Unity in Prayer

Unity in Prayer — Need of Prayer Under All Circumstances — The Lord's Willingness to Answer It — Operations of Good and Evil

Brethren and sisters, I wish that each of you could stand here and look into the sea of faces that are before me, and then you would have something of the feeling which I have in standing before so large a congregation of Latter-day Saints. I esteem it as a very great privilege; at the same time I feel the responsibility of occupying the position of a teacher in the Church of Christ. I feel the need of your faith and prayers in my behalf, and of the Spirit of the Lord to enlighten my mind and to inspire my remarks, so that I shall be able to say something that will edify the Saints. I have been very much impressed with the spirit of the conference, with the large gatherings in this building yesterday, as well as at the meeting in the Assembly Hall, the meeting at the Bureau of Information, and in addition the large number of people who were walking to and fro on this block. Zion is growing. It is going to be a very difficult matter to accommodate the Latter-day Saints in these conference gatherings. Nevertheless, we shall have to do the best we can. We rejoice in the spirit of the work. ¶

One thing that has impressed me very much during the conference is the character of our worship before the Lord. In the assemblies of the Latter-day Saints a very important feature is the calling upon the name of the Lord in prayer. The words that are offered up in the invocation from this pulpit mean a great deal to the people. We must not suppose that when an Elder of Israel is called upon to pray, the words which he utters belong to him, or that the prayer is altogether his prayer. I do not so consider it. The prayer which is offered up ascends to heaven in behalf of the entire congregation. This is indicated by the response which follows the prayer, when the people lift up their voices and say amen. That response makes the prayer general in its character and applicable to the whole Church. It is your prayer; it is the prayer of the Latter-day Saints. And when prayer is offered up in this manner I am simple enough to believe that it penetrates into the very heavens, and is heard by God our Father, and such prayers will surely be answered upon our heads. ¶

It is astonishing the amount of scripture and revelation that has been given upon the subject of prayer, touching its importance, its far-reaching character, and its necessity to the children of men, especially to the children of God. I am reminded of a passage which occurs in a revelation given to Martin Harris in March, 1830. The Lord said unto him: ¶

"And again, I command thee that thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private." ¶

"Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing; yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof." ¶

How impressive are those few simple words in regard to prayer! How farreaching! They enter into a man's life and comprehend his whole existence, at least from the years of his accountability until he passes into the grave. He must pray under all circumstances. Prayer is not reserved for the Sabbath day or for any particular occasion. It is not only to be used at the general conferences of the Church, but the spirit of prayer must be in our hearts unceasingly. We must pray in our families; we must pray in secret; we must pray in our hearts. The spirit, of prayer must be with us when we retire at night and when we arise in the morning. It must be upon us when we leave our homes for our daily employment; in the office; in the shop; in the field; in the mountains or in the valleys, or wherever we are. We are told in the words which I have quoted that if that spirit is upon us the Lord will bless us, and the blessings which will come in answer to prayer will be of more importance to us than treasures of earth. "We know something of the treasures of earth; we realize the value and the desirability of earthly things. We know how they are sought after, and what great sacrifices are made for them. But how much better it is to enjoy the full measure of the Spirit of God which is promised. ¶

Then we learn in another revelation, that was. given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1832, something concerning the character of our heavenly Father. In that revelation He says to His Church through the Prophet: ¶

"Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you: seek me diligently and and ye shall find me; ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you; ¶

" Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you; ¶

"And if ye ask anything that is not expedient for you, it shall turn unto your condemnation." ¶

