The scriptures abound with the promise that God hears and answers prayer. Church members who desire to communicate with God instinctively know that prayer is one of the keys to opening the channels of communication with Heavenly Father.
I want to focus on those teachings. So I asked myself, what is the best source I can go to, to learn how to communicate with God, in other words, to “talk with God”?
The prophet Joseph Smith provides some insight into this question. He taught that a man would get nearer to God by following the teachings found in the Book of Mormon than any other book of scripture (TPJS, p. 194). With this declaration in mind, I decided to search the pages of the Book of Mormon on prayer, using a computer search engine.
Early Results
I’m surprised at how many times the Book of Mormon writers address the topic of prayer. For example, the word “prayer”, using all word forms of this spelling, appears 151 times. However, teachings on prayer are found using other words and phrases. For example, the word “cry”, using all word forms, appears 173 times.
I went through each of these verses and found that the word “cry” appeared 89 times in the context of prayer. One more example, using the word “inquire”, I found 17 verses that applied to teachings on prayer.
I’ve invested many hours in this effort. So far, I developed the following tags. If you can think of some other tags, please let me know. In future posts, I’ll focus on specific teachings found in the Book of Mormon that will help us understand how we can get nearer to God.
Ask
Ask Not
Call Upon His Holy Name
Call on His Name in Faith
Consecrate My Prayers
Counsel with the Lord
Cried unto the Lord
Given What They Should Pray
Heard My Prayers
Inquire of the Lord
Jesus Prayed
Labored in the Spirit
Mighty Prayer
Must Not Pray
Not Ask Contrary to God’s Will
Pour Out Our Souls in Prayer
Pray
Pray Continually, Always
Pray Unto the Father in Jesus Name
Pray Without Ceasing
Pray and Repent
Pray for Enemies
Pray in Your Families
Prayer
Prayer and Fasting
Prayer for Deliverance
Prayer for Forgiveness
Prayer for Mercy
Prayer from the Heart
Prayer is in Vain
Prayer with Faith
Prayer-Answered
Prayer-Slow to Answer
Prayer-Unacceptable
Prayer-Unanswered
Prayer-Will Not Hear Their Prayers
Prayers of Those Who Have Died
Prayers of the Righteous
Watch and Pray
Whatsoever Ye Shall Ask Which is Right Shall be Given
Wrestle in Prayer
Hi Jared,
I am excited to follow your posts as you develop these subjects. Thank you for sharing.
It’s amazing how many occurrences of the word “prayer” in all its forms are in the Book of Mormon. Same with mentions of Christ. Lately, I’ve been doing a bit better than I used to when it comes to studying the scriptures. I’ve really noticed a difference. I’m so much happier on the days that I remember to diligently study, instead of just reading a token verse and flopping into bed. Thanks for posting.
To read more, about what the Book of Mormon says about prayer, click Here.