"The central thesis of the passage is to see that all of our thoughts and doings are unto the Lord-the exact meaning of the expression 'pray always.'
Praying always entails constantly being conscious of God and his plan of salvation. It consists of having a continual attitude which directs us during every waking moment of mortality, of maintaining a spiritual posture of thankfulness and reliance on the Lord, of desiring the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Brigham Young noted that to pray always is to live as we pray: 'I do not know any other way for the Latter-day Saints than for every breath to be virtually a prayer for God to guide and direct his people.... Every breath should virtually be a prayer that God will preserve us from sin and from the effects of sin.'" (Book of Mormon Symposium Series, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988; 3 Nephi 9-30, p. 144)
Joseph Smith
"We would say to the brethren, seek to know God in your closets, call upon him in the fields. Follow the directions of the Book of Mormon, and pray over, and for your families, your cattle, your flocks, your herds, your corn, and all things that you possess; ask the blessing of God upon all your labors, and everything that you engage in. Be virtuous and pure; be men of integrity and truth; keep the commandments of God; and then you will be able more perfectly to understand the difference between right and wrong-between the things of God and the things of men; and your path will be like that of the just, which shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day." (History of the Church, 5:31)
See commentary for Alma 34:17-27.