3 Nephi 27:1

And it came to pass that as the disciples of Jesus were journeying and were preaching the things which they had both heard and seen, and were baptizing in the name of Jesus, it came to pass that the disciples were gathered together and were united in mighty prayer and fasting.

Mighty prayer is not just plain old prayer. We do not dash off a mighty prayer for two minutes before we jump into bed at the end of a long day. A mighty prayer is a prayer of power, offered with sincerity and genuine desire, born of a heart felt need, and accompanied by total humility. A mighty prayer recognizes that no other source but God can supply the relief we seek. It has full confidence that the Lord can and will answer, but it also asks according to his will, guided by the Holy Ghost. A mighty prayer does not have to be long, but it must to sufficient to allow one to pour out his heart and say all that needs to be said, followed by time to listen and ponder. The Lord gives us hard problems and painful afflictions so we can learn mighty prayer.

3 Nephi 24:16-17

Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard; and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Fear God and remember him: the two prerequisites to becoming one of the jewels of the Lord. He asks only that we love him and remember him. We do not have to perform some magnificent feat of bravery. We do not have to conquer an army, we only have to conquer ourselves. We do not have to be perfect, we only have to want to be perfect. There is no work we can do that will save us. We just have to love God, keep him and his plan in our thoughts, and do our best. We do not make ourselves jewels, Christ makes us precious gems through his Atonement.

3 Nephi 24:7

Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. But ye say: Wherein shall we return?

This is God's promise throughout the scriptures. When we turn to him, he turns to us. It is just that simple.

3 Nephi 23:13

And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

Keeping a written record is an important principle. God does not give us blessings and miracles to just wash over us, be taken for granted, and then forgotten. If he puts the effort into the blessing, he wants us to remember, and that means we should write it down. Though we may not like journal keeping, writing is a sign to the Lord that we value the gifts he gives us.

3 Nephi 23:5

And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things.

Salvation is free but not without stipulations and qualifications. We must learn and obey the commandments, receive the ordinance of baptism, and continually repent if we want salvation. It is not hard or complicated to understand, but it takes a lifetime and beyond to do it. The promise, however, is worth every effort.

3 Nephi 22:16

Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

God has created all things. There is nothing our enemies, temporal or spiritual, can do that God cannot overcome.

3 Nephi 22:11

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

Though we have been afflicted with guilt, the Lord can make our lives beautiful through his Atonement.

3 Nephi 22:10

For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

God's kindness is more permanent and everlasting than the mountains. Though time and weather can erode even the mightiest mountain range, nothing can erode God's love for us.

3 Nephi 22:7

For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “The imagery of Jehovah as bridegroom and Israel as bride is among the most commonly used metaphors in scripture, being used by the Lord and his prophets to describe the relationship between Deity and the children of the covenant. … Christ has, on occasion, been rightfully angry with backsliding Israel, but that has always been brief and temporary—‘a small moment.’ Compassion and mercy always return and prevail in a most reassuring way. The mountains and the hills may disappear. The water of the great seas may dry up. … But the Lord’s kindness and peace will never be taken from his covenant people. He has sworn with a heavenly oath that he will not be wroth with them forever” (Christ and the New Covenant 1997, 290).

3 Nephi 21:22

But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance;

This prophecy is about those who accept the gospel and enter into the covenants of baptism and the temple. We are added to the Lord's chosen people because of our covenants, regardless of our birth heritage or DNA. We therefore share in the inheritance of the promised land with the rest of Lehi's descendants. The same is true of our spiritual homeland. We can be accepted into the celestial kingdom because of covenants, and because of the covenant Christ made with the Father to be our Redeemer, Mediator, and Savior.

3 Nephi 21:6

For thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles, that he may show forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel;

This verse outlines the conditions under which we become adopted among the chosen people of the Lord. We must have faith, repent, be baptized, and believe the true doctrine of Christ. God is no respecter of persons. If we live like the chosen people, he chooses us. To ignore righteous desires would be unfair. Life is unfair, God never is.

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “Every person who embraces the gospel becomes of the house of Israel. In other words, they become members of the chosen lineage, or Abraham’s children through Isaac and Jacob unto whom the promises were made. The great majority of those who become members of the Church are literal descendants of Abraham through Ephraim, son of Joseph. Those who are not literal descendants of Abraham and Israel must become such, and when they are baptized and confirmed they are grafted into the tree and are entitled to all the rights and privileges as heirs” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. 1954-56, 3:246).

3 Nephi 20:29

And I will remember the covenant which I have made with my people; and I have covenanted with them that I would gather them together in mine own due time, that I would give unto them again the land of their fathers for their inheritance, which is the land of Jerusalem, which is the promised land unto them forever, saith the Father.

God's promises are sure and will be fulfilled as soon as we are ready to receive them. We have the Savior's word on it.

3 Nephi 20:24

Verily I say unto you, yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have testified of me.

