Pleading With the Lord

As we get on our knees to beg for relief from the anguish that haunts us, we can look to Alma’s beautiful example of pleading with the Lord: “O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions” (Alma 31:31). We may have comfort in Christ if we will humble ourselves enough. In the chapter immediately following his prayer, Alma teaches the Zoramites the importance of humility.
The poorer people of the city have been cast out of their places of worship because of their poverty, so they come to Alma asking him what they should do. “And now when Alma heard this, […] he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in preparation to hear the word” (Alma 32:6). He is filled with joy because their afflictions have made them humble enough to truly learn.
Alma tells the people, “I behold that ye are lowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye” (v. 8). Their humility prepares them to hear the word of the Lord. The more we have to search, truly hungering and thirsting to understand the gospel, the more prepared we are to hear it. It is often in our lowest moments of sorrow and depression that we become humble enough to really learn from the Lord. When we pray with pride in our hearts and without real intent, the Lord knows it and cannot bless us. We must be in the correct frame of mind, understanding our relationship with Him, before our prayers will have enough meaning to truly make any difference in our lives. We pray to change ourselves, not to change the Lord. If we can humble ourselves in prayer, we’re halfway there. The beauty of humility is that it taps us into the strength of the Lord: “they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility” (Helaman 3:35). Our strength is nothing, but the strength of the Lord is everything.
In our humility, we easily realize how weak our faith truly is. Though we believe, we come to the Lord and feel that perhaps our faith will not be enough. He tells us, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” In that moment, we are like the father pleading for a miracle for his son: “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:23-24).
I so often feel inadequate in my faith, yet cry out through my tears this same request: “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” It sometimes just doesn’t seem possible that this sorrow can really be taken away from me, that I could really be healed or that it will ever end. But I know that all things are possible if I will believe. The Lord will help our unbelief.
We also have the Priesthood at our disposal. We should never take for granted the Priesthood, and we must not hesitate to use it. Perhaps there are times when calling upon this power is the only way we can access the Spirit of the Lord. We cannot always do everything for ourselves, and the Lord always has blessings in store for us. In my depression I have had a few very beautiful experiences with Priesthood blessing of comfort, both from my father and from my husband. They are priceless experiences that I could not have had otherwise, in which, first and foremost, the Lord assured me of His love and watchful care over me. He will strengthen us if we will let Him.