My Dear Brothers And Sisters I Am Humbly Grateful...

My dear brothers and sisters, I am humbly grateful as I accept this great responsibility and assignment this morning, and testify to you that without the assistance of my Heavenly Father I would not even be able to stand here. I am grateful this morning for faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful this morning for faith in a divine, Living God; in the divine mission of his Son, Jesus Christ. I am grateful for faith that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fulness, and I reflect at this moment on the words of David, ofttimes referred to as the Psalmist David, as recorded in the twenty-seventh Psalm: ¶

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalms 27:1.) ¶

There was no fear in the heart and mind of David because I believe he was a prayerful man. He had implicit faith in God, his Father, and thus he was able to go forth in one experience as he faced the Philistine, the giant, Goliath. You will recall the great lesson there where Goliath indicated he would cut David up and feed him to the fowls and the beasts. David, even though he was small of stature by comparison, had the assistance of our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, and he said to Goliath: ¶

Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. (I Sam. 17:45.) ¶

And therein was the strength of David because he had not defied God. He was willing to live in submission to the teachings of righteousness. I am sure there was no spirit of arrogance in the mind of David at that time, but he was a humble, prayerful man. ¶

We have a lesson in the attitude of prayer as given by the Master in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. We are told that the Pharisee was grateful that he was not an extortioner. He was not an adulterer. He paid his tithes and his offerings. He fasted and he prayed, and he was not like unto this lowly publican. ¶

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. ¶

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for he that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:13-14.) ¶

We must have the spirit of humility as we seek God through this channel of prayer to give thanks unto him for all the blessings which are ours, particularly we, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that we have membership in his great Church — not the church of man, but the Church of Jesus Christ, for it bears his name. ¶

Regarding the principle of prayer, the Savior, the Master himself, was asked by his disciples and others, "Teach us how to pray, and how shall we pray?" He replied: ¶

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. ¶

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. ¶

Give us this day our daily bread. ¶

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ¶

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13.) ¶

We have there a simple prayer, a prayer that points the way to the throne of God, our Eternal Father, the Father of our spirits. The Savior further taught: ¶

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: ¶

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Ibid., 7:7-9.) ¶

I like the words of Robert Burns, the great Scotch poet: ¶

They never sought in vain who sought the Lord aright. ¶

I testify to you these words are true. As we seek the Lord aright, we shall not seek in vain. Jesus so taught. He said: ¶

If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? ¶

Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¶

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:11-13.) ¶

The Lord has revealed again in this day, as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants in several sections (and I would commend your reading the twentieth, the thirty-first, the sixty-first, the sixty-eighth, and the ninety-third, which deal with this great power of prayer) that we should pray constantly, earnestly, and sincerely that we be not led into temptation, as has so beautifully been given to us this morning by Elder Petersen. We are told we should teach our children how to pray and to walk uprightly before the Lord. ¶

I want to tell the young people within the sound of my voice that it is nothing to be ashamed of that you humble yourself before the Lord in prayer. It is not a sign of weakness. I testify to you that it is a sign of great strength, for the Lord will be your light and your salvation. He is ever ready to assist us to continue in the path of righteousness. He does not fail us. ¶

I am grateful for the power of prayer. I was thrilled last August as I attended the MIA conference in Los Angeles to witness prayer in action. They were preparing a huge chorus of fifteen hundred voices to appear in the Hollywood Bowl. The young singers had had their prayer, and the concert was just about ready to begin. It was my privilege to go back stage with the wonderful, humble, prayerful directors and accompanists. The purpose of this little gathering was to seek the Lord for his sustaining strength and power. Here were musicians with their degrees and their letters in music, who still relied on Almighty God, who is ever present to bless, to encourage, and to build. So they went forth upon their assignment with the humble assurance that they were not performing their duties alone. Seventeen thousand five hundred persons were witnesses of an outstanding performance, and I bear witness to you that our Father did hear and answer their prayer. ¶

I should like to give you in conclusion an experience that came to my attention two days after the passing of that great prophet of God, Elder Matthew Cowley. It was given to me by a man who some thirty-five or forty years before had been district president of Brother Cowley down in New Zealand as he labored with those Maori people. He had only been out for two and one half months, and a district missionary conference was called. In one of those sessions, the morning session, Brother Cowley had an opportunity to speak. As the story has been related to me, he spoke for fifteen or twenty minutes in a fluent Maori tongue, so much so that it amazed the older Maori people in the congregation. ¶

After the meeting, the district president and Brother Cowley were walking to a Maori home to partake of food between the sessions, and the district president said, "How did you do it?" Brother Cowley asked, "Do what?" "How did you master this Maori language in such a short time?" A young missionary, seventeen years of age! ¶

Brother Cowley said, "When I came here I did not know one word of Maori, but I decided I was going to learn twenty new words each day, and I did. But when I came to put them together, I was not successful." By this time they were passing a cornfield, and Brother Cowley said, "You see that cornfield? I went out there, and I talked to the Lord, but before that, I fasted, and that night I tried again, but the words just didn't seem to jell. So the next day I fasted again, and I went out into that cornfield, and I talked to the Lord. Again, I tried that night with a little more success. On the third day I fasted again, and I went out into the cornfield, and I talked to the Lord. I told the Lord that I believed his Church and kingdom had been established upon the earth; that men had the authority to proclaim the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ which pertained to the salvation and exaltation of our Heavenly Father's children. I told him that I had been called by this same authority to fill a mission, but if this was not the mission in which I was to serve to please make it known because I wanted to serve where I could accomplish the greatest amount of good." ¶

That was the spirit of Brother Cowley. He said, "The next morning, as we knelt in family prayer in that Maori home, I was called upon by the head of the household to be mouth. I tried to speak in English, and I could not. When I tried in Maori, the words just flowed forth, and I knew that God had answered my prayer and this was where I should serve." A young lad seventeen years of age! ¶

Brothers and sisters, friends of the radio and television audience, I bear witness to you in all humility and sincerity that God does today hear and answer prayer if we will put our hearts and our lives in tune with his Spirit and with his commandments. ¶

I humbly pray that we may continue to exercise and take advantage of this great invitation which the Lord has extended, that we may humble ourselves in prayer, teach our children to pray, that they may have the strength and the light of Jesus Christ in their lives. I bear witness to you that these things are true, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. ¶