The Lord’s Prayer, here containing some slight alterations from that in the New Testament (alterations appropriate to the Nephites), provides a simple yet profound approach to our Heavenly Father in prayer. The Savior gave this, not so that it could be memorized and uttered forevermore in the place of either individual or group prayers, but rather that we might have a guide, a simple example of prayer.
“After This Manner Therefore Pray Ye”
It is noteworthy that the phrase “Give us this day our daily bread,” found in Matthew, is missing from the Bountiful sermon. This omission, though subtle, is intentional. In Galilee, the counsel to pray for daily bread, though appropriate and praiseworthy for all members of the Church, was directed specifically to the Twelve, those who would serve full-time missions and would work without purse or scrip. Their daily prayer needed to be for food and drink in order to sustain life. In Bountiful the phrase is omitted, inasmuch as this portion of the sermon is directed to the entire multitude, a people whose daily work would sustain them (see 3 Nephi 12:1).