The primary message of every prophet is his testimony of Jesus Christ. Not all spoke of him directly or by name, but all have testified one way or the other of the Redeemer, the Savior, our Advocate with the Father, the sacrificial Lamb, the resurrected Lord. All prophetic messages point us to Christ. Christ is the only One who can bring us to the Father, and true prophets always lead us to Christ. We thank the, O God, for a prophet, to lead us to Christ in these latter days.

3 Nephi 20:9

Now, when the multitude had all eaten and drunk, behold, they were filled with the Spirit; and they did cry out with one voice, and gave glory to Jesus, whom they both saw and heard.

The end result of our partaking of the sacrament should be a filling by the Holy Spirit. If we make the covenants of the sacrament with sincerity, full purpose of heart, and real intent, we are promised to have Christ's Spirit. The Holy Ghost is the manifestation of the Spirit of Christ. It can come to us immediately, even as it did for the multitude who were in Christ's very presence.

According to the words of the sacramental prayer, we only have to be willing to make and keep the covenants. If we are willing at that moment, then in that moment we can be filled with his Spirit.

Now, the vicissitudes of life and the realities of mortality may break down our wills and thwart our desires, and chances are that we won't make it through the day without stumbling in our determination, and we may find ourselves withdrawn from the Spirit by degrees. We know we are going to fall from grace again, and God knows it. Nevertheless, in that precious moment, we can be filled.

The Lord will take whatever opportunity we give him, however brief and fleeting, to give us a taste of the spiritual banquet he has in store for us, in the hope that his gift will taste sweeter than the worldly satisfactions of the natural man. He is anxious for us to break the cycle of habit, weakness, and temptation and to turn to him. For every tiny step we take in his direction, he runs to us and takes us in his arms and cheers us on. He weeps for us when we lose our grip and stumble in the wrong direction, but if our heart is right, he knows we'll be back soon. And so he waits anxiously while we grope our way back to the sacrament table again and start over. He is so pleased when we try, even though we both know we will fail. The victory of mortality is in the trying. God blesses us when we try.

3 Nephi 19:35

And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.

Christ saw evidence of the people's faith in their diligent prayers. Humble, sincere prayer, led by the Holy Ghost, is one way we can show God our faith. When we pray in faith, we invite the Lord to do wonderful things in our lives. Without prayer, we cannot be aligned with God's will, and he will not exercise his full power in our lives.

3 Nephi 19:34

Nevertheless, so great and marvelous were the words which he prayed that they cannot be written, neither can they be uttered by man.

Jesus twice prayed miraculous prayers filled with words, the understanding of which came by a gift of the Spirit but which the people could not speak themselves. They could not speak the language of God because they did not know it. This language must be filled with ideas that go beyond our mortal vocabulary, ideas and thoughts so pure and elevated that we cannot comprehend them without the assistance of the universal translator -- the Holy Ghost. Just as one language may have expressions and idioms that do not translate directly into other languages, Christ's celestial language would surely be full of expressions and ways of saying things that defy human translation. To pray in tongues is useless unless someone can translate. The Holy Ghost provided the translation, and the people were edified.

3 Nephi 19:29

Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith, that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them.

We come unto Christ by faith. The Father, who recognizes our faith, gives us to Christ to purify and nurture. When Christ owns us, his goal is to purify us through his atonement to make us as much like him as he is like his Father. His glory is to bring us back to the Father purified, sanctified, and ready to dwell with him in the Father's presence. Notice who is doing all the work. Our job is to start the process through faith in Christ as evidenced by our desire and our obedience. Once we are turned over to him, he does the rest.

3 Nephi 19:28

Father, I thank thee that thou hast purified those whom I have chosen, because of their faith, and I pray for them, and also for them who shall believe on their words, that they may be purified in me, through faith on their words, even as they are purified in me.

We can be purified through faith. We can become just as pure as the eyewitnesses of Christ's resurrection when we believe their testimony and exercise faith in Christ as the Savior. We exercise our faith through our repentance and obedience. We are just as acceptable to Christ as are the apostles. All the people in the multitude who prayed to Christ were purified and made white. His countenance shined on all, not just the disciples, and not just the stake presidents and bishops, and the parents who had at least ten children, and those who wore nice clothes. Station and appearance make no difference to the Savior. All he sees is the condition of the heart. Oh, that we could all have such a heart condition!

3 Nephi 19:24

And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, he came unto his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him; and they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire.

As part of our prayer practice, we too can ask what to pray for. The purpose of prayer is not to convince God to do our bidding but to align ourselves with his will and to access blessings that he is already willing to give us but which are predicated on our asking. Thus, praying for what to pray for is a useful exercise. What the natural man thinks we need and what God knows we need are diametrically opposing views of us. The key to a successful life s to overcome the natural man and accept the will of God. Prayer holds that key for us.

3 Nephi 19:23

And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.

Jesus is our Advocate with the Father. He prays to the Father for us. How comforting to know that when I pray my imperfect prayer, Christ backs me up with his perfect prayer!