ANG AKLATAN - AHKMAN 4 - GOD HEARS EVERYONE'S PRAYERS

What we have here in Ahkman 4 is a second, more-detailed, first-person account of Ahkman's conversion to Suran's teachings (see Suran 4)--Suran teaches his family; Shurak doubts, thinking Ngameke was strange and delusional; Ahkman prays about it and receives an answer. Ahkman's actions and what he learns about God are of instructional importance to any seeker of truth.

Ahkman heads off on his own to "consider the meaning" of what Suran taught, chooses a sacred, solitary place in the forest where his father would go to worship the ancestral gods, and begins to pray to those gods for knowledge. And as he prays (note, not after), an angel descends from heaven and speaks in a loud voice, which frightens Ahkman into falling backward (the ubiquitous human reaction to divine messengers : ) The angel tells him to not be afraid (the ubiquitous angelic response...) but that through his faith he's proven himself. The angel also testifies of the truth of Suran's words and of his foreordination and role as prophet to and father of a righteous people (the same thing the voice taught Suran in Suran 2).

Ahkman confesses he worships the gods of his family and has never heard of a Lord (I wonder if they're using the word Jehovah, here, but not writing it down, following the Hebrew biblical tradition), but to his credit, asks who the Lord is that he might worship him. Fortunately for Ahkman, his question, "Who is the Lord that I might worship him?" is asked in faith and acceptance, like the man born blind in John 9, rather than in doubt or rejection, as with Cain (Moses 5) or King Noah (Mosiah 11).

Because he's asked in faith, the angel teaches Ahkman that there's only one God, the Eternal Father, the master and ruler of everything, and that Ahkman's ancestors had been misled to follow after false gods. But the idolatry of Ahkman's ancestors is not counted against him because he knew no better, worshipped with full purpose of heart, and his heart was open to receive new truth. This is key--though children may suffer consequences from their parents' actions, they are not punished for their parents' sins but for their own desires and actions.

Even though he prayed to false gods, the True and Living God heard Ahkman's prayer. God knew the intent of his heart, that he didn't know any better, and that if he did, he would've prayed to Him. Even though Ahkman didn't know everything, he stepped into the dark, prayed in faith, and was blessed for his righteousness by gaining greater knowledge directly from the Lord. From Ahkman's experience with prayer, we learn that the intent of our heart is more important than where (though he finds a sacred, solitary place) or how we pray (though he prays in faith). As we pray and worship with full purpose of heart and are true and faithful to the light and knowledge given us, the Lord will visit us according to our faith and openness, softness, and brokenness of heart. As we act in faith in this way, He will reveal greater truth and a better way to worship and draw nearer to Him. Step by step, line upon line, rung by rung, we progress up the ladder from our fallen world into His celestial presence.

The angel departs, and Ahkman is left alone to ponder on this experience and the things the angel spoke. After taking some time to recover, he realizes he now knows his father's words are true and leaves the grove of idol worship to return home. What a deep and profound analogy to apply to ourselves that last sentence is. As we come to a realization of God's truth, we leave behind our idolatry, and make our way home.