Incremental Progress

We have been instructed in the scriptures and through our prophets that we need to perfect ourselves, just as the Savior and our Father are perfect. In 3 Nephi 12:48, we read:

Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

I have been thinking and reading about the concepts of perfection and progress, both mortally and eternally, for a long time. The idea that we cannot achieve perfection in one fell swoop, that we must, by divine pronouncement, move in small ways toward the eternal goals that we have in our hearts and minds is most comforting, because as president Howard W. Hunter says, “Perfection is something yet ahead for every one of us.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie quotes president (then Elder) Joseph Fielding Smith in his book, Doctrines of Salvation,

Salvation does not come all at once; we are commanded to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. It will take us ages to accomplish this end, for there will be greater progress beyond the grave, and it will be there that the faithful will overcome all things, and receive all things, even the fulness of the Father’s glory.

“I believe the Lord meant just what he said: that we should be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. That will not come all at once, but line upon line, and precept upon precept, example upon example, and even then not as long as we live in this mortal life, for we will have to go even beyond the grave before we reach that perfection and shall be like God.

Again, the scriptures lead us. In Doctrine and Covenants 98:11, we read:

For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith.

The thought that the Lord will try us and prove us as we work toward perfection – “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little” – is both challenging and encouraging. Perhaps more knowledge means different kinds of trials – perhaps greater knowledge requires us to prove our commitment to the light we have received – perhaps we need to turn knowledge into action, and the Lord tries us to encourage us to do so. As long as we study, work at repentance, and work at continual progress, we are “in the straight and narrow path”, as Elder [later president] Heber J. Grant, said in April 1909 General Conference:

I do not believe that any man lives up to his ideals, but if we are striving, if we are working, if we are trying, to the best of our ability, to improve day by day, then we are in the line of our duty. If we are seeking to remedy our own defects, if we are so living that we can ask God for light, for knowledge, for intelligence, and above all, for His Spirit, that we may overcome our weaknesses, then, I can tell you, we are in the straight and narrow path that leads to life eternal. Then we need have no fear.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell was the catalyst for my deeper examination of this doctrine. Perhaps that is the reason I have used this quote at least half-a-dozen times in various letters I have written. I read this from his book, Men and Women of Christ,

Paced progress not only is acceptable to the Lord but also is recommended by Him. Divine declarations say: "Ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now" (D&C 50:40); "I will lead you along" (D&C 78:18). Just as divine disclosure usually occurs line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, so likewise we will achieve our spiritual progress gradually (see D&C 128:21; 98:12).

But before I read that little gem, I read this from Elder Boyd K Packer, (which have also used before) as quoted from his book, Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled:

When you come to the temple and receive your endowment, and kneel at the altar and be sealed, you can live an ordinary life and be an ordinary soul -- struggling against temptation, failing and repenting, and failing again and repenting, but always determined to keep your covenants. ... Then the day will come when you will receive the benediction: "Well done thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things, Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord." (Matthew 25:21

So it is acceptable to the Lord that we progress along the path to eternal life in small steps. Hand in hand with the concept of incremental progress and incremental knowledge goes the concept of how prayers are often answered. Elder Maxwell and many others have taught that prayers are often answered incrementally. Elder Bednar, in a BYU Idaho Devotional on September 11, 2001, (what a devotional that must have been) titled Line Upon Line, Precept upon Precept, suggested that we often expect answers based on a faulty assumption about how answers come:

Let me suggest that many of us typically assume we will receive an answer or a prompting to our earnest prayers and pleadings. And we also frequently expect that such an answer or a prompting will come immediately and all at once. Thus, we tend to believe the Lord will give us a big answer quickly and all at one time. However, the pattern repeatedly described in the scriptures suggests we receive ". . . line upon line, precept upon precept . . . ," or in other words, many small answers over a period of time. Recognizing and understanding this pattern is an important key to obtaining inspiration and help from the Holy Ghost.

Often, we fail to recognize the pattern. The Lord – through the Holy Spirit – gives as much knowledge, as much doctrine, as much assistance, as much help, as much of His grace, as we can tolerate in our current state of progress. When we pray, we, as Elder Bednar said, often expect miracles when the Lord wants to prepare us for answers by increasing our spirituality and our testimony in increments.

Furthermore, although He wants to answer our prayers fully, such an answer might not be possible because of circumstances. The Lord cannot inhibit agency, either for us or for others. He will “call, persuade, and direct aright… but never force the human mind.” (William C. Gregg) When we pray for a spiritual awakening for another person, or for enlightenment for ourselves or others, or for any righteous outcome, our wish is for the lord to answer our prayer with a bolt of lightning, but usually, he will not do so. He cannot violate another person’s agency, but He does “call, persuade, and direct” toward a good choice. We may not recognize such “nudges” from the Lord, but remember that small things are great unto the Lord. Alma tells us in Alma 37:6:

…behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

The Lord’s timetable for answer to prayer may be based on a different scale than ours. We, in our mortal impatience, often want an answer to prayer now. The Lord, however, has many other factors to consider. Only on very rare occasions, when many souls might hang on the outcome, has the Lord intervened – the sons of Alma come to mind – to impose an outcome. No doubt Alma prayed fervently and constantly for the welfare of his sons. And even then, his sons had a choice. Only when the Lord was ready, and perhaps when Alma’s sons were finally ready (whether they knew it or not) was Alma’s anguished prayer answered.

A great example of how the Lord answers prayers incrementally can be found in Alma 8-10. Alma is seeking to convert the city of Ammonihah and has met with scorn from the populace. Verse 10 describes his “mighty prayers” (Alma 8:10) on behalf of the people of Ammonihah:

Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance.

The Lord did not seem to respond immediately to Alma’s pleas. In fact, it seems that the opposite of what Alma asked the Lord to do actually occurred. The Lord would not violate the agency of the people of Ammonihah by forcing them to accept the gospel as Alma preached it to them. Rather, he allowed them to choose the path they would follow. By the time Alma had completed his preaching to the people of the city, I counted 13 incremental answers to his prayers. Even so, only a minority of the people of Ammonihah were converted, because – again – the Lord would not violate their agency, even to save them eternally. That was the adversary’s plan.

Have patience. Begin to notice the little things – nudges – that the Lord is doing to effect an answer to your prayers. Notice the increments. Notice the sweet tastes and touches of the spirit that the Lord offers. Notice even roadblocks that may persuade another course. Notice the challenges and trials that refine us and prepare us for further progress. Notice the love we feel when we know that the Lord is answering prayer, but on His timetable, not ours. Doctrine and Covenants 64:33-34 tells us that all things must come to pass on the Lord’s timetable:

But all things must come to pass in their time. Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. (Bold and Italics added)