Pray On

I’m impressed by the focus that the Lord placed upon prayer when he visited the Nephites.  Of all of the topics that He could have discussed with them, He chose to spend significant amount of time praying with them and teaching them how to pray.  We first see that in the message similar to the Sermon on the Mount that He gave.  He told them that they were to “pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you” (3 Nephi 12:44).  He taught, “And when thou prayest thou shalt not do as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men…..  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”  Continuing on the same subject He said, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”  He then gave them what we know as the Lord’s prayer, an example for them to follow: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  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, forever. Amen” (3 Nephi 12:5-13).  

                Later in the same day when the Savior was about to leave we see again a focus on prayer.  He told them, “Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again” (3 Nephi 17:3).  Their preparation for the next day would be dependent on prayer.  But His compassion on them led Him to stay, and so He ended up showing them by example how to pray with real sincerity to the Father.  The account tells us of the marvelous experience, “And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.  And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.”  The experience of seeing Him pray was so powerful that we are told “no one can conceive of the joy” they had when He prayed.  He continued ministering to them and took the children and likewise “prayed unto the Father for them” (3 Nephi 17:14-21).

                Shortly thereafter these experiences He administered the Sacrament to them, and in conjunction with that He focused much of His teaching on prayer.  He told the disciples, “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.  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.”  He then exhorted the multitude, “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; 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.  Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed” (3 Nephi 18:15-21).  He proceeded to counsel them about those who were not disciples: “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.”  And for those who were no longer worthy to partake of the Sacrament He said something similar: “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” (3 Nephi 18:23, 30).  So from this chapter alone we see that He encouraged us to pray to avoid temptation, to pray in the church, to pray to the Father in His name, to pray in our families, to pray for those not members of the church, and to pray for those who are no longer worthy.  Prayer was no trivial thing for the Savior. 

                In the next chapter the theme continued, this time with disciples following the admonition to pray and the Lord providing again the example.  We read that “they knelt again and prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus” (3 Nephi 19:8).  They prayed, performed baptisms, and then Jesus came back in their midst and “commanded his disciples that they should pray.”  They did so and then the Savior prayed again in front of them, praying for them while they prayed as well.  Jesus blessed them as they prayed and he encouraged them, “Pray on.”  Following this He “prayed again unto the Father,” came back and saw that they were still praying, and then “went a little way off and prayed unto the Father.”  So great were the words that He uttered that they “cannot be written” (3 Nephi 19:17-35). 

                That’s a lot of teaching about prayer and a lot of praying by the Savior done in the short time that He was with them.  Clearly prayer to Him was of utmost importance and something He wanted the disciples to understand and do, and I think the first step for anyone who is seeking to draw closer to Him and to the Father is to earnestly pray—we must always “pray on.”