Introduction

We have been taught that we should “humble [ourselves] before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that [we] may not be tempted above that which [we] can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit…” (Alma 13:28)

So how do we:

1. Humble ourselves
2. Call on his holy name
3. Watch and pray continually

That we may:

1. Not be tempted above that which we can bear
2. And thus be led by the Holy Spirit…?

The principle instrument of power being taught is that we can strategically do certain things that will cause us to rise above the powers of temptation, darkness, and sin to overcome us, thus enabling full repentance, and by this be more fully led by the Holy Spirit continually.

Those who sin do so because the allurements of the temptations they face are greater than their current resistance or reasons not to sin. So, the key, then, is to increase our faith and power such that temptations no longer have power over us. We can be strategic in how we strengthen ourselves, face life’s challenges, and in how we confront and potentially overcome temptation and sin.

And so, we need to honestly and thoroughly explore what it really means to humble ourselves, call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, because as we truly do these things, we are promised power to withstand and overcome the temptations and darkness we face. Furthermore, we are given the massive incentive that by doing so, we will be fully led by the Holy Spirit.

So let’s dig in and explore these concepts more fully. 

Humble Ourselves

Being humble in relation to God denotes submissiveness. We will be meek and submissive in receiving correction, as well as in repentance, obedience, and faithfulness.

Those who are truly humble will do what God asks them to do. They will be faithful and reliable.

God often sends messengers of truth from unlikely sources. People we often disagree with sometimes utter messages of truth that are critical for our understanding.

I have often heard very vital and profound sentiments of truth uttered by people I might otherwise despise, such as politicians, rock stars, and unsavory social media influencers. Religious leaders and influencers who I often disagree with also commonly share messages that are brilliant, inspired, and profound. And so, I have learned to treat every potential source of truth with humility and open-mindedness. In fact, I find these unexpected encounters with truth most delightful. It thrills me when individuals who in so many ways shut God out also can be found letting God in and echoing the precious truths they have learned from Him. For me, this is a glorious thing!

Call on His Holy Name

Those who “call on his holy name” are diligent in prayer. They pray always, vocally, mentally, and in their hearts. They counsel with the Lord, receive counsel from Him, and do as they are directed by Him.

Those who faithfully pray and do as they are commanded proportionally increase in revelation and the gifts of the Spirit in their lives. Obedience to God increases righteousness and priesthood. Righteousness is doing what God would do. Priesthood is your power and ability to do it. Whereas institutional priesthood is doing what the institution directs, which often differs from what God would have you do.

Those who “call on his holy name” invoke the power of God in all they do by faith. By this they are imbued with His power in standing against temptation and in overcoming all darkness and sin. Their faith shines as bright as the sun because they are empowered by the light of the Son of God through their faithfulness and increasing connection with God.  

Those who “call on his holy name” demonstrate the character, attributes, and power of Jesus Christ by how they live their lives. Having taken upon themselves His name, they demonstrate what Jesus Christ would do in their place, in their circumstances. In this, they are beacons of light. God channels light through those who manifest His name to the rest of the world. God is glorified by those who manifest His name.

Watch and Pray Continually

Those who “watch and pray continually” are critical thinkers. They don’t just blindly follow and support church leaders, institutional directives, or social norms. They watch and observe what church leaders, institutions, and societies teach and do, and contrast that with what the scriptures say we should teach and do.

Those who “watch and pray continually” will always do what God commands, not what church leaders, institutions, or society says they should do. They are awake. They are observant. They analyze, reason, and counsel with the Lord in all things. They are obedient to God, not to man. They are only obedient to man when that aligns with obedience to God.

Frankly, this is where most people fail. They fail because they are not willing to do the careful research and reasoning required to learn and understand what God teaches and requires. And they fail because they want an easy plug-and-play religion that requires much less than what God requires. And they fail because they put far too much trust in church leaders and institutions that are corrupt and more-or-less evil. In short, they call good evil and evil good. This is the result of failing to “watch and pray continually” with honesty and discernment.

The dishonesty arises because people want the easier way. This is completely understandable. It is human nature. But the gospel of Jesus Christ requires that we take upon us the nature of Christ—the same Christ who was willing to descend below all things and suffer all things that He might rise above all things and receive a fullness of the glory of the Father. If we want to receive the same fulness, we must be willing to incrementally do more and more. This is not the easy way, but it is the best way.

Overcoming All Darkness and Sin

Jesus Christ demonstrated the perfect example of what we should do. He demonstrated how to overcome all darkness and sin. That is what we need to do, through faith in His name.

