Day 202 The Power of Even a Desire to Believe

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life, and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. My daughters would be very remiss if I didn't start this episode by singing a little, "Faith Is Like a Little Seed." Welcome to day 202 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

Welcome to Alma chapter 32, verses 10 through 28. We're in the middle of "Faith Is Like a Little Seed," and actually, we're going to get right at 28 is where the seed is introduced. So technically, tomorrow is going to get into the seed, but Alma 32 is interesting in that Alma is going to allow the people listening to test him and to test the Lord, and I love what we're going to get inside of there.

I need to mention a couple of things. Verses inside of here that are worth diving into — I mean, they all are — but President Boyd K. Packer would say, "Not all scripture is created equal," right?

There are some that I think stand out here that are worth kind of some introspect, but we're not going to dive into those ones specifically. That verses 16 through 23, I think, is really interesting when it comes to personal inspiration and who is available to that. And then verse 28, where the seed is introduced.

Our verse today is going to come in Alma chapter 32, verse 27. And verse 27 says this, "but behold, if you will awake and arouse your faculties, Even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a matter that ye can give place for a portion of my words." There are some really cool qualifying words inside of this verse. But it all starts, "if you will awake and arouse your faculties." What does that even mean? "Awake." We've had this before in scripture: "Hey, wake up inside, go in for just a second, go internally and arouse the internal faculties." Some might even say this could be a reference to the Light of Christ given to all men and women, right?

Go inside and just go introspective for a second to even experiment. You're just going to say, "Let me hear what you're going to say." And then, how much faith do you need? Well, you don't even have to have any.

You need a particle, and that particle cannot even have to be faith. It can be no more than a desire to believe. I love this.

This is so good. It reminds me of a very special experience that I can remember on my mission when we asked a father if he would pray, if he would be willing to pray for the family. And he started his prayer.

Basically, I mean, he spoke in Mongolian, obviously, but he started his prayer by saying, "Dear God, if you even exist and if there even is a God, would you please hear this prayer for a second? Will you please help my family?" And I loved hearing that. I can imagine missionaries across the world and for lifetimes now have heard others kneel down and say, "Heavenly Father, if you even exist," and that's what Alma's letting us know here, is when it comes to our faith, it doesn't have to be this perfect, incredible, high-powered.

This is such a great verse for any time in your life that you're feeling you just don't have enough faith. It's okay. It's okay.

Awaken, arouse your faculties, lean in, and experiment upon the words of the Lord, and you will see what happens. And in Alma 32, we're going to see this seed turn into an incredible, ginormous tree. That's what can happen with all of us as we take the portion of the word and the particle of faith and see what it can become in our lives.

So empowering. That's all for today, my friends. Remember that "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow, and I hope you are too.