The "if" card

Our story begins when a stalwart Nephite missionary named Ammon travels to a far away land to preach the word of God to the enemy, the Lamanites. Through much service and sacrifice, he finds himself taking part in the breathtaking conversion of many previously bloodthirsty individuals, in the which they bury their weapons of war, swearing never to shed blood again. Things start to go South at that point. All the Lamanites who rejected Ammon are livid - they despise anything with even so much as a whiff of Nephite, so Ammon's missionary work didn't exactly tickle them pink. In their ensuing rage, they mercilessly slaughter more than a thousand of their converted brethren, who refuse to retaliate in any way. Our wicked Lamanites remain unsatisfied, and subsequent attacks are scrawled on the calendar.

As you can see, things were not going well for these newly converted Lamanites. Ammon keenly observes their impending danger and presents his marvelous solution to the king: "Your Majesty, these people are going to die if we don't get them out of here. We need to get protection from our brothers the Nephites in Zarahemla." The king, familiar with the long and bloody history between the two groups of people, adamantly responds, "Pardon me, Brother Ammon, but are you crazy?! Ain't no way we goin' there! They're Nephites, we're Lamanites - if we go there, we're dead!"

Then - and this is the part I want to emphasise - our persistent, persuasive little Ammon pulls the "if" card on the king. He proposes, "I will go and inquire of the Lord, and if he say unto us, go down unto our brethren, will ye go?" (Alma 27:7) What an intriguing question! King Lamoni's response was, in short, "Inquire of the Lord, and if he saith unto us go, we will go; otherwise we will perish in the land" (Alma 27:10).


 Here's what I learned from Ammon's dialogue with the king:

• When there's an important decision to be made, it's wise to "inquire of the Lord" (pray about it)
• The Lord's will should always trump man's desires. What I mean by that is we should care more about what God wants us to do than what others want us to do.
• By asking the king this question, Ammon is essentially asking if he is willing to do what the Lord says. By the same token, our prayers need to be made with real intent, meaning we must be willing to accept the answer and follow the guidance that is given to us. 
• If God doesn't grant our request, we will have to face the alternative ("perish in the land" in this case)
• Having trouble convincing someone to do something? Tell them "I'm gonna go pray about this. If God says we should do it, will you do it?" (This is likely a terrible idea and probably downright manipulative in most cases, though if the will of the Lord is honestly being sought by all parties involved, it could be beneficial).
• Follow the prophet (and other priesthood leaders in general, as they lead you to do God's will)