Where we are
Chapter 31 told you how to get on the path — faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost. This chapter answers the question that comes next, the one Nephi can see his readers turning over: now that I'm on the way, what do I actually do? And his answer is short and practical. Three things hold a disciple up day to day: angels and the Spirit teaching you, the words of Christ to feast on, and prayer that never stops. It's the same three that meet the travelers on the road to Emmaus — a companion who turns out to be Christ, the scriptures opened, and the Lord made known in prayer over bread (Lk. 24).
It's only nine verses, but every one carries weight. The movements are simple: angels speaking by the Spirit (vv. 1–3), feasting on the words of Christ (vv. 4–6), and praying always or perishing (vv. 7–9).
Three lines do the most work: verse 3, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do; verse 5, the Holy Ghost... will show unto you all things what ye should do; and verse 9, ye must pray always, and not faint.
Angels and the Spirit (verses 1–3)
And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts? — 2 Nephi 32:1
Nephi reads the room. He knows his people are sitting there wondering what comes after baptism, and he says so before they ask. It's the same perceptiveness Jesus shows when he answers the thought a man hasn't spoken — why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? (Lk. 24:38). A good teacher hears the question under the silence.
Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost? — 2 Nephi 32:2
He picks up a promise he made a chapter back — the tongue of angels. And he points out the obvious source: you can only speak that way by the Holy Ghost. It's the Pentecost gift (Acts 2:4), the thing Paul means by speaking with the tongues of men and of angels (1 Cor. 13:1). The Spirit is what makes ordinary people speak heaven's language.
Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, 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
And here's the chain that runs the whole chapter, and it's worth following link by link. Angels speak by the Holy Ghost; the Holy Ghost speaks the words of Christ; so angels speak the words of Christ; so — feast upon the words of Christ. They'll tell you everything you need to know to do. That's a remarkable claim about scripture: not that it answers trivia, but that it's enough to guide a life. Paul says the same — scripture makes a person throughly furnished unto all good works (2 Tim. 3:16–17).
Feast on the words of Christ (verses 4–6)
Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark. — 2 Nephi 32:4
If you don't understand, Nephi says, it's usually not because the truth is hidden — it's because you didn't ask. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened (Matt. 7:7). This is the principle a teenage Joseph Smith would act on when he read James 1:5 and walked into a grove to ask (JS—H 1:11–14). The light is available; you have to knock for it.
For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do. — 2 Nephi 32:5
And here's the second source set right beside the first. Verse 3 said the words of Christ tell you all things; verse 5 says the Holy Ghost shows you all things. Scripture and personal revelation, working together — the Comforter... shall teach you all things (Jn. 14:26), the Spirit of truth that will guide you into all truth (Jn. 16:13). Between the written word and the living Spirit, the disciple is not left to guess.
Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. — 2 Nephi 32:6
Nephi closes the loop back to chapter 31 — this is the doctrine of Christ — and tells them this is what they have to live by until the Lord himself comes among them in the flesh. That appearance is still centuries off (3 Ne. 11), so the doctrine they've been given is meant to carry them the whole way there. It's enough for the long wait.
Pray always (verses 7–9)
And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be. — 2 Nephi 32:7
And then something poignant — the Spirit shuts Nephi's mouth. He has more to say and isn't allowed to say it, because the audience won't receive it, and it leaves him to mourn. It's the principle behind cast not your pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6): truth withheld where it would only be trampled. He names the four things that close people off — unbelief, wickedness, ignorance, and stiffneckedness — the same hardness that kept Jesus from doing mighty works in his own town (Mk. 6:5–6). The saddest part is the last line: they won't receive it even as plain as word can be. The plainness Nephi worked so hard for still isn't enough for a heart that won't open.
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. — 2 Nephi 32:8
And here's one of the most practical tests in all of scripture, almost startling in how usable it is. The impulse to pray comes from God. The impulse not to pray comes from the other side. The evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray. So the next time you don't feel like praying — too busy, too tired, too ashamed, what's the point — Nephi tells you exactly where that feeling is coming from. The Spirit even helps with the prayer itself when we don't know how (Rom. 8:26). The only wrong move is the one the evil spirit is pushing: don't.
But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. — 2 Nephi 32:9
And here's the capstone, and it asks for something bigger than a habit. Pray before you do anything — and pray in Christ's name that the Father will consecrate the doing. It's Paul's whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. 3:17), and whether therefore ye eat, or drink... do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). But watch the reason Nephi gives, because it's the surprising part: that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. Prayer over your work isn't mainly to make the work succeed. It's because what you do shapes who you become, and prayer is what turns an action into something that builds the soul instead of eroding it. Watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds (Mosiah 4:30). The deeds are making you, one at a time.
How the chapter is built
Three short panels: angels speaking by the Spirit (vv. 1–3), feasting on the words of Christ and the Spirit's guidance (vv. 4–6), and prayer before all things (vv. 7–9). The center is verse 9 — pray always, and let prayer consecrate everything you do.
And the chapter has a clear job. Nephi has finished prophesying, he's laid out the doctrine of Christ, and now he tells the rising generation how to actually live it after the baptism is over. It belongs to the same family as the practical end of the Sermon on the Mount or Paul's rapid-fire counsel at the close of his letters — a prophet turning from doctrine to the daily mechanics of keeping it.
How this sits in the literature of its time
Hidden providence
Three threads worth pulling on.
The first is the test buried in verse 3. Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. That's a tool you can use for the rest of your life: anything claiming to be from heaven can be measured against the words of Christ, and what doesn't match isn't from heaven. It's the same test the apostle John would later write down — try the spirits... every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God (1 Jn. 4:1–3). Nephi has the discernment rule six centuries before the apostle codifies it.
The second is verse 4 and how it shaped the Restoration's very start. If ye cannot understand... it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock. That is exactly the conviction the boy Joseph acted on when he read James 1:5 and decided to go ask God directly (JS—H 1:11–14). The First Vision was an answer to a question built out of this principle, and the Book of Mormon was carrying the principle the whole time.
The third is verse 9 and the quiet doctrine of consecrated living. Prayer before action doesn't change the task so much as it changes you — it lets the Father consecrate the doing so it works for the welfare of thy soul. That's the same logic as filling your mind with virtue so your whole self fills with light (D&C 88:67). A life prayed over, action by ordinary action, is a life being slowly built into something holy.
Where this lands
Three things to carry out of the chapter.
First, test your promptings against Christ. Verse 3 says the Spirit always speaks the words of Christ, so hold every impulse and felt-prompting up against what Christ actually taught in scripture. The ones that ring true to his words are his; the ones that don't, however urgent they feel, aren't. That which is of God is light (D&C 50:24), and it looks like him.
Second, feast — don't snack. Verse 3 says the words of Christ will tell you all you need; the verb is feast. So read the scriptures the way you'd eat a real meal, not skim them like a memo. Sit with a verse, chew it, let it down into the heart. Thy words were found, and I did eat them (Jer. 15:16). A feast is slow on purpose.
Third, pray first. Verse 9 says pray before you do anything, in Christ's name, and ask the Father to consecrate it. So put a breath of prayer in front of the task — the work, the conversation, the meal, the drive — and ask that it be made to count for your soul. Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you (D&C 19:38). The prayer is what turns the doing into something that builds you.