Moroni 8:3

I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

Mormon is an example of a father who prays for his children He prays always and continually for his righteous son. He prays that God will bless his son with grace (enabling power) and goodness (love and mercy) so that he can endure in faith. This father and son lived in a harsh, violent world. To stay true to Christ was not easy in their day. Our world is becoming increasingly harsh and violent, and staying true to faith in Christ is not easy for our children, either. If Mormon felt the need to pray for his son, surely we should feel the need to pray for our children.

Moroni 2:2

And he called them by name, saying: Ye shall call on the Father in my name, in mighty prayer; and after ye have done this ye shall have power that to him upon whom ye shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy Ghost; and in my name shall ye give it, for thus do mine apostles.

When Christ ordained his twelve special Nephite disciples, he gave them authority, but he added instructions that to exercise that authority with power, they had to pray.

Authority and power are  not synonymous. Authority is the right to do something; power is the ability to do it. We get our abilities from God. The enabling power of God is called grace. We must pray for grace, as we would for any worthwhile gift. God gives marvelous gifts, but only when we ask.

Neither can the asking be casual or occasional. The disciples, with all their authority and witness,  still needed to exercise "mighty prayer." Mighty prayer is the kind of prayer we offer when we know we are totally dependent on God's grace and no other help is available. In a mighty prayer we say, "Lord, it is you or nothing. I have nowhere else to go and no one else to lean on. Whatever you do is good, and so, give me whatever is good. Just don't  leave me alone."

Ether 2:15 - Part 1

And the brother of Jared repented of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren who were with him. And the Lord said unto him: I will forgive thee and thy brethren of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my Spirit will not always strive with man; wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And these are my thoughts upon the land which I shall give you for your inheritance; for it shall be a land choice above all other lands.

This says something about the nature of our prayers. Though we may pray daily, if our prayers are perfunctory repetitions lacking in humility, sincerity and real intent, they do not please the Lord, and we have need to repent. Prayer is not to give orders to God like a short-order cook, but to seek his will and receive instruction at his hand.

Ether 2:14

And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.

I am confident that a spiritual man like the brother of Jared would not have stopped praying for four years. I think what he had neglected to do was to ask the Lord for additional direction. He and the rest of the troop were perhaps satisfied with the good life they had on the beach. They had arrived at what to them was obviously the end of their journey on the shore of an un-cross-able ocean. With no place left to go, the easy conclusion was that they were in their promised land.

For four years they relaxed and enjoyed life. Yet something must have stirred the prophet to finally approach the Lord with a question. With the door of inquiry finally open, God took the opportunity to teach the brother of Jared about the mistake he had made.

The message to us is to not make assumptions about the Lord's will for us based on observable circumstances. God's plans for us almost always far exceed our own expectations. We ought not to limit his power in our lives by our own shortsightedness.

Ether 1:35

And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded.

God answers our prayers because of his compassion, his understanding of our sufferings, and his desire to help us.

Ether 1:34

And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words.

In this and the next five verses, the brother of Jared "cries unto the Lord" for compassion and help. The difference between just praying, which most of us do on a regular basis, and crying, which yields miraculous results, is in the intent and intensity of the experience. When we are desperate, when we have exhausted our mortal means and cannot take another step, we cry unto God.

Most days, however, we are not desperate, or at least we do not recognize how desperate we should be. Most of the time we think we have life under control. We have our routines, we work, we solve little problems, and we take our blessings for granted. Only when we are faced with a crisis -- a dying parent, a sick spouse, a rebellious child, loss of a job, or some other disaster -- do we get serious enough about seeking divine help that we finally cry unto the Lord.

I'm sure our Father understands that mortals cannot live 24x7 in utter crisis mode. Nevertheless, if we truly understood the ultimately desperate situation of mortality, we would cry every day unto God. We teeter on the brink of spiritual death every day. We need daily forgiveness in the worst way. We need grace at every step. We need the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost -- constantly.

