Henry B. Eyring wrote: “I bear you my solemn testimony that the Lord opens the heavens to his servants today. He will answer your prayers for help beyond your human understanding. But I also bear you my testimony that the words “study it out” mean a degree of patience, labor, and persistence commensurate with the value of what you seek.
Alma gave his son advice that is good for us. He said: “Preach unto them repentance and faith on the Lord, Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord, Jesus Christ. Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.” (Alma 37:33-34.)
The good works that really matter require the help of heaven. And the help of heaven requires working past the point of fatigue so far that only the meek and lowly will keep going long enough. The Lord doesn’t put us through the test just to give us a grade; he does it because the process will change us.
President Harold B. Lee described that once in general conference. He said: “To become converted, according to the scriptures, meant having a change of heart and the moral character of a person turned from the controlled power of sin into a righteous life. It meant to ‘wait patiently on the Lord’ until one’s prayers can be answered.” (Conference Report, April 1971, p. 92.)
If we are going to do our duty, we are going to need the powers of heaven. And if we are going to be given access to the powers of heaven, we are going to have to learn to wait upon the Lord.
The word wait in scriptural language means to hope for or anticipate. . . . ~ Henry B. Eyring. To Draw Closer to God (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997). 95-96
