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We are commanded to draw near to Heavenly Father in prayer.
It is a commandment from the
Lord that we seek him constantly in humble prayer. When the Savior was with his
disciples he taught them to pray and he set the example before them in frequent
prayers to his Father. We may be sure, since it is a commandment from the Lord,
that there is virtue in prayer, and when we seek the Lord it should be in the
spirit of humility and reverence. …
… It is the duty of
parents to teach their children to pray as soon as they commence to understand.
Let them form the habit of approaching their Father in heaven, and with the
understanding of the reason for prayer. If this habit is formed in childhood,
it may remain through mature years, and the man or woman who has earnestly
sought the Lord and thanked him for blessings, may expect that the Lord will
not forsake them in the hour of need.6
“It is the duty of parents to
teach their children to pray as soon as they commence to understand.”
I wonder if we ever stop to
think why the Lord has asked us to pray. Did he ask us to pray because he wants
us to bow down and worship him? Is that the main reason? I don’t think it is.
He is our Heavenly Father, and we have been commanded to worship him and pray
to him in the name of his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. But the
Lord can get along without our prayers. His work will go on just the same,
whether we pray or whether we do not. … Prayer is something that we need, not that the Lord needs. He knows just how to
conduct his affairs and how to take care of them without any help from us. Our
prayers are not for the purpose of telling him how to run his business. If we
have any such idea as that, then of course we have the wrong idea. Our prayers
are uttered more for our sakes, to build us up and give us strength and
courage, and to increase our faith in him.
Prayer is something that
humbles the soul. It broadens our comprehension; it quickens the mind. It draws
us nearer to our Father in heaven. We need his help; there is no question about
that. We need the guidance of his Holy Spirit. We need to know what principles
have been given to us by which we may come back into his presence. We need to
have our minds quickened by the inspiration that comes from him; and for these
reasons we pray to him, that he may help us to live so that we will know his
truth and be able to walk in its light, that we may, through our faithfulness
and our obedience, come back again into his presence.7
Few things in life are as
important as communing with Deity in prayer. The Lord has drawn over our minds
a curtain of forgetfulness so that we do not remember him and our association
with him as members of his family in the premortal life. Prayer is the avenue
of communication which he has provided for us to commune with him again. Thus,
one of the chief purposes of our mortal probation is to see if we can learn
with the spirit of prayer always in our hearts so that when the Lord chooses to
speak, we shall hear his voice in our souls.8
2
The season for prayer is always.
“And a commandment I give
unto them (that is, unto the parents in Zion), that he that observeth not his
prayers before the Lord in the season thereof, let him be had in remembrance
before the judge of my people.” [D&C
68:33.]
I do not suppose that we have
read that verse in this section any too much, and I wonder sometimes if we
realize how important this command really is. No man can retain the Spirit of
the Lord, unless he prays. No man can have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
unless in his heart is found this spirit of prayer. …
Now I want to dwell upon this
passage for a moment or two. … What is the season of prayer?
Some of us may have the idea
that the season of prayer is when we arise in the morning, and when we are
about to retire at night when our work is done, and that there is no other
season for prayer. But I say unto you, and I have good backing for it, that the
season for prayer is always. Let me read it to you. You know I like to prove
what I say; I like to bring witnesses to bear on that which I express, and I do
not ask the people to accept that which I say unless it is in harmony,
absolutely, with what the Lord has said either directly or through his
prophets. We read in the Book
of Mormon the word of [Amulek] to the poor Zoramites who had departed from
the truth, and having been cast out of their synagogues, because they were
poor, and feeling that they could only pray one at a time as they ascended in
the rameumptom, as it is called [see Alma
31:12–23], they knew not what to do. [Amulek] taught them as follows:
“Yea, cry unto him for mercy,
for he is mighty to save; yea, humble yourselves and continue in prayer unto
him; cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks; cry
unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day,
and evening; yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies; yea, cry unto
him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over
the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them; cry over the flocks of
your fields, that they may increase. But this is not all; ye must pour out your
souls in your closets and your secret places and in your wilderness; yea, and
when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer
unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who
are around you. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not
suppose this is all, for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away
the needy and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of
your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need; I say unto you, if ye
do not anything of these things, behold, your prayer is vain and availeth you
nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who deny the faith.” [Alma
34:18–28.]
I think that is very
excellent doctrine, and I read it to impress upon your minds the season of
prayer. The season of prayer is in the morning before the family separates. A
good time for prayer is when you assemble at the table before you partake of
the morning meal, and let the members of the family take turn in the praying.
That is the season of prayer. The season of prayer for the merchant is in the
morning when he goes to his place of business and before he begins his day’s
work, over his merchandise. The time of prayer for the shepherd, is when he is
out with his flocks watching over them. The time for the farmer to pray is when
he goes with his plow into the field, when he goes to sow his grain, and when
he goes to gather his harvest. And if a man will pray as he is commanded to do
in this passage of scripture which I have read, then he more than likely will
be found in all things righteously keeping the commandments of the Lord.9
Amulek, pictured here with
Alma, encouraged the people to “cry unto [the Lord] for mercy, for he is mighty
to save” (Alma
34:18).
