God wants me to be like a whale

Whales are one of the animals mentioned in the scriptures, mostly in the Old Testament.

Whales are mammals, associated with:

Compassion & solitude, knowledge of life and death.

Exhalation through their blow hole represents the freeing of creative energy or unbridled creativity.

The sound they make is also identified with a creative force of life.

They have a keen sense of smell and hearing. 

They form friendships, innovate, grieve play and sing.

They resemble man in many ways.

In the story of the brother of Jared, found in the BofM's book of Ether, we read "For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountains wave shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea." 

As the Jaredites get ready to cross the deep waters, the Lord commands them to build barges. He provides  instructions, just as he had previously instructed Nephi, and just as he had instructed the Israelites to build a candlestick for the ark of the covenant (Exodus 35:31-40).

The barges are described as being tight, small, and light (Ether 2:16,17).

(What could the barges represent? Maybe the commandments or the Gospel in general? As in: strict rules, but small things that end up to be easy - light?)

The barges present two problems: no air & no light.

The Lord takes care of solving the first problem: He instructs the brother of Jared to make holes at the bottom and at the top of the barges and to unplug them when in need of air if there is no water /waves around.

(Could this mean that when we are not in the middle of a storm of life, we can have a slightly more relaxed attitude in regards to the commandments - can we unplug for air? Conversely, when we are going through a storm, we must make sure to follow all rules 100%? - I am not sure.)

With the second problem, lack of light, the Lord asks the brother of Jared:"What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?" and reminds him that there can be no windows nor fire. 

At this point the Lord tells him that he shall be as a whale and that He (the Lord) will prepare him for this trip/ experience.

And then asks him again "What will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light...?" (Ether2:25)

If the light represents Christ, we can see that while God is willing to provide air for all, he will not force the light upon us but will leave it up to us to accept and bring that light (with His help) into our midst.

At this point the brother of Jared has to rely on his skills and creativity (remember the creativity associated with whales).  He therefore proceeds to go to the mount (temple) melt 16 stones out of rock and then, through a beautifully spoken prayer, he addresses the Lord in much faith.

The prayer follows this pattern:

• Acknowledgment of what God has commanded
• Acknowledgement of personal weakness & weak human nature in general
• Acknowledgement of the mercy of God through tribulations
• Asking God to turn away His anger from us
• Presentation of personal skill /talent (the stones)
• Acknowledgement that God has all power to do things for the benefit of man
• Asking God to bless talent/skill so that it may provide light while crossing the sea / storms of life/ moments of darkness
• Expressing faith in the power of God and His ways, which men more often than not do not understand.

The prayer denotes a PRECISION OF LANGUAGE.

 

Notice that the book of Ether opens with the issue of the language: Jared is worried that his language (and of his family) will be confounded. If up until then this was the only language around, we might argue that this is indeed the language used by Adam to communicate with God, a language that allows man and God perfect and efficient communication. It makes sense that Jared does not want to lose it, even though he most probably understands the reason why God has made the decision to confound the language (the pride of man building the tower of Babel - the only way to stop that effort is to confound the language so men can no longer coordinate efforts and build the tower to reach haven).

So, what does this mean for us? Do we use precision of language when we pray? What does God want to hear when we pray? Does our language - the formulas we use- affect whether or not our prayers will be heard? I propose that it does.

The brother of Jared is granted his wish and has an incredible faith building experience:

• The Lord touches the stones with His fingers
• The Brother of Jared sees the fingers of the Lord and then the Lord - in His spirit body - because of the man's incredible faith. (Ether 3:13)
• Christ ministers to him as He did to the Nephites.(Ether 3:17)

The faith of the Brother of Jared is transformed into perfect knowledge = the Brother of Jared receives the Second Comforter.

It's a sacred experience. The Brother of Jared is commanded not to share it with anyone but to write it down - in that same language that is meant not to be confounded - so that someone (Alma and then Joseph Smith) will interpret it in due time.

What's the lesson for us:

 

• God wants us to be like whales and successfully overcome the storms of life
• He provides specific instructions (barges)
• He provides means to survive (holes)
• He wants us to have the light of Christ (stones) but
• we must choose to have the light of Christ in our lives and 
• must pray with PRECISION OF LANGUAGE to use our skills, talents, creativity to bring the light in our midst and among our loved ones (melting stones out of rock) = we use our talents & creativity to share the light (rock= Christ is the rock)
• We will have a sacred experience :

1. we will see the hand of God in our lives
2. our faith will be strengthened
3. Christ will minister to us
4. our faith might/will become perfect knowledge - our testimony of Christ will definitely be strenghtned.

