What Does One 'Do' to Receive Mercy and Always Rejoice?

I have heard much of my life that we have to do, do, do.

What I ‘did’ to receive ‘always rejoicing’ and ‘the love of God’ was a specific thing spelled out in the scriptures.  Read Mosiah 4 and 1 Nephi 8 and see if you can find what Lehi and the people of King Benjamin did to receive joy and love from God.  King Laman and King Lamoni did the same thing and received the same thing.  Moroni 10:3 exhorts the reader to do something about something.  Read verse three and tell me what those two somethings are?

So, there is always something to be done our part.  Unless, God exercises His agency and decides to give something to someone who didn’t look like he deserved it (from our limited knowledge and judgment).  An example might be the Israelite at the pagan pool in John 5.  He was at a pagan pool for crying out loud! And, the Lord told him walk and take his bed with him.  He didn’t even know Jesus.  He was trying to get into the pool when the water 'troubled'.   He had decided to resort to trying anything he could to resolve his problem (being infirm and unable to walk for thirty seven (of our) years).  He was a natural man.  He had never came unto Christ.  Why did Jesus to it?  Maybe it was to show the Jews (and us) that He is God and can do whatever He pleases.  Maybe it was to inspire countless people including myself that God has done things for me without any 'doing' on my part.  I had a dream back in 1997 where the person in the dream told me, “I am only trying to get your attention, read John 5:3”.  I did so the next morning.  I interpreted the dream all wrong.  Looking back a year or two later, I realized that God was making miracles happen in my life, that I wasn't alone and that I didn’t need to keep on trying to jump into some metaphorical pool to solve my problems.  That jumping is 'doing' but the incorrect ‘doing’.  Two years ago I came to the realization that I was the crippled unbelieving Israelite that God decided, on His own volition, to snatch me out of a bad situation (multiple times).  He did it even when I was in a state of unbelief.  The second time He did it, I was trying to believe.  The third time He did it, I was believing  but still unworthy of His healing.  What a wonderful, amazing God!  I love Him so much!  I am so grateful that He cares for me.

I am happy and at peace. Did I ask and receive? I did but I did more than that.  See the first paragraph.  Ponder and pray about what everyone in the Book of Mormon did to receive Mercy.

Here's a common response to Moroni 10:3:

1. read the Book of Mormon
2. remember that God has been and is merciful.
3. ponder it in our hearts, so that the Holy Ghost has an opportunity to testify to us it is all true.

I believe there's something more Moroni is trying to get across:

4. Ponder it in my heart: this means to me to ask myself if Christ can be merciful to me as he has been to everyone from Adam to the present time.  This is more than knowing by the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true or that Christ can be merciful to me.  This pondering, to me, means to actually realize that the individual message of the Book of Mormon is that Christ will be merciful to me as he has been merciful to all that have come unto Him in the past.  So, the DOING is to pray for mercy as Lehi did in 1 Nephi 8 and as the people of king Benjamin did in Mosiah 4.  Deep humility has to be attached to this contrite and sincere prayer.  And, if anyone does this, with all sincerity and contriteness, he will receive mercy and know it.  And, all this is done by God through the Holy Ghost.  I believe that receiving mercy is the same as receiving a remission of one’s sins or being baptized by fire.

Of course, all this takes as much time as it takes, for you (me) to demonstrate to God a broken heart and contrite spirit and for God to say “it is a enough”.