“And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.”
Again we are called “beloved brethren” despite having just reminded us of our unbelief, wickedness, ignorance and stiffneckedness. His motive is our welfare. He doesn’t care a whit about flattering us. He wants us saved.
Still you wonder if this can be true. Still you doubt and think it too much. Still you are left not knowing if the message comes from the Lord. But those doubts are because of your failure to pray. You just won’t listen to the Spirit which teaches everyone they must pray. “For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know ye must pray.”
Nephi knows this because he is a man of prayer. Nephi, as a man of prayer, is struck by the foolishness of deciding matters without prayer. To him it is amazingly obvious that prayer will rescue you from doubt. But Nephi knows why you won’t pray to know the truth of things.
You want an authority to tell you.
You want the truth to become popular so it is easy to find.
You want certifications, scholarly support and widespread recognition of the truth.
You want someone whose position you respect to tell you what is true. And until they do, you feel confident you don’t need to study it out and pray to know for yourself if it is true.
But Nephi catches you in the act and tells you this is because you are listening to “the evil spirit” which is the one who “teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.” So you are following the spirit. But it is an evil spirit you follow.
God’s Spirit will always teach you to pray and to ask Him about the truth. And if you ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, He will manifest the truth unto you. He can tell you the truth of all things if you will ask and permit the Holy Ghost to respond. (Moroni 10: 4-5.)
If the only way to find the truth is to search prayerfully for it before receiving a witness from the Holy Ghost that it is indeed true, what happens to you as a result? Do you gain a testimony of the process? Do you grow in light and truth by what you have experienced? Was this always meant to be direct between you and God? Is the method itself necessarily always to involve God?
Nephi is a prophet. And he’s working to make others like him. That’s the way it is, you see. Those who have something are eager to have others join them. They are not interested in praise or recognition. Instead they are interested in seeing other souls redeemed. Hence Nephi’s blunt message and plain words. They are merciful indeed.