Mosiah 27

Mosiah 27

Meet Alma the Younger—son of Alma (the converted priest of wicked King Noah who is now head of the church in the land of Zarahemla). Alma the Younger is the ultimate rebel—not simply disobeying his father or rejecting the church, but intelligently and intentionally working to destroy the church. His partners-in-crime (and it is literally crime because it is against the laws of the land to persecute anyone for their beliefs, so they do their dirty work secretly) are the sons of Mosiah, the king, who is also a righteous leader. You can imagine what a heart-break these boys are to their families:

8 Now the sons of Mosiah were numbered among the unbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and an idolatrous man. And he was a man of many words, and did speak much flattery to the people; therefore he led many of the people to do after the manner of his iniquities.

 9 And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them.

 10 …he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God, or even the king—

But the Lord intervenes with a miracle. One day as Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah are going about doing their dirty work, an angel appears to them in dramatic fashion with thunder and power. The men fall to the ground in fear and astonishment as the angel basically tells them off for their efforts to destroy the church. But the most important part of the angel’s message is WHY he is there:

 14 And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.

This is one of the most powerful examples I know of that the Lord really does hear the prayers we speak on behalf of those we love. He won’t usually intervene in such a dramatic fashion as sending an angel to shake up our loved ones who are ruining their lives, but in His own time and fashion He does answer those prayers. So don’t stop praying for your loved ones who need it—it may take a long time, just like it did for Alma the Younger. Who knows how many years he had been the ultimate rebel before the Lord sent this miracle.

After the angel departed, Alma the Younger was basically in a coma, and his friends had to carry him to the house of his father. They told his father all that had happened, and—I love Alma’s reaction—he rejoiced! “For he knew that it was the power of God (20).” His son was brought to him in a coma, but Alma was delighted because he knew God was working miracles with his son.

After two days and two nights in a coma, and family, friends, and priests gathering in prayer and fasting, Alma awoke and he was singing a totally different tune. Later in the Book of Mormon—in the book of Alma—we will get to hear more about what Alma went through while he was in this coma because he shares the experience with his son. But for now we learn that the Lord spoke to him and taught him about repentance, being born again, and redemption from sin.

And from this time forward, Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah worked tirelessly to right their wrongs—to share the word of God and to build up the church. We will read amazing stories about each of them in the book of Alma, coming up! This story teaches me to believe in change. People can change, and people do change, and the Lord hears our prayers that we speak on behalf of those we love. I have a loved-one that I have been praying for for years, yet he continues to hurt his family and himself. But this story gives me hope… someday those prayers will be answered, in the time that is best.