While I Am Near

¹“And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, I leave these sayings with you to ponder in your hearts, with this commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall call upon me while I am near— Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (D&C 88:62-63). At first glance, the Lord’s commandment for us to call upon Him while He is near seems a little counterintuitive. What about when God is not near? Can’t we still call on Him then? Wouldn’t we in fact need prayer more than ever when we are feeling far from God? But if we unfold the whole sequence, this commandment should give us a lot of hope. The Lord promises that as we draw near unto Him, He will draw near unto us. If we have wandered quite fare, our first few prayers may be while God is still a long way off and not near at all. But every time we pray, we draw closer to God, and He in turn draws closer to us. And more importantly, the richer are attempts to draw near God, the closer and closer we will get. If we move beyond a generic “call” but instead seek God diligently, ask, and knock, and constantly explore new ways of getting to know Him and draw close to Him, the nearer and nearer God will be to us. If at first we call on God when He is not so near, we must keep trying and keep praying and every day keep allowing God to get nearer and nearer to us.