D&C 19:38; Ether 1:43; 2 Ne. 9:52; 32:9; Mosiah 18:23; 3 Ne. 20:1; Alma 26:22; Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 233; Mormon Doctrine, McConkie, p. 586; refer in this text to Alma 37:37; 3 Ne. 18:15-23
“… May I ask this important question: How many families in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have regular nightly and morning family prayer? Those who neglect to do so are displeasing the Lord and are entitled to the same rebuke which the Lord gave some of the leading elders of the Church in the early days. No parent should depend solely on the organizations of the Church for the training of the children. They should be taught to pray regularly, secretly as well as in the family circle. The counsel that Alma and Amulek gave to the straying Zoramites is just as essential to the Latter-day Saints today as it was two thousand years ago.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5:48)
“No man can retain the Spirit of the Lord, unless he prays. No man can have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, unless in his heart is found this spirit of prayer… . And if a man will pray as he is commanded to do in this passage of scripture which I have read [Alma 34:18-27], then he more than likely will be found in all things righteously keeping the commandments of the Lord. He will not be found scheming to take advantage of his neighbor in some trade of bargain, but in all things dealing justly, because he has prayed in the morning and has in his heart the spirit of prayer throughout the day, that the Lord will bless him in the increase of his goods, of his fields, of his flocks, or whatever it may be he is engaged in.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, Oct. 1919, pp. 142-143)
“It is not such a difficult thing to learn how to pray. It is not the words we use particularly that constitute prayer. Prayer does not consist of words, altogether. True, faithful, earnest prayer consists more in the feeling that rises from the heart and from the inward desire of our spirits to supplicate the Lord in humility and in faith, that we may receive His blessings. It matters not how simple the words may be, if our desires are genuine and we come before the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit to ask Him for that which we need.” (Joseph F. Smith, Conference Report, Oct. 1899, p. 69)
“Prayer should be direct and simple as if spoken to our earthly father. Routine forms of prayer should be avoided. The words spoken are less important than the humble faith in which they are uttered. ‘Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed.’ It is the spirit of prayer that gives life to our desires. The direct simplicity of the Lords prayer should be kept in mind.” (John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, p. 316)
“In the summer of my thirteenth year, … I eagerly joined some neighborhood friends to light fireworks… . Not all of our fireworks worked as they should have… . We set the duds aside until we had tried to light all of the fireworks. We had so many defective ones remaining, we wondered what to do. We couldn’t just throw them away. What if we emptied the powder from all of them into the cardboard box? We could toss in a match and have one gigantic blast! … The match was tossed; we quickly ran away and waited. Nothing happened… . We tried a second time, using a makeshift fuse of rolled-up newspaper… . Again, to our good, nothing happened… . Foolishly, we gave it one more try… . Then it happened! The ‘gigantic blast’ we thought we wanted exploded with fury into our faces. The force of the explosion knocked us off our feet, and flames from the ignited powder burned us severely… . Our friend’s mother gathered us into her home. ‘First we will pray,’ she said, ‘and then we will call the doctor.’ That was the first of many prayers I remember being offered for us. Soon after, I felt my face, hands, and arms being wrapped in bandages. I heard the voices of my father and my doctor administering a priesthood blessing to me. I heard my mother’s voice many times, pleading with Heavenly Father to please let her son see again… . I had felt with a surety that I would be healed. From the moment that first prayer was offered in my friend’s home, I felt a comforting peace… . Each day when the doctor changed my bandages, my mother would ask, ‘Can he see?’ For many days the answer was the same: ‘No, not yet.’ Finally, when all the bandages were permanently removed, my eyesight began to return… . The peace and comfort I had earlier felt gave me assurance that all would be well. However, when my vision cleared enough for me to see my hands and face, I was shocked, unprepared for what I saw… . Seeing my scarred and disfigured skin brought great fear and doubt into my mind. I can remember thinking, nothing can help this skin to be healed—not even the Lord. Gratefully, as my prayers and the prayers of others continued, I felt the gifts of faith and of peace restored, and then, in time, my eyesight and my skin were healed… . May we always seek to obtain the Lord’s miraculous gift of peace through prayer.” (Rex E. Pinegar, Ensign, May 1993, pp. 65-68)