Watch and Pray

The following are but a few of the many expressions of the great Master and Teacher himself on the subject of prayer : ¶

"watch and pray" ¶

Pray for them which despitefully use you. (Matt. 5:44.) ¶

Watch ye and pray. . . . The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. (Mark 14:38.) ¶

Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is. (Mark 13:33.) ¶

Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21 :36.) ¶

Why sleep ye? Rise and pray. (Luke 22:46.) ¶

Pray that ye enter not into temptation. (Luke 22:40.) ¶

The whole of the New Testament and of course therefore all the teachings of our Lord are filled with instructions and admonitions to pray. There are some among the rich, as among all other classes in our nation, who ridicule religion. One wise man (Roger W. Babson) has said that these men of wealth of the United States who ridicule religion are indebted for all that they possess to the family prayers which were once held daily in the homes of their fathers. ¶

Joseph Smith's Experience

On this subject, Joseph Smith the Prophet in his writings says: ¶

Having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. ... I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head. ¶

The Prophet continues : ¶

I had beheld a vision. I have thought since that I felt much like Paul, when he made his defense before King Agrippa and related the account of his vision when he saw a light and heard a voice ; . . . some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad ; ... he was ridiculed and reviled. But all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, . . . and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise ; he . . . would know to his latest breath that he had both seen a light and heard a voice. . . ¶

So it was with me. I had actually seen a light. ... I had found the testimony of James to be true — that a man who lacked wisdom might ask of God, and obtain, and not be upbraided. (Pearl of Great Price, pp. 48-50; James 1 :S.) ¶

Transformed by Divine Light

Paul saw a light, Paul heard a voice. That light which burned into his soul was the something outside of himself which he needed, for that divine light changed him from a man of hate to a man of love, from the man who, when the Christians were put to death, gave his voice against them, into that scholarly and powerful defender of the Christian' faith around whose teachings much of our New Testament has been built. It was that light from heaven, that inspiration from the Almighty which transformed this wicked persecutor of the saints, Saul of Tarsus, into Paul the great and scholarly apostle. ¶

And so, too, Joseph Smith the Prophet saw a light, he heard a voice. This light, this voice, this inspiration transformed him from a youth filled with doubts and uncertainties into a mighty prophet. Under the inspiration of the Spirit he saw clearly and he defined definitely, in the revelations which have come to us through him, those rules for Christian living of which the world today is in such desperate need. ¶

Inspiring the Souls of Men

What can I do? What can you do? What can the people of the ¶

nations and of the world do to bring into the souls of men this much needed light, this inspiration which will bring about remarkable and desirable transformations in the form of love, unselfishness, success, peace on earth good will toward men? ¶

Praying, having faith in our Lord, struggling to live in accordance with his teachings, his ideals and his example will, I am sure, in no small degree bring about these greatly desired results. Honest, earnest, prayerful appeals will bring that inspiration, that divine light which transforms human lives from those which are filled with misgivings and mistrust into lives of faith in fellowmen, faith in self and faith in divine providence. Living the Christian's life of prayer in a thoroughly honest and conscientious way will, I verily believe, change the nations and the people of the world everywhere from conditions of hate, conditions of greed and conditions of mistrust into conditions of faith, conditions of affection and confidence, of joy, happiness, peace and success. ¶

In this trying hour I appeal to you Latter-day Saints, if you are not doing so already, to call your families together with daily regularity and with them go upon your knees and appeal for help and guidance, for that light, that voice, that inspiration which all of our families and all other people everywhere need so much in this time of trial and temptation. ¶

Remember the Almighty

Abraham Lincoln said our nation has had a growth and a development the like of which no other nation has ever known, but, said he, during our great Civil War, the trouble with us is "We have forgotten God." I appeal to you to remember the Almighty. Let us remember him who in all the history of our nation has been our strong, our loyal and our devoted Friend. By his power we the people of the United States are able to live today in this land of freedom and liberty under the sacred folds of the only flag in all the world that has never known defeat. Remember the motto of our nation, "In God we trust." Let us pray to him in secret, make of him a confidential friend, tell him our shortcomings, our imperfections and our weaknesses ; appeal for these to be forgiven and then pray, in faith believing, for strength and courage and power to resist evil. Let us appeal not for burdens that are light but for strength to lift those loads, however heavy, which may be placed upon us. ¶

