The Effectual Fervent Prayer of a Righteous Man

In the most recent general conference, Elder Clement M. Matswagothata told a touching story about prayer. He described how at a difficult point in his life he was serving as a young stake president and his mother had just passed away. Then the teenage son of his counselor also passed away. His work felt overwhelming and he wondered if he was measuring up in his life. He then related, “One Sunday, while driving to a ward conference, I poured my heart out to the Lord. When I arrived at the meetinghouse, a bright-eyed Primary boy stopped me and said, ‘We need to talk.’ With a very serious look on his face, he asked—almost in a scolding voice—'When are you going to stop being a naughty boy?’ I knew I was in some kind of trouble. Before I could respond, he added, ‘Every morning and every night, my parents ask us to pray for you.’” Elder Matswagothata continued, “I will never be able to fully describe what I felt as I stood there. I felt seen. I felt loved. I felt known. I felt that I was not alone. And as I looked into that child’s eyes, I felt the warmth of the Savior’s love.” The family of this boy was praying for their stake president every morning and night, and though this boy did not understand why, he was helping to support someone who was struggling in his calling. The story reminds us that there is power in prayer and that there are those around us who need our sustaining prayers.   

            As I read 3 Nephi 18 today I was impressed by how frequently the Savior invited the people of Nephi to pray. He said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him” (v15). First, they were to pray for themselves against the power of the adversary. He repeated this invitation: “Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name” (v18-19). He also invited them to pray in their church: “And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you” (v16). The Savior had prayed with them (see 3 Nephi 17) and He wanted them to follow His example of public prayer together. He also promised them that they would receive answers to those prayers: “And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you” (v20). He also invited them to pray in their families: “Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed” (v21). He likewise encouraged church members to pray for those who came unto them: “But ye shall pray for them, and shall not cast them out; and if it so be that they come unto you oft ye shall pray for them unto the Father, in my name” (v23). He spoke of those who were not worthy to partake of the sacrament, and encouraged the leaders of the church to pray for these members: “Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out from among you, but ye shall minister unto him and shall pray for him unto the Father, in my name” (v30). In this single chapter a form of the word pray was used ten times, highlighting the importance of prayer in the Savior’s eyes.

            Ultimately it is the Father and the Son who come to our aid to help us in times of need. But They have asked us to pray for one another, just as this family did for their stake president, that their power may come to us and to those around us. Elder Matswagothata invited us in these words, “As we choose to walk with Jesus Christ, everything begins to change. He is no longer a casual acquaintance but a trusted heavenly friend. May I invite you to choose to remember Him and follow Him—not casually or occasionally but deliberately and always. May we become the kind of disciples who notice, reach out, and lift as the Savior did.” Surely the first step to walk with Him is prayer for both ourselves and for those around us. Perhaps we will never know the difference that our prayers make, but we have faith that as we follow the invitation of the Savior to pray, we and others will be blessed and lifted by Him. We must trust that these words of James are true: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).