Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-02-13

cut nave neard lust SUCH prayers my
sell; and where this is the case, and
boys he this day after day, day after
day, long-wnded prayers, praying as
though it was the only chance they had
had lor month to pray and 1t would be
the last chance they would have Tor an.
other month, making them so long and
drcary, do not wonder that boys get
tired, and their knees ache, and they
feel as though it was tire5ome. Re
ligion is made repusivc to some by
such things. We ought to make our re.
lieion attractive TO our children, and one
way to do that is to have every member
OF the family pray. Some men seem to
think that their prayers alone are heard;
that the prayers Of their wives or their
children ate not listened TO. II any en-
terrain this idea, they are much mistaken,
because the Lord hears the prayers OF
women just as much as he does OF men,
and He hears the prayers OF children
just as much as he does oil grown people.
Every child should be taught to pray in
the family circle. As soon as he can
lisp or talk, or taught to frame prayer,
he should be asked to pray in the family
circle; and the Lord hears the prayers
of these little children, and they take N.
terest then in family worship, because 1t
is a part oil their service as well as their
parents. And when a child can ask a
blessing, il he or she can only say, 80
Lord, bless this food, for J sus Christ's
sake, Amen" it is better 10 let them
commence even with these few words
than not to have them pray. 1t is pleas
ing to see the interest children take in
asking blessings. They feel as though
they were honored and they AXE
pleasure in it. So in prayer. And it is
not the multitude OF words that the
Lord pays attention to He does not
listen to our fine, flowery sermons and
OUR fine, flowery prayers; He looks at
our hearts and the sincerity OF ouG de.
sires. 1t is not telling Him how great
beng He is that draws his attention.
You hear some OF these sectarian
preachers, and they will commence and
extol the Lord and tell Him what a
great being He is, going on in a way
what is it1 To tickle the ears OF their
and II they thought the Lord had
ears to hear, to tickle His ears by telling
Him what fine fellow He is. Now,
this is all ridiculous. This is not the
way the Lord ought to be worshipped.
| We ought TO worship Him with Our
hearts, and not with these long, flowery
sentences. Another thing: Ii we pray
=. secret, we will not want to make such
long prayers in public as some do. be-
cause we shall have relieved our hearts
| in our secret prayers to a very great ex.
tent. We can pray by ourselves and we
can take as long time as we wish to, and
we do not wear anybody out unless 1t is
ourselves. 1t is not probable that those
who listen to us are wearied by our de-
| votion, But when others are kneeling
| down with us, we ought in our prayers
TO be direct and brief, and not pray
about everything there is on the earth,
and imagine that we must mention
everything in detail or the Lord wont
know about it. He docs know, and We
do not need to mention everything as
though He had forgotten and would moi
take notice unless we mentioned 1t. Il
| we pay attention to the Lords prayer
that He taught His disciples, we will
see the beauty of that, how simple ii
was and direct; contained no superilu.
Gus words. but it was to the point, ask.
ing for that which they needed. Now,
you will hear the sectarians uttering
that prayer. Some people teach their
children that prayer. Well, that prayer
is not appropriate for many OF us.
Give US this day our daily bread" We
was given to the Apostles. They were
| taught 1t because they needed daily
| bread. II you will notice in the Book
OF Mormon the Lord taught the multi
tude and He .also taught His disciples.
| He gave instructions TO the latter which
were adapted to them. and were not for
| the multitude. This distinction, which
is SO plain in His teachings as recorded
| in the Book OF Mormon, is not made ia
| King James's translation oil the New Tes-
| lament. and hence many oil the sectari-
| ans stumble over the teachings OF the
| Savior, not knowing how they could be
made applicable to ordinary life They
were applicable to the disciples who
were preaching without purse and scrip,
and VINO were living different lives TO
the ordinary multitude. IL you will
read them properly as they are translat-
ed in the Book Of Mormon, you will see
how different they are, and how clear
these matters are when you understand
the people to whom they were address.
ed.
1t is good thing TO know how to
pray; and we are not heard for our much
speaking in prayer. 1t seems TO me we
should be full OF the spirit OF prayer,
and we should pray in our hearts as we'll
as with our lips and on our knees, and
cultivate the habit OF praying in our
hearts. We cannot stop always TO get
down on our knees to ask for that which
we need; but we can ask the Lord in
our hearts, no matter what we are en-
gagged in. We may be going to meet
somebody that is OF Importance, and
have not time to stop to pray, but we can
ask God 10 give us wisdom. II we are
going to transact some business, we can
ask God to be with us In the transac
ton. to give us His Holy Spirit to en-
tighten us, and enable us to do the right
thing. do not know how would have
got along in life il had not done this,
because there are many times we are
thrown In circumstances where the wis
dom OF heaven is needed, and il is a
good thing to cultivate the habit OF ask
ing the Lord for that. believe il | was
going to break horse, or do some
work in my field as farmer, or any
thing OF this character, would want 10
ask the Lords blessing upon it. 1t
would not probably be convenient to
kneel down and ask Him right then for
that special occasion; but | would ask
Him in my heart. o. course, in our
family and secret prayers we ask the
Lord to be with us in all matters; still it
is good thing TO ask the Lord Tor these
special things. You are called on to
speak suddenly, or TO do something
suddenly; It is good thing to ask the