Note in Alma 10:22–23 the effect that the prayers of the righteous had upon a nation. The prayers of the righteous also kept the Nephites from being destroyed later during the days of Captain Moroni and Samuel the Lamanite (see Alma 62:40, Helaman 13:12–14).
President Spencer W. Kimball said the following about our day:
“There are many many upright and faithful who live all the commandments and whose lives and prayers keep the world from destruction.”