Prayer has been defined as the direct approach of man to God, to make requests or to commune. Prayers, says Dr. John A. Widtsoe, the Apostle, are always heard and always answered, even if not as we expect. To arise from prayer, refreshed in spirit, is of itself an answer. Dr. Widtsoe recommends regular times of prayer in the household, if possible. It might be well, he says, to pray with the family just before the family meal, when most members of the family are present. (Program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, p. 119.)
Family Prayer. If there were more family prayers, there would be an increased disposition in the home to overlook and forgive such little failings as are common to weak mortals; there would be greater unity in the home and fewer divorces to curse the community; children would have more respect for the parents; the ties of love would be stronger, and there would be few prodigal sons and daughters and less crime; there would be better health, increased contentment and prosperity, because of more general observance of the Word of Wisdom and the law of tithing and fast offerings.
Personal Prayers. But family prayers do not, and are not intended to, take the place of private devotion. As is well known, our Lord says on that subject: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall recompense thee.” Every human being is exposed to temptations and has weaknesses which should prompt to private prayer; perhaps to confession, and humble petitions for pardon, and for increased power of resistance—which can be of no possible interest to anybody else. Frequent private prayer is the telephone message to our heavenly home. It is best sent in a booth secluded from the noise and confusion of a busy world.
Public Prayers. And then there are the meetings for public devotion. To attend them is a duty we owe to the community in which they are held. The Apostle Paul warns against the habit of “forsaking the assembling ourselves together, as the custom of some is.” If that example were followed generally, public assemblies for devotion would dwindle away, and the community would lose their influence for morality and spiritual activity.
The common excuse for lack of interest in religious meetings is that there is nothing to learn by attending them. “You hear the same thing over and over again.”
That criticism is, of course, a not infrequent estimate of the average sermon. Whether it is justified or not depends largely on the frame of mind of the critic. But the sermon is not the only part of the service. Perhaps not even the most essential. The presence of our Savior, in his Holy Spirit, as on the day of Pentecost, wherever two or three are gathered in his name; the sacrament, in which our covenants with the Lord are renewed; the inspiring songs of joy and praise, the prayers and thanksgivings and devotion, are the essential features of Christian divine services. They are as necessary to a healthy spiritual life as a pure atmosphere is to the vigor of the body. Men and women must have companionship. Frequently those who forsake the congregations of the Church join secular organizations with questionable objects and activities.
Still, the sermon is an important part of the divine service. The speaker who accepts the call to occupy the pulpit has a great responsibility. As a messenger from God he must have a message to deliver to the congregation. He must not regard the rostrum as a place from which to exhibit real or supposed talents: still less as a platform on which to practice public speaking, which can be done more properly in the family circle, at the time of the family devotion. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, he will regard the pulpit as a banqueting table from which to distribute the bread of life abundantly, not in the form of stale crusts nor as half-baked dough, but in delicious loaves, fresh from the glowing embers on the altar of private meditation and fervent prayers.