Primary Talk - Family Prayer

In 3rd Nephi 18:21, it says, “Pray in your families unto the Father … that your [families] may be blessed.” When Jesus visited the Nephites, one of the important things he told them was to have family prayer.

We can pray for lots of things as a family.  Here are some ideas.  We can pray for safety, to have the spirit with us to make good decisions, for family harmony, for a desire to study the scriptures, to be patient with our brothers or sisters, to prepare for missions and temple marriages, and so forth.  In our family we pray for the missionaries every night and also pray to have missionary experiences too.

In an Ensign talk from February 2001, it says, "Wise parents will recognize the protective power of regular family prayer. President Kimball taught: "No mother would carelessly send her little children forth to school on a wintry morning without warm clothes to protect against the snow and rain and cold. But there are numerous fathers and mothers who send their children to school without the protective covering available to them through prayer--a protection against exposure to unknown hazards, evil people, and base temptations."

Every morning we pray before we go to school.  My mom says that remembering to pray is more important than remembering to bring your lunch or wear your shoes to school.  You wouldn’t skip lunch or go barefoot to school, so why would we not remember to pray?

We also pray as a family every night after we have scripture study.  It helps us feel the Spirit and become stronger as a family.  Even if we get home in the middle of the night we still have family prayer & scripture study.

President Hinkley said there is a medicine that our whole society needs -- that medicine is Family Prayer.

In 1991, President Hinkley said, "I submit that a return to the old pattern of prayer, family prayer in the homes of the people, is one of the basic medications that would check the dread disease that is eroding the character of our society. We could not expect a miracle in a day, but in a generation we would have a miracle."

I’d like to bear my testimony about the importance of family prayer.  I know praying together strengthens families and helps us feel closer to Heavenly Father.

If you are already having family prayer, keep up the good work.  If your family doesn’t have family prayer, now is the time to start.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.