| Show THE DUTY OF PRAYER remarks made at al the general conference fie rence of the church in the tabernacle salt city friday october ath 1894 by ELDER JOHN HENRY SMITH BY ARTHUR WINTER achere there arle are so many subjects upon which an elder if he can but enjoy the janu ence of the holy spirit may speak a at it unless pleas U the are direct to jonutis ii difficult sometimes to make a jn election up to this point the lord py ly ois his J spirit has aided every one of our brethren that have hake either prayed or app apken ke S to us as also our brethren and Ms daters who have given us sweet strains v W glusic to gladden our hearts arthe theme thus far in this conference 1 I have been enabled to partake of the alt of the conference has been a formation for pation in our livesa curing our lv esso so far as possible and seeing to jt t in the example we set among our fellow creatures it shall be of that fracter character har ar acter that no reflection shall come capon p aa us because we preach something t wg we do not practice that hat when we apy a station among the latter day joints abts whether it be president apostle bishop high priest seventy ider V or 0 r of the lesser friesth priesthood d or bother cr perchance it be ps as mothers mot ve is of esons 80 05 at and d daugh daughters tes of zion each of acan look into our own souls cob consider sider i circumstances 1 in our own homes obe me necessary cessar y ref reformation or mation therein and reek kin in prudence wisdom and judgment those besetments beset ments that are pathway and that hedge up pur aur iru lot ence I 1 ic e at J among amon the requirements laid upon we latter day saints by our father in javen is the obligation to attend to our prayers to pray not alone in ia the farn family kly circle no not alone to teach pur gur children chil dien to pa ay but that hy hey who hive have become ersail with t the e will ot 91 our father fAi auld retire to their secret places and in ye humility humilia I 1 of their souls should ask 2 lun im the he biver giver of all good to bestow upon pon 1 them the faith the fortitude and the alo strength to overcome within wit wn them delves Bel ves those things that he has pronounced improper for us to say or to do 1 agni am fearful that in the midst of the cite ments that attend us in our ex many ol of us become bof the responsibilities that attach to in this respect too frequently we go ato Q our labors in the morning having aled to bow with our households and aur i turn to our father in heaven gratitude pip has permitted us to rest in peace ce 99 the night ni alitt 1 am fearful also wt that too many of if us before we retire to that rest which is so desirable after the labors and cares ot of the day forget to get down upon our knees and casting our eyes back over the experience of the day ask our father to forgive us for the wrongs or for the mistakes that we may have committed and thank him that he has preserved us and our households from sickness and death probably there is greater neglect of this among the latter day saints than of any ot of our other duties yet it is it a simple requirement for which there is no outlay of our worldly worldly y means and only calls lorhe forthe simple ae expression of our gratitude to the being whom we reverence chankin thanking 9 him that we have life that we have families that we have some knowledge of the truth thanking him that upon us in the midst of our weaknesses have been bestowed the rightson rights right of his priesthood and that in providence His it we can be but faithful in the discharge of the duties that rest upon us we shall stand at the latter day in the presence of the living god the saviors of the races from which we have sprung but if per chance in the midst ol of the cares temptations and trials of life we become forgetful of the being who planted with j in us that faith that caused us to leave the lands of our birth and to unite ou bourdes ades dinies with the latter day saints believing in the promises of the father and in the hopes inspired by the knowledge of the gospel it if we forget him and cease to importune him tor for the aid of his holy spirit and permit the cares that press upon us in the morning to shut us kofl on from the discharge of this responsibility or if perchance we find ourselves at the close of the day worn and tired and so annoyed with things that have arisen arisen during the day that we dare not upon our knees present ourselves before our father we shall bad and that step ty step as the days roll by this sacred requirement quire qui rement Went of our father will grow to be disregarded by us until we permit ourselves to drift away entirely 1 am wondering whether in the midst ot of this experience of ours our sisters are as mindful in regard to this responsibility today as they were wont to be in the days 0 of f the past when they were seem angly more dependent upon the goodwill love and esteem of our father than in these times when around them are more of the comforts and blessings of lite hie I 1 regard this requirement as resting upon the latter day saints in the