In this hour of stress, of temptation and of depression, in these days when war clouds are threatening everywhere, let us pray that men's hearts may be purged of selfishness and greed and that the light of heaven which brings the spirit of sacrifice and unselfishness may shine with glowing effect into the souls of men everywhere ¶

I appeal to you who compose the vast multitude assembled in this historic Tabernacle and to all who are listening in not only to remember the Lord by going upon your knees in secret and in your family prayers but I appeal to you also to go with regularity to your places of worship ¶

and there with prayerful hearts come into closest possible communion with our Heavenly Father and thus deserve and receive from him an answer to your honest, heartfelt appeals whatever blessings are necessary to fill your hearts and lives with joy, contentment, peace and success. ¶

The Sabbath a Day of Prayer

We should bear in mind always that the Sabbath is a day of prayer. It is a day of worship. We do not go to our places of worship for the purpose of acquiring scholarship ; we do not go there to learn history or mathematics or science. The purpose of our going to our sacrament meetings is to worship. We cannot get faith by logic any more than we can get learning by simply longing for it. Partaking worthily of the' Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is an important and fundamental part of that worship, and it is this intense and genuine worship, this prayerful spirit that will bring that light and inspiration of which I have spoken, that light and inspiration which we all so much need and which so many of us, I am sorry to say, do not deserve. ¶

A Fortification Against Evil

It is said that the temptations of today are greater than those of any previous time. It is generally conceded that our young folks are surrounded with conditions more alluring than those of any previous period. If we have not taught our children to pray as a means of helping to fortify them against the evils with which they are surrounded, then in the language of the Savior let me exclaim, "Why sleep ye? Rise and pray that ye enter not into temptation." (Luke 22:46.) Remember, as the Master says, the flesh is weak and therefore we need, indeed we must have the help of Heaven if we are going to be able to resist the temptations of today. ¶

If we have not taught our young people to pray and thus to come into close communion with the light and inspiration of Heaven, I am sure that a little careful reflection will convince us that such neglect has been and is a serious mistake. The revelation itself says clearly : "And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and there offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day." (D. and C. 59 :9.) ¶

The Miraculous Effect of Prayer

Let me renew and repeat my appeal that we all pray, and pray always, in our homes, in secret and in our places of worship so that we may not enter into temptation. And let us remember that after we have resolved to pray earnestly and faithfully, after we have had awakened in our souls faith in Divine Providence and a burning testimony of the divinity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, after we have decided to accept the teachings of the Son of God and after we have successfully undertaken to live in accordance with these teachings, to ¶

pray, to worship our Lord and Master, to do our best to do his will, we will then necessarily have the singular consciousness of knowing that we are not exactly the same persons we were before. The effect of the Gospel upon hearts and lives is miraculous. The effect of the light of Heaven which comes as a result of faithful, effective appeals is remarkable, it is wonderful. ¶

The Greatest Work in the World

George R. Wendling has said that the most wonderful work in the world is not to take iron and steel and brass and with these make a locomotive; that the most wonderful work in the world is not to take gold and diamonds and cog-wheels and with these make a watch ; nor is the most wonderful work in the world to take canvas and colors and brush and with these paint an Angelus ; nor even yet is the most wonderful work in the world to take pen and parchment and write an Iliad or a Hamlet. No, indeed, says he, infinitely more wonderful and infinitely greater than any one or all of these combined is that something which is accomplished by living in accordance with the teachings of the Gospel of the Master. The prayerful, devoted, honest, sincere, unselfish Christian life has such remarkable power that it can take an ignoble, cruel, impure and dishonest human being and transform that cruel, ignoble, impure and dishonest person into an upright, gentle, pure, honest and dependable human soul. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1 :18.) Such transformations show the glory, the grandeur, the power and the mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is this rebirth, it is this rebuilding, it is this reconstruction of lost and broken souls into upright and glorious men and women that is infinitely greater than anything else which this age of mechanical miracles can do. In the presence of accomplishments thus marvelous, we bow humbly before the mastery of our Lord. His Gospel is most wonderful. We who have felt its touch and inspiration can say boldly in the language of the Bible, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." (Romans 1:16.) ¶

Our Most Important Work

In conclusion : Let us never forget that the outstanding commission that is yours and mine as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the outstanding work to be done by those who have been endowed with authority to speak in the name of the Master is to carry the Gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Let us never forget that this "Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come." (Matt. 24:14.) In this our most important work and duty may we not fail, but humbly, with the aid and blessing of our Heavenly Father, go forward to outstanding success, I humbly pray. ¶