"Liken All Scriptures Unto Us"

In 1 Nephi 19:23 Nephi says "I did like all scriptures unto us that it might be for our profit and learning." I'm so pleased to be seeing a lot of that on this blog; people writing about what those scriptures written in 600B.C. can mean to us in our daily lives in 2010. I thought about that as I was reading 1 Nephi 17:51. Laman and Lemuel were murmuring about Nephi not being capable of building a ship. In response verse after verse Nephi recounts the great this the Lord has done for His people in the past, like saving the children of Israel from the Egyptians, parting the Red Sea, preserving them in the wilderness. Nephi then says. "And now if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that He cannot instruct me how to build a ship?" And so it is with us. If He can do all those miracles surely He can help us be a better home teacher or visiting teacher, or an inspired Elder's Quorum president or primary leader. He can heal relationships, give us inspiration as parents, and provide guidance and strength in the challenges we face.

As we "liken the scriptures to ourselves" we can find the answers to all our needs and questions. I know that's the case because time after time it's happened to me. A scripture just pops out at me with remarkable clarity as an answer to a prayer or concern. A general authority once said words to this effect: "When we want to speak to God we pray. When He wants to answer He does it through the scriptures."