3
All we do should be in harmony with the expressions of our
prayers.
We should not pray merely
with our lips; but in every act, in our conversation, in all that we undertake
to do, we should try to carry out the expressions of our prayers, and be in
harmony with the thoughts that we declare to the Lord in our daily supplications.10
Are we in possession of the
spirit of prayer? Have we made it a part of our very being? Are we in touch
with our heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit, or are we not?11
4
In our prayers we should pour out our souls in thanksgiving.
How careful we should be to
cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude. I
believe that one of the greatest sins of which the inhabitants of the earth are
guilty today is the sin of ingratitude, the want [or lack] of acknowledgment,
on their part, of the Lord and his right to govern and control.12
In our prayers we should pour
out our souls in thanksgiving for life and being, for the redeeming sacrifice
of the Son of God, for the gospel of salvation, for Joseph Smith and the
mighty work of restoration brought to pass through him. We should acknowledge
the hand of the Lord in all things and thank him for all things both temporal
and spiritual.13
5
We should plead with Heavenly Father for all our righteous
desires.
We should plead with
[Heavenly Father] for faith and integrity and for every godly attribute, for
the triumph and success of his work, for the guidance of his Holy Spirit, and
for salvation in his kingdom. We should pray for our families, for our wives
and children, for food and shelter and clothing, for our business concerns, and
for all our righteous desires.14
I pray that the blessings of
heaven may be and abide with us and all men.
O that the heavens might pour
down righteousness and truth upon all the world!
O that all men everywhere
might have a listening ear, and that they might heed the words of truth and
light which come from the Lord’s servants!
O that the Lord’s purposes
among all people in every nation might speedily be fulfilled!
I pray for the members of the
Church, who are the saints of the Most High, that they may be strengthened in
their faith, and that desires for righteousness may increase in their hearts,
and that they may work out their salvation with fear and trembling before the
Lord [see Philippians
2:12; Mormon
9:27].
I pray for the good and the
upright among all people, that they may be led to seek truth, to sustain every
true principle, and to further the cause of freedom and justice.
In these troublesome and
difficult times, I pray that all men may be guided by that light which lighteth
every man who cometh into the world [see John 1:9; D&C
93:2], and that they may gain thereby the wisdom to solve the problems
which beset mankind.
I beseech a gracious Father
to pour out his blessings upon all men, upon the young and old, upon those who
have cause to mourn, upon the hungry and needy, upon those who are entrapped in
unfortunate circumstances and unwholesome environments, and upon all who need
aid, and help, and succor, and wisdom, and all those good and great things that
only he can give.
Along with all of you, I have
love and concern and compassion for our Father’s children in all the earth, and
pray that their conditions may be bettered both temporally and spiritually; I
pray that they may come unto Christ, and learn of him, and take his yoke upon
them, that they may find rest to their souls, for his yoke is easy and his
burden is light [see Matthew
11:29–30].
I pray that the Latter-day
Saints and all who will join with them in keeping the commandments of the
Father of us all may so live as to gain peace in this life and eternal life in
the world to come [see D&C
59:23]—all of which I ask in humility and in thanksgiving, and in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.15
Suggestions for Study and Teaching
Questions
- “From
the Life of Joseph Fielding Smith” contains four examples of prayers
offered by President Smith. What can we learn from each of these examples?
- Reflect
upon your personal approach to prayer. What can we do so that our prayers
will help us draw “nearer to our Father in heaven”? (See section 1.)
- President
Smith taught, “The season for prayer is always” (section 2). In what ways
can we follow the counsel to pray always?
- What
does it mean to you to “carry out the expressions of our prayers”? (See
section 3.) Think about what you can do to improve in this area.
- How
does our attitude change when we “pour out our souls in thanksgiving” to
our Heavenly Father? (See section 4.)
- As
you study President Smith’s prayer in section 5, consider your own
prayers. Silently ponder this question: What people and matters should you
include more often in your prayers?
Related Scriptures
Matthew 7:7–8;
Philippians
4:6; 1 Thessalonians
5:17–18; James
1:5–6; 2 Nephi
32:8–9; Alma
34:38–39; 3 Nephi
18:18–21; D&C
10:5
Teaching Help
“To encourage discussion, use
the questions at the end of each chapter. You may also develop your own
questions especially for those you are teaching” (from page vi in this
book).
“Continue in Prayer”
cji
10/27/14
Never ceasing in
righteous prayer
continue day and
night worthily
drawing nearer to our
Father
seeking knowledge and
light
inquiring for what we
ought know
reading, pondering
Scriptures
seeking first the
Kingdom of God
understanding then
the eternal
with our selves
privately each
with our families and
loved ones
understanding what’s
important
within the guidance
there for us
if we are worthy and
obedient
in righteousness
never ceasing!
Copyright © 2014 – cji
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