Bowing Down

Nephi taught his people, "And now, behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in no wise be cast out" (2 Nephi 25:29).

Aaron, the Nephite missionary, drew upon this very teaching from the plates of Nephi when he taught Lamoni’s father, who wanted to know how he could root out the dark influence of sin in his life.

If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day" (Alma 22:16-18).

Personal application

It is difficult to adequately express the significance of this event for the people of Lehi. At the commencement of his record, Nephi wrote with sadness that Laman and Lemuel "knew not the dealings of the God who created them" (1 Nephi 2:12) and would not inquire of God because they assumed, "the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us" (1 Nephi 15:9). Yet in the account of one of their royal descendants, this powerful king of all the Lamanites bows down and offers all, including his sins, in order to know God!

According to Alma, it was the records on the plates of Nephi, which described "the rebellions of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael" (Alma 18:38), but also the doctrine of Christ and his redemption (Alma 18:39-41; 22:13-14), which gave these Lamanite leaders and their people the hope and faith needed to seek and partake of the very blessings that their fathers had once rejected.

As you read about the success of the Nephite missionaries, consider ways you can follow the example of this Lamanite king, and come to know God better each day by bowing down in prayer before Him.