most sacred form that it enters into our very lives that it is the source of spiritual life itself and that in a little period of time the neglect of this requirement will shut them off from accomplishing the sweetest inis mission sion ever given to them the hope of becoming indeed the of race under und erthe the laws abd ordinances of his house and in harmony with the rules that he has given by which the hearts of the fathers are to be turned to the children and the hearts of the children to be turned to their fathers my brethren and sisters the principles of everlasting life are indeed harmonious in every respect the man who ceases to pray and pour out to god the necessities of his own life and the he conditions of his own soul is taking a step that leads him to cease in striving to fulfill the obligations that rest upon him in honoring the primary laws given tor for our government and by which demay we may stand tree before our fellow men such a as s the words oi of wisdom upon which the brethren have dwelt with such telling force and the payment of our tithes and offerings let us reflect upon the great planchat plan that has been presented to us by our master himself the father introducing his son and the son directing the introduction and spread ot of this work and giving us the rules and regulations principles les and doctrines by which the people of the world may hear the truth and by which the hosts who have gone before in the justice and mercy or our father shall hear the gospel and shall receive or reject as they elect having placed before beffre them the principles of everlasting life to so cle clearly a ra y and so distinctly that there can be no misunderstanding these my br brethren athren and sisters are principles of eternal life they lay the axe at the root of the tree Thereto Therelo your prayers in honor before god and in honesty of heart enter the sacred precincts ot of the places dedicated to his worship feel as you enter there that you have hae done your part in fulfill fulfilling ng e every v ery ob obligation I 1 ignation there is no question in in regard to the sacredness or of this work wark our fawer himself introduced it he sent his son to see that they who should heraldic herald it should know that he lived to point out the way by which the eala of the world might be cured and that men should be tilled lifted up and redeemed by obedience to law through the exercise of their agency and many of us are deceiving ourselves because forsooth we believe we can tamper with these laws neglect the fulfilment fulfillment of these requirements and forget our prayers when he comes to ma make ke up his jewels such onles ones will discover that they are not among them the road to repentance is ever open to the latter day saints and it is a good time now to see to it that so far as possible their lives shall be spotless therefore Ther elore my brethren and sisters I 1 plead with you who stand at the head of a house bouse to be praying men I 1 plead with you my sisters who preside in the home in connection with your bus husbands baWs to be praying women I 1 say to you ou wat at I 1 am at an absolute beti everin in the defte that no son or daughter will ever be lost from the house where the father and mother bow to their god in humility and ask him for his aid and seek to exhibit in their lives consistency and aind action in keeping with the prayers that they offer that step by step they will move onward and should their son or daughter wander away for a season from the home they will come back and by the fireside where where they were wont to bow will wid remember in gratitude that that father and that mother taught them to lisp a prayer to their maker and sought to instill into them by example everything that tended to ennoble and nake make man respected among his fellows as well as with his father in heaven M my y testimony to you my brethren and sisters rs is that the instructions which have fallen from the lips ot of gods servants are the words of eternal truth to everyone that has listened to them and should go forth from this assembly and create such a revolution in favor of everything that is good and pure and true that a condition would be brought about in which every man woman and child would rejoice we will rejoice when no longer the fumes of whisky and tobacco are upon the breath of our brethren we will rejoice in the victory of that man who can say 1 I hold god and his laws in advance of a cigarette in advance of a drink of 0 liquor in advance of a chew of tobacco or in advance of any of those things which he has designated de ale U abed as improper for us to use 1 we should seek by every means in our power to lay these things aside and observe to keep his commandments baythe may the lord bless us with faith may he bless us with a proper comprehension of the doctrines we nave have espoused above all may he bless us with the moral courage to be what we decided we would be when we entered the waters of et baptism and received our confirmation in his church believing and sensing by the witness he gave that it was true amen |
