3 And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.
When there is no temple for people in the scriptures to
worship at, they often go to the mountains to do it. The wording here would
indicate that going to the mount oft was something more than merely praying
oft. I’m sure that Nephi prayed many times a day for guidance, but going to
mount was something different. We don’t know what is meant by “oft,” whether
that was daily, weekly, or monthly, but it must have been special and important
for Nephi to take time away from his shipbuilding to do it. If we compare going
to the mount to attending the temple, Nephi is giving us a great model of
putting the Lord first in his life. He took time away from his “job,” a job in
fact given to him by the lord, to go to the “temple” oft. Consequently (the
meaning of “wherefore”) the Lord revealed to Nephi how he could better do his
job, among other things. Using that model, it’s possible that the Lord would
reveal to me ways to do my job better in the temple, or at least as a result of
my temple worship. This is true particularly for the jobs I do in the Lord’s
employ (callings in the Church).
