Strive to be mighty in all that we do

Brother Colby Neilson

Bishopric Second Counselor

I recently was intrigued by the use of the word ‘Mighty’ in the scriptures.  Mighty prayer, mighty change of heart, mighty works, mighty in testimony, mighty in word and deed, to name a few.  I wanted to learn more about the word mighty, so I looked up some synonyms and antonyms.

Synonyms:  potent, robust, forceful, powerful, monumental, vigorous, strong, strapping, stalwart, powerhouse, omnipotent, muscular.  (These are only a small list)

Antonyms:  weak, small, delicate, insignificant, powerless, unimportant

As I was reading in the Book of Alma, I noticed how Alma prayed mightily for the strength to defeat the Amlicites / Lamanites.  Alma later teaches about a mighty change wrought in the hearts of our fathers and asks the question of ‘Have ye experienced this might change in your hearts?’

I asked myself the question of what is mighty prayer and what is a mighty change of heart. For me, experiencing mighty prayer doesn’t mean some overwhelming powerful experience.  Mighty, for me, is directly related to motive or intent.  A mighty prayer would mean that I am praying with real intent and not just routinely checking that off my list for the day.  Real intent would mean that I am pondering and trying to listen to the spirit for direction. 

As Alma was in battle, I’m sure his intent was real as he was fighting for his life and the lives of his brethren.  We aren’t physically in battle but we are spiritually fighting for our lives and the lives of our family.  Our motives and intent must be mighty and not weak, powerless, or unimportant.

Experiencing a mighty change would mean that I have humbled myself enough to align my motives and intent with the gospel and allow the Atonement of Jesus Christ to solidify the change.  As we follow the promptings of the spirit, we will have a mighty change.  Change happens as we consistently do what is necessary to have the spirit in our lives.  Little by little, step by step, day by day, we create change as we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.  We then see the mighty change as we look back and see how much we have gained, how far we have come, how we have improved, and how we have strengthened our testimony.  It takes time and practice.  This is why we are here… to practice.  Trial and error.  Experience failure, repent and try again.

I know that as we strive to be mighty in all that we do, following the Spirit, we will not allow the antonyms to creep in and undermine our efforts to be better.  We will be able to answer with resounding YES, we have experienced this mighty change in our hearts!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the strength on which we can rely at any time in our lives.  It is true!  We have a living prophet to direct the will of the Savior at this time.  As we do our best to make our prayer mighty, do the things necessary to have mighty change, we will eventually become what our Father in Heaven would have us become, more and more like him.  Studying the Book of Mormon will bring the Spirit to our lives.  It is truth. Be Mighty!

Love, Bro. Neilson