3 Nephi 13

(Marci-red; Kathy-green Marci blue 2020) orange 7/21Brown 2022/23

Chapter 13

Jesus teaches the Nephites the Lord’s Prayer—They are to lay up treasures in heaven—The twelve disciples in their ministry are commanded to take no thought for temporal things—Compare Matthew 6. About A.D. 34. This chapter is more of face-to-face, one-on-one ministering.  As I read, I contemplated the subjects the Lord was teaching them about, and I feel that as we apply these teachings in our own lives, we will be able to share our experiences and the blessings that results (or even the struggles that ensue) from establishing them in ourselves.  Many people are more receptive to shared stories than preaching. Also, we're taught(Eyring 1997"Safety in Counsel") that when prophets repeat the counsel of other prophets, we'd better pay attention.  Christ was repeating Himself in these chapters (Beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount, etc.), for the benefit of another audience, but we have both records, so if the Lord felt it was important enough to be spoken of on both hemispheres, perhaps we had better make sure we're striving to be compliant to that counsel. commandments

  1 ^aVerily, verily, I say that I would that ye should do alms  (food or money given freely to relieve the poor) unto the poor; but take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven. Caring for the poor is the dividing factor in the parable of the sheep and the goats. "Why" we minister is more important than "what" we do. And "how" we minister affects our blessings. Right now this seems to be a condemning statement to the Lord's church. We are very much doing our alms before men. We post on social media over and over that we donated x amount to this charity and and that cause. In Conference the prophet has "listed" all the good we have done around the world. Hmmm....no reward from our Father in Heaven for all these "alms"? First talk Oct 2022, Pres Oaks, by assignment of the prophet lists again the good things we've done. hmmmm....
  2 Therefore, when ye shall do your alms do not sound a trumpet before you, as will hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. 
  3 But when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth; Your right and left hand are part of the same body. This could be saying that it's ok for the Church to not even let the members know all the things they are doing. I think we wear our yellow T-shirts as a form of missionary work (hey, look! The Mormons are here to help! Aren't they wonderful??) But wouldn't it be better if people just showed up and others had to ask who we were and conversations were started? And wouldn't it be better if people said, "why don't you all wear yellow t-shirts or something, so we know who you are" and we said, "God knows who we are. And now you know I am here to serve Him and you. Isn't that enough?" 
  4 That thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.  Remember that nothing we do "in secret" is hidden from our Father. We will be blessed far more by Him than by men if we minister out of love for Him and a desire to bless and glorify His name, rather than our own. Do not trade your blessings for a "mess of pottage"!  vs 1-4:  Alms-service, good works, contributions to the poor, etc. to be done discreetly.
  5 And when thou ^aprayest thou shalt not do as the ^bhypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
  6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who ^bseeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Again, it is not as important how we pray, but why we pray. It sounds, a little, like the focus is on "how" (go into a closet, shut the door) but that is so that we have no temptation to "be seen of men" or "heard of men".  Our "why" is because our only desire is to be heard of our Father and to receive our reward from Him only.  This is the second example the Lord gives about not being seen of men to seek the praise of the world. We should only seek to praise God and be seen of Him and trust His rewards, not the world's.
  7 But when ye pray, use not ^avain repetitions, as the ^bheathen, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. The footnote on "vain repetitions" says 'TG Sincere". Since we are not being heard by others when we pray in secret, we do not need to heed temptations to say things that might impress others. We can speak sincerely and openly with our Father. And we must not even try to impress God with our big words or flowery speech. As we minister, we should as not do or say things to gain the honors of men or a reputation for ourselves as a "great minister", but love and serve quietly and by the Spirit. If our doings become known to others, we must always point the credit back to God. 
  8 Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father ^aknoweth what things ye have need of before ye ^bask him. The question that comes to mind then, is: What is the relationship between 'vain repetitions' and God knowing what we need before we ask? What follows is the Lord's Prayer. Perhaps we are being taught is that God knows what we need better than we do. The words in this prayer are the things that we need and that we should pray for, not the things that we hear others pray for or that maybe we, ourselves, pray for repeatedly. Maybe it is a 'vain repetition' when we ask for things over and over that are not really what God knows we need. Prayer-His counsel for personal prayers is to be done in private, and then, like President Nelson has counseled, we should pour out our hearts about our concerns, fears, weaknesses, and the longings of our hearts.
  9 After this ^amanner therefore ^bpray ye: Our ^cFather who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. In a recent 'face to face' with Pres. Eyring and Elder Holland, they talked about how we should approach the throne of God. There should be great respect and reverence for God when we pray. 'Hallowed' means "greatly revered or respected"