In other words, we will be as a whale, overcoming the storm while coming up periodically to expel water (creativity) and breath (air provided by God).

Covid -19 is definitely a storm for all humanity. Will we use our talents to share the light of Christ? Do we have enough faith and can we follow the prayer pattern of the Brother of Jared to ensure that God will bless our talent so they can be the mean through which we shed the LIGHT?

I think understanding that God wants us to CREATE with Him and having faith and saying the correct prayers are key!!

Prayer

 What should we pray for?

Does the language we use in prayers affect whether or not our prayers are heard?

What did Christ pray for, and in what language?

"The evil one teacheath a man not to pray."

https://rsc.byu.edu/book-mormon-3-nephi-9-30-my-gospel/pray-always-learning-pray-jesus-prayed

Prayer is the goal of an individual to place him or herself in spiritual harmony with God the Father and Creator of all. According to latter-day prophets and apostles, prayer consists of much more than directing “mere words” or thoughts towards deity, but represents “the pulsation of a yearning, loving heart in tune with the Infinite.” Prayer is “a message of the soul sent directly to a loving Father. . . [it is] spirit vibration” (McKay 308). Prayer is having “a consciousness that there is something within us which is divine, which is part of the Infinite, which is the offspring of God, and until we can feel that harmony with that Infinite, we have not sensed the power of prayer” (302). Prayer, accompanied by works, “is the invisible switch to tune us with the infinite” (Kimball 62), it is placing ourselves “in harmony with divine forces” 

An effective prayer is one in which an individual prays with “real intent of heart” (Moroni 7:9), with “all the energy of heart” (Moroni 7:48), and with “the sincerity of his heart” (D&C 5:24). In these passages, the heart represents the spiritual and inner emotive aspect of ourselves.

Pray for: 

• Alma in Ammoniah prays to be able to "baptize unto repentance."
• Pray to receive a knowledge of the tribes of Israel (3Ne:4)
• Pray for: God's mercy on us, against the power of enemies, against the devil, over the crops and flocks of the field - that we may prosper and that they may increase (Alma 34:17-28)
• give thanks (1Ne2:7)
• to know the mysteries of God (1Ne2:16)
• to glorify Christ "Hosannah" (3Ne11:17)
• to have our debts forgiven (Lord's Prayer)
• against temptations & to be delivered from evil (Lord's Prayer)
• ask to understand the words of Christ (3Ne17:3)
• Share your troubles (3Ne17:14 - Christ)
• pray for what is right   (3Ne 18: 20)
• for wives and children to be blessed (3Ne 18:21)
• for those who come worship with us often (3Ne18:23)
• Holy Ghost  (3Ne19:9)
• for people to receive the Holy Ghost  if they believe in Christ (3 Ne 19:23)
• express gratitude for those who have been and will be purified by the words of Christ (3Ne 19:28)
• For those out of the world , because of their faith, that they may be purified in Christ (3Ne19:29)
• to solve disputations in the Church (3Ne27:3 - name of the church)
• to speedily come into the kingdom (3Ne 28:2)
• never taste death & bring souls unto Christ - 3 Nephites (3Ne 28:7, 9)
• pray for those we lead, even if there is no faith in them (Mormon 3:12)
• pray not to be confounded (mixed-up with other people) and understand our words (Ether 1:34)
• ask what the Lord will do with us and if he will take us to a choice land (Ether 1:38)
• for our friends, that God will not turn his anger towards them, and that their language may not be confounded (Ether1:36)

Where to pray:

• in the fields over our flocks (work), in our houses, inner closets, in our secret places and in our wilderness. (Alma 34:17-28)
• onto the mount, often (1Ne 18:3)
• at the altar (1Ne 2:7)
• in secret in our closet (3NE13:6)
• in our families (3Ne18:21)
• in our hearts (3Ne20:1)

When to pray:

• morning, midday, evening (Alma 34:17-28)
• always, lest you're tempted by the devil (3Ne:18:15)
• after the Sacrament - to give glory to Christ (3Ne20:9)

How to pray

• Make an offering (1 Ne2:7)
• use not vain repetitions (3Ne 13:7)
• kneel down (3Ne17:13)
• say great and marvelous things ( Christ - 3Ne17:16,17)

Who to pray to:

• to the Father (Christ and disciples pray to the Father in 3 Ne)

Consequences of prayer

• Become white as Jesus (3Ne19:31)
• hearts are open and we understand the words of Christ (3 Ne19: 33)
• If prayer = faith, then we see miracles and hear great things (3Ne19:36)