Lessons on the Book of Mormon 2020
Lesson No. Thirty-Eight

Jesus Set the Perfect Example of Prayer – 3 Nephi 19

Christ’s Prayer, by Derek Hegsted, Orem, Utah.

Lord, teach us to pray – During Jesus’ mortal ministry “as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).  Many people today have a sincere desire to know how to pray.  In 3 Nephi 13 and 18 Jesus teaches us how to pray.  In these chapters sixty verses are dedicated to prayer and there are eleven prayers offered.  In His resurrected ministry among the Nephites Jesus set the perfect example of prayer.  There is no better place to learn the doctrine of prayer and how to pray than in the Book of Mormon.

We pray to our Father in the name of Christ – “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 18:19-21, emphasis added).  We are also commanded to pray for others in the name of Christ (See 3 Nephi 18:22-23).

In 3 Nephi 13 Jesus also teaches us to pray to “thy Father” (Vs 6, 18), “your Father” (Vs 8, 14, 15, 26, 32), and “our Father” (Vs 9, emphasis added).  Jesus clearly emphasizes the importance of remembering, when we pray, that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father.

The true way we pray in Christ’s name is taught with power in the LDS Bible Dictionary, Prayer:  “Christians are taught to pray in Christ’s name.  We pray in Christ’s name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes the wishes of Christ – when His words abide in us.  We then ask for things it is possible for God to grant.  Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in Christ’s name at all; they in no way represent His mind but spring out of the selfishness of man’s heart.”  

We are to “watch and pray always” (3 Nephi 18:18) – Disciples of Christ watch and pray always in several ways:

  • Individual prayer – “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to the Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (3 Nephi 13:6).  Sincere personal prayer is essential to resist temptation (see 3 Nephi 18:18), and “it is the passport to spiritual power” (Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, May 1979, p. 6-7).

  • Family prayer – “Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed” (3 Nephi 18:21).  “In the past having family prayer once a day may have been alright.  But in the future it will not be enough if we are going to save our families” (Spencer W. Kimball as quoted by James E. Faust, Ensign, November 1990, p. 33).

  • Prayer in Church – This includes sacramental prayers.  (See 3 Nephi 18:1-14).  We are commanded to meet often and to pray for others in our church meetings:  “And behold, ye shall meet together oft; and ye shall not forbid any man from coming unto you when ye shall meet together… ye shall pray for them unto the Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:22-23).

  • Prayer in public – In public prayers we are cautioned:  “And when thou prayest thou shall 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.  Verily I say unto you, they have their reward” (3 Nephi 13:5).  There is a difference between “public prayer” and “government prayer.”  It is important that we do not take God out of public life or try to restrict or censor people who offer a personal prayer in public. It is much different if governments write or proscribe prayers that are to be given in public.  Just as the government should not write prayers for people to give, it should not censor personal prayers that may be given in a public setting.

As the resurrected Messiah Jesus set the perfect example by humbling Himself before His Father – Three times Jesus bowed himself to the earth in the presence of thousands of righteous Nephites and called upon His Father in mighty prayer (See 3 Nephi 19:19-34).  He had been given all power in heaven and in earth (see Matthew 28:18), yet Jesus humbled Himself before His Father and expressed the desires of His heart.  He desired that all those, who because of their faith in Him, “may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one…” (3 Nephi 19:29).

Jesus knew that God was His Father and He humbled Himself before Him.  We must know and do the same.  In an inspired teaching about prayer we learn the importance of knowing God is our Father:  “As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part.  Many of the so called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship.  Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other.  The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them” (LDS Bible Dictionary, Prayer).

I know that we are all “sons and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven and that He has a divine plan for our lives” (Proclamation on the Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ).  I also know, by experience, that our Heavenly Father hears and answers the prayers of His children.