Language of Prayer
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
President Joseph Fielding Smith
President Spencer W. Kimball
President Stephen L. Richards
Elder McConkie stated:
Prayers of the saints are expected to conform to a
prescribed standard of divine excellence; they should fit
into the approved pattern of proper prayer. They are to be
addressed to the Father; should always be made in the name of
Jesus Christ; must be reverential and worshipful in nature,
which requirement includes use of the language of prayer (the
pronouns thee and thine, for instance, never you and your);
and above all they must be offered in sincerity of heart,
with real intent and purpose, and must come from the lips of
those who have broken hearts and contrite spirits; and
finally, they should be closed with the word Amen. As a token
of reverence and respect, when occasion permits, they should
be made from a kneeling position. (Mormon Doctrine, p.581)
Elder
Dallin H. Oaks:
When we go to worship in a temple or a
church, we put aside our working clothes and dress ourselves
in something better. This change of clothing is a mark of
respect. Similarly, when we address our Heavenly Father, we
should put aside our working words and clothe our prayers in
special language of reverence and respect. In offering
prayers in the English language, members of our church do not
address our Heavenly Father with the same words we use in
speaking to a fellow worker, to an employee or employer, or
to a merchant in the marketplace. We use special words that
have been sanctified by use in inspired communications, words
that have been recommended to us and modeled for us by those
we sustain as prophets and inspired teachers. . . .
Modern English has no special verbs or
pronouns that are intimate, familiar, or honorific. When we
address prayers to our Heavenly Father in English, our only
available alternatives are the common words of speech like
you and your or the dignified but uncommon words like thee,
thou, and thy that were used in the King James version of the
Bible almost five hundred years ago. Latter-day Saints, of
course, prefer the latter. In our prayers we use language
that is dignified and different, even archaic. . . .
In our day the English words thee, thou, thy,
and thine are suitable for the language of prayer. (CR1993;
Apr:17,19)
A Question to President
Joseph Fielding Smith:
"In our Sunday School class we have come
to the question in our lesson on prayer on which we need
further instruction. The question is this: Is it important
that we use the words, thy, thine, thee, and thou, in
addressing Deity; or is it proper when directing our thoughts
in prayer to use the more common and modern words, you and
yours? Our bishop and our stake president have told us that
the older words should always be used, but we seek further
information on this question."
President Smith's Answer:
Your bishop and stake president have given you proper
advice which should be followed strictly.
Our Eternal Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus
Christ, should never be approached in prayer in the familiar
expressions so commonly used in addressing human beings. The
Father and the Son should always be honored in our prayers in
the utmost humility and reverence. These common pronouns,
you, yours, may with perfect propriety be used in addressing
our equals. In the days when the Bible was translated into
English it was common for men and women to greet each other
using the pronouns thy and thine, thee and thou. As time went
on and men and women became more worldly minded, such a
custom was discontinued, and these more formal pronouns were
confined to their manner of speech in addressing royalty or
persons of great distinction and in poetical expressions.
Prayer and poetry certainly would miss much of their value if
this were changed.
In countries with republican forms of government, where
every man feels himself equal to his neighbor, the use of the
more formal pronouns was discontinued. Moreover the farther
man gets away from the true worship of God, and his mind
pictures Deity as a force, or an invisible shapeless spirit,
a something intangible and incomprehensible, the tendency is
natural for respect and reverence to diminish.
Today the scientific world and the religious world have
forsaken God as a Personal Being, and absolutely as an
anthropomorphic Exalted Man. Therefore their tendency is a
natural one to look upon such a being as unworthy of divine
worship. Many of the modern scholars have gone so far as to
teach and maintain that God is the imaginary creation of the
mind of man, and that he has become "progressive,"
from age to age since the days of the "cave-man,"
to the present enlightened age. Therefore he is worshiped as
a God of love and mercy, yet, after all, the creation of the
active mind of man who seeks some superior power on which to
bestow his worship.
LANGUAGE OF NATIONS IS A MIRROR
Dr. Martin B. Anderson has said:
A volume might be filled with
illustrations of the truth that the language of nations
is a mirror in which may be seen reflected with unerring
accuracy all the elements of their intellectual as well
as of their moral character
This certainly is true. Therefore as mankind
gets farther and farther away from the worship of the True
and Living God, the less respect and reverence man will give
to God. Therefore, this reverence being weakened or missing,
the less inclined are men to look upon the Supreme Being with
awe, humility, and reverence.
Members of the Church should be very grateful
that the Lord inspired the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the
translation of the Book of Mormon, the D&C, and the Pearl
of Great Price to give us these sacred records in the sacred
form in which the Bible has come down to us. The changing of
the wording of the Bible to meet the popular language of our
day, has, in the opinion of the writer and his brethren, been
a great loss in the building of faith and spirituality in the
minds and hearts of the people. (Answers to Gospel Questions,
Vol.2, p.15-17)
President Spencer W. Kimball:
In all our prayers, it is well to use the
pronouns thee, thou, thy, and thine instead of you, your, and
yours inasmuch as they have come to indicate respect. (Faith
Precedes the Miracle, p. 201)
I have noticed . . . the youth . . . who
address the Father with the words "you" and
"yours." The Presidency of the Church are quite
anxious that everybody address the Lord with the pronouns
"thee" and "thou" and "thine"
and "thy". . . . Youth may feel that
"you" and "yours" are a little more
affectionate. But would you do what you can to change this
pattern? (Addressing seminary and institute faculty, June 18,
1962)
President Stephen L. Richards:
I think, my brethren, that in the quorums and
in the classes, you would do well, as in the homes also, to
teach the language of prayer "Thee and Thou,"
rather than "you." It always seems disappointing to
me to have our Father in Heaven, our Lord, addressed as
"you." It is surprising how much we see of this in
the mission field among the young men who come to serve
there. I think you might make note of it, and avail
yourselves of any opportunities that may come in order to
teach the sacred and reverential language of prayer. (CR
1951; Oct:175)
(See Daily Living home page; Teachings About Prayer home page)
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