1 Nephi 11

1 Nephi 11:5

And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.

This is a very simple scripture but it had great meaning for me today. As I read it I asked myself why Nephi didn't just say yes. Obviously he must have had a testimony that the Lord knew the thoughts and intents of his heart, that the Lord already knew that he believed in the words of his father. But what was significant to me was that because he understood that the Lord knew his heart, he could not lie. If he had doubts he would have had to answer "You knowest that I have doubts."

Imagine being Nephi. Can you answer the same, Lord you know that I believe? When I imagine myself in this situation I realize that I need to do some heart searching just to discover for myself what the Lord already knows. Perhaps this is why God asks questions he already knows the answer to, because he wants us to discover the answer for ourselves.

When we communicate with the Lord in prayer do we share our whole hearts with him? Or do we keep back a part of it? Do we admit to him and to ourselves that he already knows our innermost secrets, desires, and beliefs? All of us should take the time to quietly examine the contents of our hearts so that when we approach the Lord we can be on the same page. We will know what he knows, we will admit to him our doubts, our weaknesses, our strengths, and our desires both the righteous and unrighteous. Then we will be in a position to ask him to help us truly overcome those doubts and weaknesses instead of ignoring them, and to truly change those unrighteous desires. But it starts when we stop trying to hide things from Lord or from ourselves.