We cannot manufacture faith or charity or any other spiritual gift. We are totally dependent on Christ for justification, sanctification, redemption and salvation. To think any other way is to be blind to reality. Yet we fumble our way through most days in total denial of our desperation.

But God is patient and kind, and he lets us have our delusion of self-sufficiency. Only occasionally does he drop a hint that we are living really on thin ice. We face an unexpected setback or a crisis and, if we are wise, we cry unto him, and in that moment we finally get out of his way so he can go to work in our lives.

Mormon 8:15

For none can have power to bring it to light save it be given him of God; for God wills that it shall be done with an eye single to his glory, or the welfare of the ancient and long dispersed covenant people of the Lord.

It has been said, a wicked man could not write the Book of Mormon, and a good man would not try. Only a prophet would publish such a book, claim it came from God, and then make the fantastic promise that if the reader prays, God will tell him it is true. The promise is so bold and blatant, it must be where everyone should start who wants to test the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No other criticism of the church could possibly carry greater weight than the authenticity or falsity of the Book of Mormon.

3 Nephi 27:1

And it came to pass that as the disciples of Jesus were journeying and were preaching the things which they had both heard and seen, and were baptizing in the name of Jesus, it came to pass that the disciples were gathered together and were united in mighty prayer and fasting.

Mighty prayer is not just plain old prayer. We do not dash off a mighty prayer for two minutes before we jump into bed at the end of a long day. A mighty prayer is a prayer of power, offered with sincerity and genuine desire, born of a heart felt need, and accompanied by total humility. A mighty prayer recognizes that no other source but God can supply the relief we seek. It has full confidence that the Lord can and will answer, but it also asks according to his will, guided by the Holy Ghost. A mighty prayer does not have to be long, but it must to sufficient to allow one to pour out his heart and say all that needs to be said, followed by time to listen and ponder. The Lord gives us hard problems and painful afflictions so we can learn mighty prayer.

3 Nephi 19:35

And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.

Christ saw evidence of the people's faith in their diligent prayers. Humble, sincere prayer, led by the Holy Ghost, is one way we can show God our faith. When we pray in faith, we invite the Lord to do wonderful things in our lives. Without prayer, we cannot be aligned with God's will, and he will not exercise his full power in our lives.

3 Nephi 19:24

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.

As part of our prayer practice, we too can ask what to pray for. The purpose of prayer is not to convince God to do our bidding but to align ourselves with his will and to access blessings that he is already willing to give us but which are predicated on our asking. Thus, praying for what to pray for is a useful exercise. What the natural man thinks we need and what God knows we need are diametrically opposing views of us. The key to a successful life s to overcome the natural man and accept the will of God. Prayer holds that key for us.

3 Nephi 19:23

And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.

Jesus is our Advocate with the Father. He prays to the Father for us. How comforting to know that when I pray my imperfect prayer, Christ backs me up with his perfect prayer!

3 Nephi 18:21

Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed.

Praying for others is an essential element of Christian discipleship. It is more than a suggestion or a good idea, it is a commandment. If our daily prayers do not include the seeking of blessings for others, our petitions for ourselves are in vain. Prayer is like ripples in a pool. They tend to start in the center with ourselves and then spread out in concentric circles to take in first those who are closest to us, then our extended family, neighbors and friends, our acquaintances, the broader community, our leaders (both secular and religious), the nation, and eventually even our enemies. Jesus teaches us here to begin with our immediate family and then work our way out. We pray in his name because we always try to pray his prayer -- the kind of prayer he would offer in our circumstance. When we learn that kind of prayer, nothing will be withheld from us.

3 Nephi 18:20

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.

One of the most frequently repeated promises in scripture is "ask and ye shall receive." The caveats are that we must ask the Father; we must ask in Christ's name, which means we must pray as he would pray; we must pray for the right thing, which will be revealed to us by the Holy Ghost; and we must truly believe that God can and will answer our prayer, which is to ask with real intent. Answers to prayers are not capricious or haphazard. God is anxious to bless us with all we can receive. The key is to ask. Faith, with an eye single to God's glory, and not our own vain ambition, turns the key.

