How would it be to have our civil and military leaders be people who had the spirit of revelation “and also prophecy?” Both Gidgiddoni (the general of the Nephites) and Lachoneus (the chief judge) were prophets. The people petitioned Gidgiddoni to pray to the Lord to confirm their own plan, instead of to align their will with God’s. They asked for prayers that they “may fall upon the robbers and kill the robbers.”
The people had been in tight quarters for seven years, which may have excused them slightly from not following proper patterns of prayer and performances, but they were not offering prayers themselves to alleviate their situation. They expected the General to offer a prayer for them, even with directed content. Fortunately, he did not take the bait.
In contrast, Lachoneus taught them to pray, in verse 25, to “put up their prayers unto the Lord their God that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle.” They waited for their enemies to attack, and were protected by the Lord and aided to success.