
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.
After Nephi's experience with prayer, he is so excited that he wants to tell his brothers. He tells Sam first, possibly because he saw Sam first, or possibly because he knew Sam and predicted that Sam would listen. But either way, Sam listens and believes.
He then ventures to tell Laman and Lemuel, hoping that his experience will soften their hearts as well, but it doesn't work. Nephi is grieved by this and cries to the Lord again -- this time FOR Laman and Lemuel. He doesn't pray for himself. He prays for them. This was actually impressive to me. Sometimes when we say things and nobody believes us, we feel rejected and need to pray for comfort because of all the rotten things people end up saying about US when we try to correct them. Not Nephi though. His own confidence is unshaken, and he prays for THEM.
Lessons:
* Teach your children to love each other. Hopefully they will love each other so much that they will want to SHARE their spiritual experiences with each other. Sam didn't necessarily have the proactive faith to ask for himself, but because Nephi was willing to share HIS experience and testimony, Sam benefited from it and was able to more easily believe the words of his father. Sometimes children listen to each other more readily than they listen to parents or leaders, so it is incredibly valuable to teach them to teach and testify to each other!
* Along with that, we must teach them to LISTEN to each other when they are sharing these kind of spiritual experiences or testifying. Sam was only able to benefit from Nephi's spiritual experience because he was willing to LISTEN to Nephi.
* Teach your children to pray for each other.
* Teach your children that even when you are doing the right thing, and even when you love people and share your spiritual experiences with them, they still might not listen to you or believe you. This is not a time to wallow in misery, but a time to turn to the Lord and pray for THEM.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Love your blog, what would be great is if someone could create a quick list {like a reference sheet} to find examples of parenting dilemma's in the Book of Mormon.
I am teaching a lesson on Elder Robbins conference talk, What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be and I was searching for examples of what he calls--His Parenting Manual. Your blog is such a great resource. Thank you.
I found a quick reference but I think it could be added to for sure.
http://lds.org/ensign/1988/07/the-book-of-mormon-as-a-guide-for-parents?lang=eng
Thanks again!
I actually started this as a bulleted list in a spiral notebook, thinking that I could just list them all. A few of my favorites:
* Lehi/Nephi (goodly parents)
* Jacob/Enos ('the words of my father')
* King Benjamin/Mosiah (two great kings -- like father like son)
* King Mosiah with his sons, esp. Ammon (even loving them enough to let them go away, and to CHANGE the way the government was set up)
* Alma I/Alma II (fasting, praying, loving, forgiving, embracing)
* Alma II/sons (Shiblon, Helaman, Corianton -- each so individually loved and taught)
* Helaman/Lehi & Nephi (foundation on Christ)
* Nephi/Nephi (prepare for the coming of Christ!)
* various parents/children in book of Ether
* Mormon/Moroni (strengthen each other and prepare to stand alone)
There are, of course, so many examples of the details in how they do it!
Post a Comment