*”And it came to pass that he went in unto him, into the king’s palace, with his brethren, and bowed himself before the king, and said unto him, Behold, O king, we are the brethren of Ammon whom thou hast delivered out of prison. And now, O king, if thou wilt spare our lives, we will be thy servants. And the king said unto them, Arise, for I will grant unto you your lives, and I will not suffer that ye shall be my servants, but I will insist that ye shall administer unto me, for I have been somewhat troubled in mind because of the generosity and the greatness of the words of thy brother Ammon, and I desire to know the cause why he has not come up out of Middoni with thee. And Aaron said unto the king, Behold, the spirit of the Lord has called him another way; he has gone to the land of Ishmael to teach the people of Lamoni. Now the king said unto them, What is this that ye have said concerning the spirit of the Lord? Behold, this is the thing which doth trouble me. And also, what is this that Ammon said? — If ye will repent, ye shall be saved, and if ye will not repent, ye shall be cast off at the last day? And Aaron answered him, and said unto him, Believest thou that there is a God? And the king said, I know that the Amlicites say that there is a God, and I have granted unto them that they should build sanctuaries, that they may assemble themselves together to worship him. And if now thou sayest there is a God, behold, I will believe.”*
*”And now when Aaron heard this, his heart began to rejoice, and he said, Behold, assuredly as thou livest, O king, there is a God. And the king said, Is God that Great Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem? And Aaron said unto him, Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he created all things, both in Heaven and in earth. Believest thou this? And he said, Yea, I believe that the Great Spirit created all things, and I desire that ye should tell me concerning all these things, and I will believe thy words.”*
*”And it came to pass that when Aaron saw that the king would believe his words, he began, from the creation of Adam, reading the scriptures unto the king: how God created man after his own image, and that God gave him commandments, and that because of transgression, man had fallen. And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the creation of Adam, laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state, and also the plan of redemption which was prepared from the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name. And since man had fallen, he could not merit anything of himself. But the sufferings and death of Christ atoneth for their sins, through faith and repentance, etc., and that he breaketh the bands of death that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory. And Aaron did expound all these things unto the king. And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said, What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his spirit that I may be filled with joy? That I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom that I may receive this great joy. But Aaron said unto him, If thou desirest this thing, if thou will bow down before God — yea, if thou repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.”*
*”And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord upon his knees, yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying, O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God, and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me? And I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead.”*
*”And it came to pass that his servants ran and told the queen all that had happened unto the king, and she came in unto the king; and when she saw him lay as if he were dead, and also Aaron and his brethren standing as though they had been the cause of his fall, she was angry with them, and commanded that her servants, or the servants of the king, should take them and slay them. Now the servants had seen the cause of the king’s fall, therefore they durst not lay their hands on Aaron and his brethren. And they pled with the queen, saying, Why commandest thou that we should slay these men when, behold, one of them is mightier than us all? Therefore, we shall fall before them. Now when the queen saw the fear of the servants, she also began to fear exceedingly lest there should some evil come upon her. And she commanded her servants that they should go and call the people, that they might slay Aaron and his brethren.”*
*”Now when Aaron saw the determination of the queen, and he, also knowing the hardness of the hearts of the people, feared lest that a multitude should assemble themselves together and there should be a great contention and a disturbance among them, therefore he put forth his hand and raised the king from the earth, and said unto him, Stand. And he stood upon his feet, receiving his strength. Now this was done in the presence of the queen and many of his servants. And when they saw it, they greatly marveled and began to fear. And the king stood forth and began to minister unto them. And he did minister unto them insomuch that his whole household was converted unto the Lord. Now there was a multitude gathered together because of the commandment of the queen, and there began to be great murmurings among them because of Aaron and his brethren. But the king stood forth among them and administered unto them, and they were pacified towards Aaron and those who were with him.”* —
At some point, each on of us ought to ask the same question that this Lamanite king asked, namely, *“What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his spirit that I may be filled with joy?”*
The experience of this king is insightful because it illustrates what can happen when somebody sincerely desires these things and is willing to repent of anything and everything for it to happen.
While someone might do their best to mimic the exact words and actions of this king, what is required is not a precise reenactment of this exact situation. It’s not the this king’s prayer is some magic incantation that has this effect or that his body posture is the key to it all. It’s about having the same kind of heart that this king has and a openness to change how he views, basically everything. He had been broken down and was willing to change it all. He realized that he had been living his whole life under a view of things that could be completely wrong. He had a broken heart and a contrite spirit. It isn’t merely an admission of being wrong, but also recognizing what is right and submitting to it, even if it meant losing all of his previous life goals and ambitions.
The kind of experience this king had, is in the scriptures in the hopes of inspiring someone to be just like this king, that they might have the same kind of experience he had. God is no respecter of persons. He will accept the offering of a broken heart and contrite spirit from a wicked king. He will accept your offering as well.