Ether

The brother of Jared pled with the Lord to preserve the language of his worthy friends and family at the tower of Babel.The brother of Jared led his group to another land. This took great faith, trust and many lessons were learned.  The brother of Jared was not a perfect man, but he continued to try and do good.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that God loves those whom He chastens: “The Lord is truly there to chastise those whom He loves, including the spiritually preeminent. The Brother of Jared for too long had failed to pray (see Ether 2:14). Even the good can become careless without the Lord’s being there to chasten. Later, the chastened Brother of Jared saw Christ!

The Lord explained to the brother of Jared that blessings had come to his people as a result of prayers offered over a long time. Enduring obedience coupled with frequent and persistent prayers is powerful. 

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) similarly taught that we must put great effort into our prayers and that we must pray frequently:

“Do you get answers to your prayers? If not, perhaps you did not pay the price. Do you offer a few trite words and worn-out phrases, or do you talk intimately to the Lord? Do you pray occasionally when you should be praying regularly, often, constantly? Do you offer pennies to pay heavy debts when you should give dollars to erase that obligation?

Another great lesson learned was in how our Heavenly Father answers prayers.  He wants us to think for ourselves and find solutions for our problems, then take the solutions to Him for confirmation.  President Lee concluded: “This is the principle in action. If you want the blessing, don’t just kneel down and pray about it. Prepare yourselves in every conceivable way you can in order to make yourselves worthy to receive the blessing you seek”

 Such faith the brother of Jared had!  Ether 3:9 The Lord said, "never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast" And in Ether 3:10, the brother of Jared said, "Show thyself unto me" The trust that the brother of Jared had of our Lord is such a great example to me.  I am amazing at what I continue to learn as I study the scriptures daily.  I have read the Book of Mormon many times and still learn something more each time I read it.