Day 337 The Power of Crying Unto the Lord

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. Cry unto the Lord. Welcome to day 337 on our 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

Today we're going to be reading Ether chapter 1, verses 20 through 43. We will finish that chapter. The Book of Ether is fascinating.

It's almost like Moroni said, you know what? I think we forgot to include this information here. And when you read these 15 chapters in the Book of Ether, you're going to see the cycle of righteousness, wickedness, destruction, worthiness, righteousness.

Like, you're going to see this cycle on overload. It is going to happen almost verse after verse. So as we dive into the Book of Ether, there's going to be a massive emphasis on watching what happens with righteousness, prosperity, wickedness, destruction, righteousness, prosperity, and it's going to be on overload.

So just heads up there. But I think it's fascinating that the front end of this is actually not the front end of the 24 plates that Moroni talks about. He says, oh, by the way, we have Adam and Eve and all the creation and all that.

But I didn't put that in this story. Let's instead start with Jared and his brother. And that gets us to our verse for today, which is the end of this chapter.

It is Ether chapter 1, verse 43. And this is the Lord talking to Jared and the brother of Jared here. This is His, He's giving them kind of some commands here, the last few verses of the chapter.

And it says here, verse 43, again, the Lord speaking, and so I went back and read chapter 1 again and I realized that inside of our verses today, 20 through 43, there are at least seven different references to Jared and the brother of Jared crying unto the Lord. They cry unto the Lord during the tower that their language will not be confounded. They cry unto the Lord that their friends' language will not be confounded.

They cry unto the Lord to get direction on where they want to go. And I think it's fascinating as we start this book, knowing that by the time Ether 15 comes, this entire incredible civilization is going to be down to nobody. I think it's amazing for us to pause and say Moroni knew what he was putting in here.

Ether knew what he was putting in here. My friends, when's the last time you and I cried unto the Lord and asked specifically for His hand in our lives? The Lord will deliver.

This doesn't come across to me as something like saying our prayers in morning and night. This cry unto the Lord comes across to me with a sense of urgency and a loaded level of faith with an expectation that the Lord can and will deliver what they are asking. This is a checkup from the neck up as we've done before on how your prayers are doing, how my prayers are doing.

When we cry unto the Lord and show our faith in Him, we open the opportunity for miracles in our lives. I know that there is great prosperity to come and great success when we work side by side with the Lord and are willing to cry unto Him the way that Jared and his brother cried unto the Lord. I hope we can take something from that into our lives.

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.