It is not enough that He overcame all darkness and sin. We need to do this too. We need to become like Him. Only those who become like Him are truly saved. Jesus Christ is the prototype of the saved man. We are only saved to the degree that we have become like Jesus.

Being Led by the Holy Spirit

In the gospel, we talk a lot about being led by the Holy Spirit. We also talk about receiving the Holy Ghost. The reality is that these concepts are often a bit nebulous. But they need not be.

As your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit increases, the plainer God’s inspiration and revelations for you in your life will be.

When you have truly received the Gift of the Holy Ghost in its fullness, God’s mind and will for you will be as bright and as clear as the sun on a clear day. Having received this gift, you will often pray and receive in your mind the exact words of revelation from God to you. God will converse with you as one man converses with another. And you will experience the quality of visions, visitations, manifestations, and miracles that we read about in the scriptures.

The Floods and Storms

When Jesus slept on the fishing boat with His disciples, He was perfectly aware of the storm that surged around Him. At the behest of his friends, He rebuked the storm, and the sea became placid and calm. In this, He demonstrated what all those can do who have faith in His name.

Jesus does not prevent the storm. The storm is the result of His creation. By facing the darkness, turbulence, and dangers of the storm, we are motivated to turn to Him, increase our faith, and gain His power as He did, that we too can rise above all things as He has done.

God’s love is in the sudden floods, storms, and tempests that surrounds us and beats upon us. He permits hell’s fury to descend upon us, challenging us. But He sees through the darkness, clouds, rain-shafts, and shadows. And by His power, the raging seas can be calmed, and at His command, they will even part as was done for the children of Israel fleeing the armies of the Egyptians so long ago. And by faith in Him we can rise above the floods to the high ground of Mount Zion where God reigns with righteousness and dominion over all things.

Those who have faith in Christ are imbued with His power until that power becomes their own and becomes permanent through faithfulness and righteousness. This is what we are all about. This is the objective and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He wants us to learn what He knows, do as He does, have what He has, and become as He is.

Processes of Eternity

This life is the time for us to prepare to meet God. But what is the purpose of that meeting? It is to see how much more or less like Him we have become, learn from our experiences, and then be motivated to do better next time.

When we encounter God, He reveals Himself to us. He reveals the truth about Himself. And He reveals the truth about us. This is what He does. He is not just a God of love, He is also a God of truth. The better we embrace the truth that He is always revealing to us, the more positive our encounters with Him will be.

Those who have faithfully and honestly done their best to live up to the truth God has revealed to them will have a correspondingly more joyous experience when they encounter God next. Those who don’t won’t. In fact, the more you have rejected truth the more abhorrent and painful this experience will be. In fact, for many, the deepest pit in hell will be more tolerable than any closer proximity to God; and so that is where the wicked will flee, because they prefer this and because they feel in their core that the justice of God demands it. Hell is of our own making and choosing.

But this is not the most final fate of the wicked. Eventually, as the wheels of eternity turn, as new eternities dawn, the spirits of the damned are released from the pit, new hope is given, and opportunities are offered to reenter mortality again to see if they might choose a higher path. They reenter the preparatory worlds, are given a new First Estate, and ultimately are given the choice to follow the Sons of God back into mortality or to rebel against God as agents of Perdition. And so, the cycle continues.

The eternal worlds are merely cogs in the gears and wheels of time which has no end, built and calculated to sift and divide the righteous from the wicked, enabling improvement and facilitating advancement for all those who desire it.

The Mystery of Godliness

In March of 1829, the Lord declared:

“For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it!  For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name.  Wherefore—Eternal punishment is God’s punishment. Endless punishment is God’s punishment. Wherefore, I command you to repent, and keep the commandments which you have received… And it is by my almighty power that you have received them.

“Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent. But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink— Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

“Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power; and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit. And I command you that you preach naught but repentance, and show not these things unto the world until it is wisdom in me.”

(Doctrine and Covenants19:10 – 21)

Conclusion

Of such things, the Prophet Joseph Smith once declared:

“The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginings of the human heart!” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, p. 137)

Who would have thought that a few obscure passages in the Book of Alma, in the Book of Mormon, could mean so much? Accordingly, please consider again the meaning of these words:

27  And now, my brethren, I wish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great anxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not procrastinate the day of your repentance;

28  But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

29  Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest.

30  And may the Lord grant unto you repentance, that ye may not bring down his wrath upon you, that ye may not be bound down by the chains of hell, that ye may not suffer the second death.

(Book of Mormon | Alma 13:27 – 30)

Not only have we been given very good reasons to repent, but we have also been told how to repent. We can fully repent only if we are willing to:

1. Humble ourselves
2. Call on his holy name
3. Watch and pray continually

That we may all do so is my earnest prayer, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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