Thursday, December 15, 2016

First Nephi 17:9

And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?

Elder L. Tom Perry taught, "It is seldom that the Lord will do for us what we can do for ourselves." Nephi knew that he would need carpentry tools to build a ship. He could have asked the Lord to give him tools. After all, the Lord had already provided the liahona. But he knew that the Lord wants us to learn to be as self sufficient as possible. When he analyzed the situation, he knew he could make tools if he had iron, and he could smelt iron if he had ore, and he could mine ore if he just knew where to find it. Finding hidden ore was the one thing he could not do on his own. So that is what he asked for. We ought to ask only for what we cannot do for ourselves.

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