And [Jesus] called them by name, saying: Ye shall call on the
Father in my name, in mighty prayer; and after ye have done this ye shall have power
that to him upon whom ye shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy Ghost;
and in my name shall ye give it, for thus do mine apostles. (Moroni 2:2)
2 After they had prayed unto the Father in the name of
Christ, they laid their hands upon them, and
said:
3 In the name of Jesus
Christ I ordain you to be a priest (or if he be a teacher,
I ordain you to be a teacher) to preach repentance and remission of sins through Jesus Christ, by the
endurance of faith on his name to the end. Amen. (Moroni 3:2-3)
I notice these both
say that priesthood holders were to prepare for exercising the priesthood of
God by praying first. We see that Jesus instructed His disciples to do this,
advising “mighty prayer,” promising that then they would have power.
What is the principle
behind Jesus’s commandments to pray mightily first? I think it is this: A man
must prepare spiritually and put himself in harmony with the Lord in order to
speak for the Lord to one of God’s children. Obedience and submission through
prayer is the first step, and praying as commanded does that. Secondly, putting
oneself in communication with the Father is necessary before one can have
confidence to speak for Him, and prayer is the way that we align our will with
His.
Do priesthood holders do
this today? I haven’t seen it, but then it may go on in the heart, which I can’t
see. But I am sure that if those scriptural practices are followed, greater blessings
will result while the priesthood is being used.