Mark, brethren and sisters, how clear-cut are these words. There is no doubt, no dubiety. It does not say if and peradventure you call upon the Lord, He may be gone on a long journey and you cannot reach Him; or He is very busy; His attention is now attracted to the nations of the earth; probably He is busily engaged with the great war between Russia and Japan and He cannot give you any attention, therefore you might as well cease praying. No, this revelation does not give forth any such ideas. Our heavenly Father is always near and ready to listen to His children. "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you." It is not like we sometimes find it upon the earth with great men. Take the President of the United States, for instance. He is a great man, with very serious and grave responsibilities resting upon him. His whole attention is devoted to the government and welfare of the people. The obligations resting upon him are perhaps almost more than he can carry. Consequently, when people call on him, many times he cannot receive them. He may be very busily engaged upon his annual message, or upon some other matter, and those who go to see him may have to wait hours before they get access to him, or it is possible that they may have to trust their business to some representative of the President. How different with our Father in heaven, who has the responsibility of the world resting upon Him. His hand is upon the nations. He is directing in all the affairs of this world. He controls in all the kingdoms of the earth. He knows what is going on. He knows the status of this great war, and He knows just how it will all result. In other words, He will have it come out to further his purposes. He knows all about affairs in England, in France, in Germany, and those ten great kingdoms spoken of by Daniel, the Prophet. I have no doubt He knows all that is going on in our own nation, and the great responsibility resting upon the people of the United States, the people of Canada, and the people of all the countries of America. And yet— think of it! He says to you and to me: He says to this poor man and to this poor woman: He says to this rich man; and to this rich woman: "Draw near unto Me and I will draw near unto you." Yes that poor widow down there, to whom nobody is paying any attention, and who has very little influence, — to her the Lord says: "Draw near unto Me and I will draw near unto you." "My ear will be open to hear your prayer and to answer it." Did not the Savior notice the widow who cast her mite into the contribution box? She was poor; and all she had she threw into the box, and she, was left penniless, and one might naturally say without a friend in the world. But she did have a friend, and that friend happened to be the Lord, than whom there is none greater. He stood there and said of that poor widow that of her poverty she had cast into the box more than all the others who had given of their wealth. Is not this a comfort and a consolation? And this is what prayer brings — prayer that is offered in the congregations of Israel, In the homes of the Latter-day Saints, and from the heart. Such prayer is effectual, and it reaches into the heavens. It has an influence there. ¶

To show the importance of prayer I remind you, my brethren and sisters, that in this world there are two great powers, and these two powers are at warfare. There is the power of good and the power of evil. They do not harmonize, they do not mix. Like oil and water, they will not mix. On the one hand, there is the power of good striving with every man and woman; on the other hand, there is the power of evil striving with every man and woman. Their prospects, their record, and all their future will depend upon which of these two great powers controls them. You can see this exemplified in what occured with Peter. The Lord said to him: ¶

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: ¶

"But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." ¶

What a wonderful saying was this! We would get the impression that the Savior had a perfect assurance that His prayer had been heard of the Father. Although Simon Peter was one of the chiefest of the Apostles; like other men he had his weaknesses and his imperfections, and I suppose the Lord knew wherein he was the weakest. He understood that Satan desired especially to sift Peter as wheat, and to destroy him if possible. Herein comes the power and virtue of prayer. The Lord Himself prayed for him. He did not criticize or scold him, for He saw that he had weaknesses — as we all have, and I doubt not but Satan would like to have all of us that he might sift us; as wheat. I firmly believe that if it were not for the faith and prayers of this people, which are ascending continually to heaven, Satan certainly would have power over us, and perhaps in many instances we would be overcome and destroyed. The Lord prayed for Peter, and His prayer was heard, and so He charged Peter that when he was converted he should strengthen the brethren. We must bear in mind this great conflict that is going on between good and evil. ' Everything that is good, every power and principle that leads to good, is from God; and every influence that enticeth man to do evil is from Satan, the father of lies. Thus we may judge between the good and the evil. ¶

Before I sit down I want to call your attention to the power of prayer as it has been exemplified in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, which is truly one of the most wonderful books ever published. The world might appreciate this book if they were not blinded by the subtle craftiness of man, and by the power of evil which lieth in wait to deceive. This book came forth by the power of God through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and I tell you that its coming forth was greatly influenced by prayer. It is so declared in one of the revelations of God given to the Prophet, found in section 10 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. I will read it, because it is so impressive, and shows clearly the efficacy of the prayers which were offered by the Nephites in regard to the coming forth of this book: ¶

"And, behold all the remainder of this work does contain all those parts of my gospel which my holy prophets, yea, and also my disciples, desired in their prayers should come forth unto this people. ¶

"And I said unto them, that it should be granted unto them according to their faith in their prayers; ¶

"Yea, and this was their faith that my gospel, which I gave unto them, that they might preach in their days, might come unto their brethren the Lamanites, and also all that had become Lamanites, because of their dissentions. ¶

"Now, this is not all— their faith in their prayers was, that this gospel should be made known also, if it were possible that other nations should possess this land; ¶

"And thus they did leave a blessing upon this land in their prayers, that whosoever should believe in this gospel in this land, might have eternal life; ¶

"Yea, that it might be free unto all of whatsoever nation, kindred, tongue, or people they may be." ¶

From this it will be seen that the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was influenced by and in fact was in answer to the prayers of the Nephites, offered up 1400 years before and recorded in the celestial kingdom. In conclusion, I say to you, my brethren and sisters, that your prayers and my prayers, if they are offered up in faith with singleness to the glory of God, will be recorded in the celestial kingdom, and the precious offerings and supplications that go up from these conferences will be recorded and will be answered upon the heads of this people, as God lives, if we will do our duty. May God bless you in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