Spiritual Sustenance

Imagine you have been working on an important project for work, or a big paper for school, or a massive cleaning endeavor at home. You are working effectively, and managing your time wisely. You continue for a few hours and start to feel a whisper of hunger. Remembering how important the project, or paper, or cleanliness is you keep working. Another hour goes by and that whisper of hunger has turned into a yell. You don't want to interrupt your flow of work even though you can feel your concentration starting to wane. Another hour goes by. Instead of yelling your stomach is now screaming at the top of its lungs: "FEED ME!" You are no longer as productive as you once were, and you realize things won't improve unless you do as your stomach directs. What do you do?

Our souls are made up of our spirit and our body. As much as our physical body needs sustenance our spirit needs spiritual sustenance to keep it healthy, strong, and productive. Elder D. Todd Christofferson explained the need for spiritual sustenance in this way:

"We all recognize the need for physical sustenance. Hunger and thirst remind us very strongly if we forget. But the spiritual need for sustenance is equally strong. It comes not in drinking water and eating food, but in our constant daily efforts of communion with God." (Daily Bread: Pattern)

There are many ways in which we can commune with God. I will highlight a few that Christ himself has commanded us to partake of.

Supplication
As Amulek taught a group of humbled Zoramites, who themselves had been searching for communion with God (Alma 32: 2-3, 5), he outlined how to receive the greatest spiritual sustenance from supplication.

"Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save. Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him. Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea over all your flocks. Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening. Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies. Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you." (Alma 34:18-27).


Service
Amulek continued his sermon, and gave us valuable council in regards to how and why we should serve:

"And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need--I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith." (Alma 34:28).

Before discussing this verse in detail I would like to present another idea given to Joseph Smith through revelation:

"God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institue laws whereby the rest could have a privelege to advance like himself." (Joseph Smith, King Follet Discourse, 1844)

We must understand that God has implemented laws that are for our benefit in this life, and salvation in the life to come. As we return our thoughts to the aforementioned scripture we should conclude that Amulek is stating a divine law. James testified of the same law using different words as he wrote: "faith without works is dead." (James 2:18). A supplication is an act of faith, and that faith is dead unless sustained by service. A person will die physically if not fed and and quenched, and a person will die spiritually if service and supplication are absent.


Scripture Study
Another source of spiritual sustenance comes from a study of the scriptures. One of the ancient prophets who understands a need to feast on the scriptures is Nephi. We have a first-hand account of the sacrifices he made to obtain the holy word. Travelling hundreds of miles in a dangerous desert he went with his reluctant brothers to retrieve a precious record. He encountered obstacle after obstacle, but he let his faith carry him as he said:

"it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers; And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, even down unto the present tim."

Nephi risked his life for the word of God because he knew his family needed the sustaining power it would bring as they continued through their mortal journey. Nephi also "labored diligently" (2 Nephi 25:23) to write his testimony of the importance of studying the scriptures: "Wherefore...feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:3).

Sacrament
The sacrament is truly a unique form of spiritual sustenance. It is unique in that it literally is food for the body by being bread and water, but more than that it is food for the soul. At times, because of the physical emblems that represent the spiritual sustenance, we are not as diligent in experiencing the sacrament as it really should be. Also, the sacrament differs from the other forms of sustenance because we partake of it once per week instead of daily. Thus, the sacrament provides a necessary renewing, and revitalizing power instead of a sustaining power.

Just as we renew our energy by partaking of food, we renew our spiritual "energy" as we partake of the sacrament. Elder Dallin H Oaks said: "Out of the seemingly small act of consciously and reverently renewing our baptismal covenants comes a renewal of the blessings of baptism by water and by the Spirit, that we may always have his Spirit to be with us." ("Always Have His Spirit", October 1996 General Conference). For us to renew our spiritual energy we must partake of the sacrament, and by so doing we will feel as the Nephites after the Savior administered the sacrament to them: "And it came to pass that they did so, and did drink of it and were filled; and they gave unto the multitude, and they did drink, and they were filled." (3 Nephi 18:9).

Our spiritual selves need nourishment to remain healthy and strong. Elder D Todd Christofferson said:

"We ought not to think that we can go weeks and months without spiritual sustenance and not suffer and not have a deadening influence in our spiritual life. Acknowleding the reality of our need for a daily spiritual administration, or manna, helps us increase in our courage to do the right thing and to serve others more than we would have if we ignored God." (Daily Bread: Pattern)

To answer the question I posed at the beginning regarding what do we do when we are hungry and busy. There are two apparant options. First, continue to ignore the feelings of hunger until the body has become completely debilitated or even die, or feed the body the nutrients it needs to keep being productive. Our spirits will also cry out in hunger for spiritual sustenance. If we ignore this our spirit's need for food then it too will die, and we will be incomplete, and unhappy. Let us not disregard the need for spiritual sustenance. Let us fill our souls through regular service, daily scripture study and weekly participation of the sacrament.