3 Nephi 18:15

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.

The defenses against temptation and apostasy are watchfulness and prayer. To be on watch is to be on guard, to be vigilant, to be awake and aware and ready. Wise leaders set watchmen on towers so they can spot the enemy while he is yet a long way off. We need to be able to spot the enemy of our souls from a great distance so we can be prepared to mount a defense. If we wait until he is right next to us before we react, we may not be strong enough to fend him off. If we let him whisper in our ear, we may not be able to shut him out. We want to keep him as far away as possible. So we watch. We learn of his tactics, angles of attack, and deceptive maneuvers, and we learn the proper defenses so that when we see him coming, we know what to do. 
 
Nevertheless, even with vigilant faithfulness, we may not be able on our own to counter his every move. Satan has been at this game for a long time, and we are relative new comers to mortality. We need more power and wisdom than we can muster on our own to be victorious, and that is where prayer comes in. Prayer is like binoculars to help us see farther and clearer than our natural eyes alone can see. Prayer gives us intelligence and strength because it puts us in direct contact with the Commander and Chief of our souls. He can make up what we lack on our own and send reinforcements when we are overrun. 
 
We need both our own efforts through faithfulness and God's power through prayer. We cannot do it alone, and the Lord will not do it for us without our contributing effort. With both weapons, we can defeat the enemy and land safely home.

3 Nephi 17:17

And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.

Jesus prays for us constantly as our Advocate with the Father. Think about it. We may not hear his unspeakable words, but we can have joy and confidence that Christ is always pleading our case.

3 Nephi 17:10

And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.

Healing applies not just to the one afflicted but to those who have love and care for him. Illness, afflictions, trials and hardships affect everyone. The caregiver may be under as much bondage as the person for whom she cares. The healing of one can free a whole family. Recall the man who brought his possessed son to Jesus. His plea was, "Lord, help us." Both the Father and the son needed Jesus's help. And Jesus healed and helped them both. Our prayers on behalf of those we love are always heard.

Helaman 5:41

And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.

Aminadab's formula for deliverance is to repent and to pray until we have faith in Christ. The typical response is to say that we must have faith first and then pray. But faith is a gift for which we must pray and ask. Therefore we truly do pray until we receive the gift of faith.

Alma 58:10-11

Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people. Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.

The greatest weapon we have against the adversary of our souls is prayer. Prayer aligns us with God, his plan and strategy. By ourselves and armed only with our own power, we are no match for Satan's opposing forces. But armed with the power of God, we can come off conqueror. Note that when Helaman's army prayed in faith, they received more faith. Note too that even before the battle had begun the Lord assured them of victory through a testimony of peace from the Holy Spirit. If we pray in faith and with our whole souls -- holding nothing back -- God will replace fear with faith. Though we still have to face the battle, God will fight for us and deliver us. It is his power, coupled to our agency, that carries the day every time.

Alma 49:4

But behold, how great was their disappointment; for behold, the Nephites had dug up a ridge of earth round about them, which was so high that the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them that they might take effect, neither could they come upon them save it was by their place of entrance.

In another war metaphor, the ridges of earth we dig up to shield ourselves from the stones and arrows of temptation vary depending based on our need. We barricade ourselves against impure thoughts by filling our minds with good things. We put up fences of humility to protect us from pride. We cut the supply line of pornography. We build walls of daily service to ward off selfishness. We prepare resorts of prayer to keep the communication line open with headquarters. We stockpile scriptures to ensure we have sustenance to withstand a siege. We make sure we have a good supply of the living water of revelation. If we are prepared, we need not fear.

Alma 37:37

Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

This is another version of "pray always." We are to pray over everything, not just the big stuff. Everything matters. Our last prayer of the night is a report of our day's endeavors, with all of its triumphs and failures. Each morning our first thought should be of God, with gratitude for a new day to start over and try again to learn and do his will as we battle the natural man. When we live a prayerful life, God will not let us fail.