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QUOTES ON FAMILY PRAYER

"Sending your child out the door without family prayer is like sending him out in a snowstorm without a coat."

"Let prayer, night and morning, as a family and as individuals, become a practice in which children grow while yet young. It will bless their lives forever. No parent in this Church can afford to neglect it."

President Gordon B. Hinckley

James E. Faust:

A few years ago, Bishop Stanley Smoot was interviewed by President Spencer W. Kimball. President Kimball asked, "How often do you have family prayer?"

Bishop Smoot answered, "We try to have family prayer twice a day, but we average about once."

President Kimball answered, "In the past, having family prayer once a day may have been all right. But in the future it will not be enough if we are going to save our families."

"The Greatest Challenge In The World-- Good Parenting", General Conference, October 1990;
see Ensign, Nov 1990, p. 33

"I feel satisfied that there is no adequate substitute for the morning and evening practice of kneeling together—father, mother, and children."

President Gordon B. Hinckley - Ensign, Feb. 1991, 2

"This Church expects that we will be a praying people. Once, it was the custom in the homes of America, for the family to gather about the table in the morning and at night in prayer. We have largely forgotten that practice, and I believe that we have paid a terrible price in the deterioration of the family which we have and are witnessing, not only in America, but across the world."

President Gordon B. Hinckley
Madison Square Garden, N.Y., April 26, 1998

Elder John Groberg:

"No matter what other inheritance you leave your family, give them the inheritance of knowing through experience that, forever, you will be praying for them and they for you. . . .
"I testify that time and space are no barriers to these righteous influences, no matter where we are or what our situation is—even in the depths of discouragement, far from our loved ones—we too can feel and be strengthened by those soul-stirring words, 'and bless John or Jane or whomever on his or her mission,' for indeed life is a mission. We are all here on assignment to learn to love and serve one another; and we can't do this as well as we should unless we have consistent, fervent family prayer."

(In Conference Report, Apr. 1982, pp. 78-79; or Ensign, May 1982, p. 52.)

"I like to compare the home evening, family prayer, and other associated activities of the Church for the saving of the family, when they are conscientiously carried out, with an umbrella. If the umbrella is not opened up, it is little more than a cane and can give little protection from the storms of nature. Likewise, God-given plans are of little value unless they are used."

Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference, October 1969

N. Eldon Tanner on Family Prayer

"Family prayer in any home will draw the family closer together and result in better feelings between father and mother, between parents and children, and between one child and another. If children pray for their parents, it makes them more appreciative of their parents, and as they pray for one another, they feel closer to one another and part of each other, especially as they realize that they are talking to their Father in heaven while on their knees in family or secret prayer. Then is when we forget our differences and think of the best in others, and pray for their well-being and for strength to overcome our own weaknesses. There is no doubt that we are better people when we try to tune in to the spirit of our Father in heaven so that we might communicate with him and express our desire to do his will as we pray for his blessings."

(Conference Report, October 1967, p. 56)

"Did you pray in your family this morning?" "No." "Why?" "I was in too much of a hurry." Stop! Wait! When you get up in the morning, before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, call your wives and children together, bow down before the Lord, ask him to forgive your sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day that shall be beneficial to the Kingdom of God on the earth. Have you time to do this? Elders, sisters, have you time to pray?

Brigham Young, JD 15:36

"My sincere counsel to you today is to recommit yourselves to these two basic practices that have been the source of so many blessings....Never let a day go by without holding family prayer and family scripture study. Put this, the Lord's program, to the test and see if it does not bless your home with greater peace, hope, love, and faith.

"I promise you that daily family prayer and scripture study will build within the walls of your home a security and bonding that will enrich your lives and prepare your families to meet the challenges of today and the eternities to come."

(L. Tom Perry, "Back to Gospel Basics," General Conference, April 1993; see Ensign May 1993, p. 92)

Brigham Young:

"Say your prayers always before going to work. Never forget that. A father—the head of the family—should never miss calling his family together and dedicating himself and them to the Lord of Hosts, asking the guidance and direction of his Holy Spirit to lead them through the day—that very day.

Lead us this day, guide us this day, preserve us this day, save us from sinning against thee or any being in heaven or on earth this day! If we do this every day, the last day we live we will be prepared to enjoy a higher glory."

"Journal of Discourses", 12:261
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 45-46

"Family prayer is the greatest deterrent to sin, and hence the most beneficent provider of joy and happiness. The old saying is yet true: The family that prays together stays together."

Thomas S. Monson (Ensign, November 1988 page 69)

"Our prophets have admonished us repeatedly to make family prayer a regular part of our daily worship. President John Taylor asked the Saints:

" 'Do you have prayers in your family? . .

" 'And when you do, do you go through the operation like the guiding of a piece of machinery, or do you bow in meekness and with a sincere desire to seek the blessing of God upon you and your household? That is the way that we ought to do, and cultivate a spirit of devotion and trust in God, dedicating ourselves to him, and seeking his blessings.' (Journal of Discourses, 20:118.)"

L. Tom Perry, "Our Father Which Art in Heaven," Ensign, Nov. 1983, 11-12

"The family should kneel together daily in family prayer. Alma 58:10 tells us: 'Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people.' Our family has always needed to be strengthened-and still does-and kneeling in prayer daily certainly helps. Children need to be constantly taught how they should act when they mature and have their own families."

LeGrand R. Curtis, "Happiness Is Homemade," Ensign, November 1990, p. 13

"You can do nothing better for your children than to have them taking their turn in the family prayer, expressing gratitude for their blessings. If they do that while they are young, they will grow with a spirit of thanksgiving in their hearts."

Gordon B. Hinckley, fireside, Naha Okinawa Japan Stake and Okinawa Japan Military District, 20 May 1996