 10 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Elder Maxwell said that all we can truly give to God is our will. Everything else is His already. 
 11 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Asking for forgiveness keeps us in meekness and humility. When we acknowledge or own faults first, we are less likely to be judgmental of others. We also understand that we can receive no forgiveness without forgiving others. This is the verse that came as an answer to prayer about my debts (Cottonelle)
 12 And ^alead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The correct translation of 'lead' is more like, 'do not allow us to be led'. We know that opposition is a necessary part of our mortal probation. We will be tempted. What we are asking for is power to not follow temptation, and for power to be delivered from evil if we have followed temptation.
 13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. We seek to build God's kingdom, not a kingdom on earth for ourselves. We acknowledge that we live and breath by His power, not our own. We do all things for the glory and love of God - forever. We do not seek our own glory (pride). Just a thought - what if this were our only prayer and we trusted that, God, knowing our needs, will give us all things that we need, if we live by the words of this prayer. (Think "consider the lilies of the field"- God clothes them without their asking for it.) What if our whole lives we kept at the forefront of our minds a great reverence for God and a desire to do nothing but His will. The only thing we ask for is to know His will and forgiveness when we choose to believe the lies we are tempted to believe about ourselves and others. We live each day with no other desire but to love God, build His kingdom and glorify His name. We trust all else that is needful will follow according to His plan for us. Amen.   The Lord's Prayer-a prayer of praise, gratitude, and beseeching--a pattern for us to follow.
 14 For, if ye ^aforgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you;
 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. vs 14-15:  Forgiveness-something we all seek, requires us to forgive.  When we don't forgive others, it's like telling the Lord that His atonement wasn't enough.
 16 Moreover, when ye ^afast be not as the ^bhypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. Notice, there is a reward for fasting no matter how you do it, but you get the reward from the one you wish to be seen by and who's opinion matters to you most...man or God's.
 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and ^awash thy face;
 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in ^asecret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. vs 16-18:  Fasting-again discreetly, it's between us and God.
 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where ^amoth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;
 20 But lay up for yourselves ^atreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. This is one of my favorite scriptures. Jesus is teaching us that this earth life is transitory. Our life continues after the grave and that we should be more concerned with what our life will be like there than what it is like here (as far as 'treasures of the earth' are concerned." 
 22 The ^alight of the body is the ^beye; if, therefore, thine eye be ^csingle, thy whole body shall be full of light. The 'eye' here, is not our physical eye, but our spiritual eye or how we see things, our perspective, our beliefs. Light is truth, so when we are filled with correct beliefs, or 'right thinking' or 'virtue' we live in a state of light and darkness or 'the veil of unbelief' is lifted. Our eye is 'single' when our motivation for all we do is love for God and a desire to do His will and please Him. 
 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! Our eye is evil when we believe the lies of temptation. Then we no longer see as God sees, but as Satan sees and therefore we are in darkness. How is it that Jesus is calling the 'light' in thee 'darkness'? Maybe it is just that we are calling the lies we believe 'light' and it is really darkness. We 'think' we are believing right and thus perceive it as 'light' but it is in reality, great darkness.
 24 No man can ^aserve ^btwo masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. This sounds harsh to me. When I consider my imperfection and weakness, am I really in a state of hate towards God when I fail to be true to what I believe? When I am weak, am I really loving Satan? Can't I love God at all times and just choose temptation because my faith is weak, or my fears are a little too strong? Can't I have one foot in heaven and one foot in Babylon? Jesus is teaching us that every choice between good and evil is a statement of who we love in that moment. Perhaps I would not yield to temptation so easily if I framed my choices in this light. Thankfully, we have the Atonement of Jesus Christ for those many times that we fail. It's Plan A, not Plan B. We will fail and we will need to repent and choose again. This is how we learn to truly love God. vs 19-24:  Obtaining Income-as important as having sufficient for our needs is, we are warned against the temptation to let this become an obsession.  A critical examination again of the heart--is our eye and heart on Zion or on Babylon? 
 25 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the ^atwelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to ^bminister (teach these things)unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 
 26 Behold the ^afowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the ^alilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;
 29 And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.
 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith. Notice the condition: "if ye are not of little faith"...
 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? This direction to not worry about providing for daily needs surely must be for the 12 who are called to spend their lives in the ministry and not for everyone else. For God says, the "idler shall not eat the bread of the laborer". He clearly expects us to work and store and clothe. How do we give alms to the poor if we have nothing to give? No, these 12 are "laboring" in the ministry and God says he'll provide. (Most likely through the labors of the rest of His children, who will clothe and house and feed them).
 32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  Here's a repeat of the Lord's prayer concept stated earlier to all of the people. Is this direction, then, just to the apostles or is it meant in some way for all of us? 
 33 But ^aseek ye first the ^bkingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Clearly, this is meant for all, for we learn in Jacob 2:18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God."
 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. ^aSufficient is the day unto the evil thereof. vs 25-34:  Jesus looks then at his 12, who have during this time, been students, along with the other thousands, and now, He tells them to remember all that He has just taught, and calls them to become teachers or ministers of His word. He commissions them to the work, promising that He'll take care of their needs, as He takes care of all living  creations. This will be their concern for the rest of their lives. I'm sure there's a lot of self-examination going on among these 12, to assess whether they were practicing what they would be preaching. It behooves us to do the same. I love this video that talks about what the ancient "green pastures" were really like and how the sheep were concerned only with the needs of today and trusted the Shepherd to lead them to green pastures  tomorrow.