2 Nephi 32-33

2 Nephi 32

3 …Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

I believe you can receive answers from God to your personal questions. He answers mine, and He doesn’t love me anymore than He loves you. That said, it isn’t easy to learn HOW God speaks to you—it takes time, desire, persistence, and practice to learn how to seek His answers, and learn how they feel or sound or look. I’m still working on it, for sure. But I know He answers. And you just can't beat the amazing feeling when you know God has given you a personal answer. 

Reading the scriptures—including the Book of Mormon—is one of the most common ways God uses to answer our questions (why else did He bother to have the scriptures written??). That’s why I promised you at the beginning of the Book of Mormon that if you read the whole thing with a specific life-question in mind (or 2 or 3) then you would find your answer by the end.  

4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.

 5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

Also I love these verses about prayer. Basically, God always wants to hear from you. Anytime you feel like not praying or even like you shouldn’t pray, you can know for sure that thought is not coming from God.

 8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

 9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

2 Nephi 33

It is time to say farewell to Nephi! Congratulations on making it to the end of the book of 2 Nephi. Because Nephi was the one who started the entire record of the Book of Mormon (remember how God commanded him to do that back at the beginning?) I think it’s appropriate that he closes up his portion by discussing again the reasons for his record and the value it holds for those who read it.

Check out the excerpts below and my summary regarding the purpose and value of the Book of Mormon record.

 4 And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.

 5 And it speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil.

10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.

 11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

• (vs. 4) The record isn’t perfect, because men with weaknesses wrote it, but the Lord will make it strong.
• (vs. 4) One reason the Lord will make the record strong for future generations is because of the many prayers of the original authors/scribes/prophets.
• (vs. 4, 10) The Book of Mormon persuades people to do good.
• (vs. 4) The Book of Mormon teaches the Native, South, and Central Americans who their ancestors were and that they believed in Christ—and it persuades them to believes in Christ and endure to the end.
• (vs. 5) The Book of Mormon speaks boldly against sin—only those who are sinning will be angered by its words.
• (vs. 10) If you believe in Christ you will believe the words of the Book of Mormon, because they are the words of Christ (Christ gave them to Nephi).
• (vs. 11) Christ will show you that the Book of Mormon is His word at the Judgment bar, and you will know they are true then if you didn’t believe it now (but it will be a waste to wait that long to find out!!)

Nephi’s final farewell:

 12 And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day.

13...I speak unto you as the voice of one crying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come.

15 For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the judgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen.