Alma 22:16 - 22:20

Alma 22:16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

Aaron tells the king that if he really desires to know God and have his sins removed from him, he has to bow down before Him and ask Him in faith, actually believing that God can do these things, and if he does, it will happen. The king couldreceive the joy and hope of better things by this method.

Alma 22:17 And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

The king wastes no time and not only bow himself down but actually prostrated himself on the floor and said:

Alma 22:18 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead.

The king now asks for a witness or confirmation of what Aaron had told him. The king wanted God, if he existed, to make Himself known to the king. If God would do so, he would stop committing sin immediately so he could one day be raised from the dead and be saved. When king uttered this prayer, he was immediately struck unconscious.

How dedicated are we to the gospel? Are we willing to give up our "favorite" sins to know God and get eternal life. This is sure a measurement of my committment.

Alma 22:19 And it came to pass that his servants ran and told the queen all that had happened unto the king. And she came in unto the king; and when she saw him lay as if he were dead, and also Aaron and his brethren standing as though they had been the cause of his fall, she was angry with them, and commanded that her servants, or the servants of the king, should take them and slay them.

The king’s servants immediately reported to the queen what had just happened to the king. When she entered the room, she saw Aaron and his companions standing over the unconscious king. To her, it appeared that they were the cause of her husband’s condition. She then commanded the servants to take and kill Aaron and his companions.

Alma 22:20 Now the servants had seen the cause of the king’s fall, therefore they durst not lay their hands on Aaron and his brethren; and they pled with the queen saying: Why commandest thou that we should slay these men, when behold one of them is mightier than us all? Therefore we shall fall before them.

The servants didn’t want anything to do with Aaron and his companions, saying that Aaron and any of his companions could overpower any number of people who would try to take them down. They were afraid they would be killed if they tried.