Remember Him

“Remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them.” (Num. 15:39)

Sister Jensen was facing some difficult problems. She had prayed for help and for peace of mind, but the answers seemed slow in coming. One particularly frustrating day, she cried out in prayer, “O God, why hast thou turned away from me when I need thy help?”

“Then to my mind,” she recalls, “came the still, small voice. It seemed to say, ‘When have I forsaken you? Was I not there when you received your testimony of the Book of Mormon, when you made your decision to marry, and when your newborn son was critically ill?’ Suddenly I remembered the many, many times in my life when I had received the Lord’s help and when I had felt of his great love for me. It was I who had not remembered him.”

Remember Him Always

The scriptures contain many examples of the importance of remembering. Nephi admonished his brothers Laman and Lemuel to “give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all things.” (1 Ne. 15:25.) When they opposed Nephi’s building a ship, he recounted the Lord’s blessings to them and told them that they were “swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God.” (1 Ne. 17:45.) Are we ever “slow to remember the Lord”? Or do we remember him only in times of trouble?

Sometimes we become so busy with our daily activities that we don’t always remember the Lord. How can we “always remember him”? We can think of him often and of what he would have us do. We can pray, read the scriptures, and keep the commandments. We can remember our blessings and thank our Father in Heaven for his goodness to us.

Remember Past Blessings

In times of trial, we may have difficulty remembering our blessings. But when we feel as if God has forgotten us, we can do as Alma the Younger did—remember previous blessings he and others had received from the Lord. And Alma’s list of blessings was long:

“I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.

“And I know that he will raise me up at the last day … for he has brought our fathers out of Egypt, and he has swallowed up the Egyptians in the Red Sea; and he led them by his power into the promised land. …

“Yea, and he has also brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem; and he has also, by his everlasting power, delivered them out of bondage and captivity, from time to time even down to the present day; and I have always retained in remembrance their captivity; yea, and ye also ought to retain [it] in remembrance, as I have done.” (Alma 36:27–29.)

If we rehearse how the Lord has blessed us and others, we can then take heart that he will continue to bless us as we pray to him and seek his guidance. Today, with so many forces of evil surrounding us, we need more than ever to remember the Savior and keep his commandments. As Helaman said, “Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation.” (Hel. 5:12.) With Christ as our “foundation,” there is no challenge we cannot meet, no trial we cannot bear.

Suggestions for Visiting Teachers

You or the sister you visit may wish to share how remembering the Lord and his goodness helped you at a particular time in your life.
Discuss ways we can remember the Savior in our everyday lives, and encourage the sister you visit to do so in ways that are meaningful for her.

(See Family Home Evening Resource Book, pp. 7–11, 17–19, 23–30, 36–63, 73, 109–15, 127–29 for related materials.)

Illustrated by Brent Christison