Prayer
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Of the Seventy (3)
Elder Francis M. Gibbons
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The words we use in speaking to someone can identify the nature of our relationship to that person. They can also remind speaker and listener of the responsibilities they owe one another in that relationship. The form of address can also serve as a mark of respect or affection. So it is with the language of prayer. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches its members to use special language in addressing prayers to our Father in Heaven. ... The special language of prayer follows different forms in different languages, but the principle is always the same. We should address prayers to our Heavenly Father in words which speakers of that language associate with love and respect and reverence and closeness. The application of this principle will, of course, vary according to the nature of a particular language, including the forms that were used when the scriptures were translated into that language. Some languages have intimate or familiar pronouns and verbs used only in addressing family and very close friends. Other languages have honorific forms of address that signify great respect, such as words used only when speaking to a king or other person of high rank. Both of these kinds of special words are appropriately used in offering prayers in other languages because they communicate the desired feelings of love, respect, reverence, or closeness. Modern English has no special verbs or pronouns that are intimate, familiar, or honorific. When we address prayers to our Heavenly Father in English, our only available alternatives are the common words of speech like you and your or the dignified but uncommon words like thee, thou, and thy, which were used in the King James Version of the Bible almost five hundred years ago. Latter-day Saints, of course, prefer the latter. In our prayers we use language that is dignified and different, even archaic. The men whom we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators have consistently taught and urged English-speaking members of our Church to phrase their petitions to the Almighty in the special language of prayer. President Spencer W. Kimball said, “In all our prayers, it is well to use the pronouns thee, thou, thy, and thine instead of you, your, and yours inasmuch as they have come to indicate respect” (Faith Precedes the Miracle [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1972], p. 201). Numerous other Church leaders have given the same counsel (see Stephen L Richards, in Conference Report, Oct. 1951, p. 175; Bruce R. McConkie, “Why the Lord Ordained Prayer,” Ensign, Jan. 1976, p. 12; and L. Tom Perry, in Conference Report, Oct. 1983, pp. 14–15; or Ensign, Nov. 1983, p. 13). Perhaps some who are listening to this sermon in English are already saying, “But this is unfamiliar and difficult. Why should we have to use words that have not been in common use in the English language for hundreds of years? If we require a special language of prayer in English, we will discourage the saying of prayers by little children, by new members, and by others who are just learning to pray.” Brothers and sisters, the special language of prayer is much more than an artifact of the translation of the scriptures into English. Its use serves an important, current purpose. We know this because of modern revelations and because of the teachings and examples of modern prophets. The way we pray is important. The English words thee, thou, thy, and thine occur throughout the prayers the prophets of the Lord have revealed for use in our day. ... Literary excellence is not our desire. We do not advocate flowery and wordy prayers. We do not wish to be among those who “pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdom” (Alma 38:13). We wish to follow the Savior’s teaching, “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matt. 6:7; see also 3 Ne. 13:7). Our prayers should be simple, direct, and sincere. We should also remember that our position on special prayer language in English is based on modern revelations and the teachings and examples of modern prophets. It is not part of the teachings known and accepted by our brothers and sisters of other Christian and Jewish faiths. When leaders or members of other churches or synagogues phrase their prayers in the familiar forms of you or your, this does not signify a lack of reverence or respect in their belief and practice but only a preference for the more modern language. Significantly, this modern language is frequently the language used in the scriptural translations with which they are most familiar.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
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of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Brothers and sisters, I testify that God hears every prayer we offer and responds to each of them according to the path He has outlined for our perfection. I recognize that at roughly the same time so many were praying for the restoration of my health, an equal number—including me—were praying for the restoration of my wife’s health. I testify that both of those prayers were heard and answered by a divinely compassionate Heavenly Father, even if the prayers for Pat were not answered the way I asked. It is for reasons known only to God why prayers are answered differently than we hope—but I promise you they are heard and they are answered according to His unfailing love and cosmic timetable. If we “ask not amiss,” there are no limits to when, where, or about what we should pray. According to the revelations, we are to “pray always.” We are to pray, Amulek said, for “those who are around you,” with the belief that the “fervent prayer of a righteous [people] availeth much.” Our prayers ought to be vocal when we have the privacy to so offer them. If that is not practical, they should be carried as silent utterances in our heart. We sing that prayers are “motion[s] of a hidden fire,” always to be offered, according to the Savior Himself, to God the Eternal Father in the name of His Only Begotten Son. My beloved friends, our prayers are our sweetest hour, our most “sincere desire,” our simplest, purest form of worship. We should pray individually, in our families, and in congregations of all sizes. We are to employ prayer as a shield against temptation, and if there be any time we feel not to pray, we can be sure that hesitancy does not come from God, who yearns to communicate with His children at any and all times. Indeed, some efforts to keep us from praying come directly from the adversary. When we don’t know how or exactly for what to pray, we should begin, and continue, until the Holy Spirit guides us into the prayer we should be offering. This approach may be the one we have to invoke when praying for our enemies and those who despitefully use us.
President Jeffrey R. Holland
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Well, this has been the most difficult year of my life, obviously — lose my wife, lose my health, be written off for dead. That is a tender, tender subject for me. When my little family just refused to let me go, came to the hospital every day for four weeks and nothing was working. I was kept alive by faith. I was kept alive by blessings, by prayer. And that is something we talk about every day and take too much for granted. We say a little prayer at night, or I hope we say a prayer in the morning, and I hope we bless the food and all, but boy, that can get to be routine if we are not careful. We must not take that for granted. That’s the way miracles happen, in or out of this Church. It is people’s prayers and people’s faith and the power of the priesthood and administration. It really happens. It really works. And sometimes it does not happen the way we want, but every one of those is heard, every one of those is acknowledged. And as someone said once, “You can have what you want or something better,” So it is heard and it is expressed, and it is recorded by those wonderful angels in the manuscripts of heaven, and sometimes it is answered the way you want. Sometimes you do get what you want. And that can coincide with what the Lord wants for you.
President Jeffrey R. Holland
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of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles After Elder Anderson told a childhood story that taught him about the power of prayer, President Holland reflected on his April 2024, “Motions of a Hidden Fire,” and two lessons he learned while in the hospital. “We are to pray more often, and in more places, than we do. And if you have prayed a lot, pray more,” he said. “The other lesson was to testify, to be a witness. However much you testify, testify more.”
President Jeffrey R. Holland
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