Question
Dear Gramps,
I try hard to live the gospel and say my prayers all the time. My husband was told though that if you have repetition in your prayers they aren’t sincere and are of no use. Now he believes this, and it’s hard to convince him to pray. Please help me. Without prayer, and my talking to Heavenly Father, I’d feel so lost. I don’t want my sweet husband to lose his way! Thank you.
Rosemary
Answer
Dear Rosemary,
The measure of an effective prayer is not variety but sincerity. I am thankful to the Lord for providing the good things of the earth that I may sustain life, and so I thank him before every meal, and ask him to bless to my good the food that I eat. I also ask for his blessings that I may be able to use the good derived therefrom in serving him and keeping his commandments. How many different ways can you say that? The Lord is not impressed with our multiplying words. The Nephites at the time of the Savior gave us an example of prayer.
And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, he came unto his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him; and they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire (3 Nephi 19:24).
The Savior enjoined simple speech when he said in the Sermon on the Mount,
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:37).
Preceding the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9, he instructed, After this manner therefore pray ye, and the simple prayer that follows is the classic model for all our prayers. If your husband does not approach the Lord because he is afraid of repeating himself, perhaps he should consider the following scriptures.
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1)
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).
But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul (2 Nephi 32:9).
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 (3 Nephi 18:15).
Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work (D&C 10:5).
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 (D&C 19:38).
Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation (D&C 20:33).
Pray always, lest you enter into temptation and lose your reward (D&C 31:12).
Gramps
