Praying in Faith - Mosiah 27:14

The angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.

Alma prayed with faith that his son would be brought to the knowledge of the truth. Notice that Alma did not pray that his son would stop rebelling, or change his ways, or anything like that. Because God will not try to force our hand; that type of thing would override our agency to choose. However, the prayers were for him to know the truth, and so the angel came to teach him the truth, nothing more, nothing less. After receiving the truth, it was up to him (as it is for us) to act (exercise faith) according to that knowledge. Angels never come to use force (except possibly to protect), they usually come to deliver a message, teach, or relay knowledge or truth.

Seeing angels or miracles, etc, never produces faith, although it may confirm our extant faith. It remains up to us to exercise faith in the knowledge received from the messenger. Remember that Laman and Lemuel saw an angel, who came to protect Nephi and Sam, and to relay a message of instruction. And yet they still rebelled. Apparently, seeing an angel did not change their level of faith. Faith is a gift to those who seek it, and unless we consciously choose it, it cannot be obtained even in the face of miracles and the visitation of angels.

Another principle here that was already alluded to is that prayers in faith always conform to His will. Alma, praying in faith, could not pray for something against the nature and will of God. While we are welcome to pray for anything we wish, it is impossible to pray in faith if our desire does not conform to His will. Mormon admits that some of his prayers for his depraved brethren were not in faith, but the greatness of his heart would not allow him to stand idly by and watch them corrupt and destroy themselves without attempting to ask God to intervene (Mormon 3:12).

As I have mentioned in another post, prayers of faith require us to obtain the will of God in our process of seeking a blessing. Having obtained a promise, it is then possible for us to pray in faith. I believe this was the process that Alma followed when praying for the intervention for his son.