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Presented are transcripts of radio broadcasts by R.L.D.S. President Frederick M. Smith in 1938 on pertinent topics that continue to be of considerable interest in this 21st century.
V. Daily Prayer and Daily Bread Following the three significant words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” are those which give us the genius of the kingdom. “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” We are accustomed to think of heaven as a place where perfection reigns, where everything is done according to the will of God. To think of the abode of the great Creator of the universe as being anything else than in a state of perfection is incongruous, but we take it as a matter of fact, and fail to grasp the idea that the ultimate purpose of the great plan is to have that same will done on earth always, and unfailingly. This will require a long period of evolution on man’s part, but it can be brought about, and will be, by the gospel of Jesus Christ having perfect play in the lives of all of us. What finer condition of society can be conceived than that the will of God shall be continuously done on earth. It means the elimination of sin and evil, for they are contrary to the will of the Father. It means the perfection of man. The means of bringing such about is the operation among men of the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Bread to Share “Give us this day our daily bread.” God has ordained that man in his physical being has need of certain things, which will keep him physically alive. Man is a chemical and physical being as well as a spiritual one. The chemical changes going on within our bodies determine whether we experience euphoria or dysphoria. If all the functions of the body are perfect and well balanced, we live in comfort, not aware of organ functioning. We just “feel good.” Food is that which furnishes the basis for natural chemical functioning within our physical beings. So food is a prime need, next to the oxygen of the air. For our needs we are taught to pray, and so we pray for our daily bread, physical food. But note, in the Lord’s Prayer the form of the petition is for our daily sustenance. That person who in his devotional address to Deity prays only for his daily food is un-Christian, and so purely selfish that he cannot know Deity. If and when we can utter the Lord’s Prayer in the real spirit in which it was given, and with due appreciation of its genius, and ask for our daily bread, it is virtually to say, “Let me eat, but let it be only when my brothers also have that with which to assuage hunger and supply bodily needs. Let me go hungry when others hunger. And if there be too little for all, let me have only my share.” Are you at heart such a Christian? Are you willing also to say, “Give us shelter and clothing, but withhold from me when not all have, or there are those who lack. I would be comfortably fed, pleasingly warm, and securely sheltered, but the feeling of nutritional fullness would be made distressing by the knowledge of others’ hunger, the pleasure of warmth would be chilled by learning that others are illy clad, the sense of security in adequate shelter would be shattered in the thought that others had not where to lay their heads.” I am glad that the Lord’s Prayer would have us eat our daily bread while concerned about the welfare of others, as well as in the sweat of our faces. Reciprocal Forgiveness “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” In his weakness, man errs. It is human. Error must be rectified, forgiveness, therefore, is necessary. But much of our error (or sin) is committed against neighbor or brother. So we must pray for forgiveness, but the Lord has taught us to say. “I have need of forgiveness, O Lord, but forgive me not if I hold aught against my brother because of offense he has given me.” The genius and spirit of the Lord’s Prayer demands that only to the extent that we forgive are we to expect forgiveness on the part of Deity. Again the strong social content of the prayer is to the fore. The Problem of Evil “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Sin came into the world through temptation. Constantly forces are in operation to deflect men from the attitude and conduct demanded by the standards of Christianity. Man must fight his way up. Two men, each yielding the other moral support, can better resist evil than can one. A united group is still stronger against the social evils about them. But God does not lead us into temptation. We do not so believe, anyway. So we Latter Day Saints prefer the translation of the Scripture which has the prayer say, “Suffer us not be to led into temptation.” But, remember, for all do we pray deliverance from evil, whether it comes through temptation or otherwise. Today evil is about us everywhere. As long as human frailties permit envy, jealousy, strife, and ill-will to be in our midst, so long will there be evil to avoid. Therefore, we would avoid evil, even its very appearance. But again remember that the Lord has instructed us to pray that our neighbors, our brothers, all, shall not be led into temptation, and to be protected against the evils we fear. How magnificently social is the whole of the Lord’s Prayer! The Complete Prayer Any prayer would be incomplete without acknowledgment of our own humble relations to the Father. Appropriating none of the honor or glory of our existence, wisdom, excellence, or attainments, we attribute the kingdom, with its power and glory, to God, where it belongs. The elements of a prayer, then, according to the model which Jesus gave us are: First, recognition of our creatureship, going upon our knees as one among all God’s creatures. Second, addressing Deity in terms which recognizes his Creatorship—Fatherhood. Third, uttering words of adoration and praise. Far too often this is quite overlooked by petitioners at the Throne of Grace, and a chief factor in causing such forgetfulness is the great tendency we all have to be centered in our own troubles and concerns, with the resultant inclination to make our prayers, largely if not wholly, messages of begging. We are far too prone to think of our own needs and troubles first, and emphasizing and re-emphasizing them drives us still farther back into ourselves, and may eventually make us so entirely selfish in thought as to be completely self-centered. So our prayers should be well balanced, and should present our needs along with adoration. In fact, if we are disposed to get our prayers out of balance, it is better to have an excess of adoration and praise and less of begging, even for others. The very efforts to praise and give oral adoration to the Great Being will go far towards expanding our souls, and lifting ourselves out of ourselves. If you have not had that experience, try it. It might even be well, for the sake of practice, to try a few prayers limited to praise and adoration, with no asking for grace and gifts. Fourth. Keeping the great objective of Christianity before us, constantly have in mind, and therefore in our prayers, the great need for the coming of the kingdom with its remedies and reforms. Anyone who is working toward ideals is subject at all times to discouragements and periods of “let up,” and to have the mind refreshed as to ideals is a means of reawakening zeal to work toward them. So Jesus, splendid psychologist as he was, taught us to mention the objective of Christianity in our daily orisons. Fifth. Petition for daily sustenance. This will also cover the other two of the three prime needs of man for shelter and clothing. To be warmed, sheltered, and fed, if we add the great need of companionship and neighbors, constitute nearly the whole of man’s needs, however great may become the number of his wants, which grow with a higher standard of living. Man comes into this world with nothing, and goes out with nothing. So after all, to be comfortable and loved may be considered the greatest of his needs, and might even cover the scope of his wants. Sixth. The plea for forgiveness. To be sure, this is to be determined by our willingness to forgive. As our sins and errors grow less and less in our onward march of progress, the demand for forgiveness ought to grow less. Will it, I wonder? Seventh. The desire to be shielded from evil and the temptation to sin. Daily prayer for strength helps in this, too. Eighth. The acknowledgment that honor, glory, and power belong to God only. Thus the prayer begins and ends with expressed adoration for the Creator. Thus I envisage the importance and qualities of the Lord’s Prayer. No finer achievement can be made by the Christian, or the devotee of any religion, than to learn how to pray. Millions of petitions are uttered in which gifts of blessings are asked to be bestowed upon the petitioner, which if unqualifiedly granted by Deity would be to the ruination of those asking. We should never ask for what we should not have, but it is not given to many of us to know just what is for our best good. But of this we can be assured, if we use the Lord’s Prayer as a model, we shall not go wrong in our praying. Whenever we are inclined to ask special blessings for ourselves, then we ought to learn to say with full comprehension of its meaning, “Nevertheless not my will but thine, O God, be done.” This, too, the Master taught us by his example in Gethsemane when he prayed that the bitter cup might pass. And God’s will was done, and Jesus drank the cup to its bitter dregs. Again I say that the best I might wish for you would be that you might learn the Lord’s Prayer—not the words alone, but the genius, character, and marvelous scope of that splendid model for our orisons. |
