My brothers and sisters, I should like to say just a word in appreciation of this magnificent music that we have heard, yesterday the Singing Mothers, today the singing German Saints, and tomorrow we shall have the great Tabernacle Choir. We are a singing people, and I am sure that the Lord loves a singing people. God bless our singers, sweeten their voices even more sweet than they are now, that they may sing his praises.

My brothers and sisters, I stand before you asking in humility and in sincerity an interest in your faith and prayers, that what I may say may be helpful to all of us. You know, we ask these blessings in stern reality not as a matter of form, but in a reality that we have that without the help of our Heavenly Father, we are not able in and of ourselves to do much.

Not only are we a singing people, but we are also a praying people, and our prayers go to our Heavenly Father knowing that he can hear, does hear, and will, in his wisdom, answer, perhaps not always in the way we think they should be answered, because our prayers should always be that they be answered in accordance with his mind and his will, and the answers so come to us. When we pray, we should, of course, express our desires as to the things we wish, but we should always pray with an open mind, asking the Lord to bestow the blessings upon us in his wisdom. We should not pray and ask the Lord to give us what we ourselves, want, and importune him to that effect, except all subject to his will.

This question of prayer, and the answer of prayer, is basic with us. Behind it lies the full doctrine of continuous revelation, because we pray that God will give us his revelation and his inspiration. Over the years, I know that every person in this great Tabernacle has seen manifestations of the power of the Lord in answer to prayer.

The record indicates that when the Savior, himself, approached great crises in his career on earth, he always went to his Father in prayer and asked for help and for guidance, and the Father never failed.

You remember the first great prayer that opened this dispensation. It was uttered in response to those statements of James:

"If any of you [not just particular ones, but if any of you] lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

"For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord"—unless he so prays  James 1:5-7

From this prayer thus motivated, came one of the greatest visions in recorded history, the visit of the Father and the Son to the young boy praying in the woods, the Prophet Joseph Smith  JS—H 1:17

I say once more, this is the motif of this whole modern dispensation. Pray, pray always, has been the counsel of our leaders, of our prophets, and of our Heavenly Father.

During those great discourses which the Savior preached the night before the crucifixion, he continually recurred to this thought:

" . . . whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you"  John 16:23

But we should have in mind, in connection with that, the words of the Prophet Aaron on this continent, when he said we must ask in faith, with a repentant soul  Alma 22:16 That is the only basis of prayer that will bring us the things which we seek.

If you would know what prayer and faith combined can do, read the account of the brother of Jared, when he went before the Lord and requested that the Lord provide light for the vessels that were to carry them over the sea.

You remember that the brother of Jared prayed so mightily that he saw the finger of the Lord touch the stones that would give them light, and the account says that his faith was so great that he could not be kept outside the veil; he went beyond the veil that beclouds our eyes and saw the finger of the Lord. The Lord asked, what else did you see, and he said, nothing but the finger, and told of his humility and of his anxieties. Then the Lord showed himself to him as he was to appear on earth  Ether 3:1-16

You remember that well-known incident of Elijah and the priests of Baal, how Elijah, in faith and in prayer thwarted the designs of the priests of Baal, vanquished them and brought down from heaven the fire which consumed not only the bullock that was offered for sacrifice, but also the wood on which it was laid, the stones on which that was laid and then licked up the water that had been poured over it all and had collected in the trench  1 Kgs. 18:19-40

"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire." Pray, my brothers and sisters. Pray for inspiration. Pray for wisdom. And if you would know for what you might pray, read the words of Amulek when he told you you might pray for your crops and your herds, that you might pray that you would not be overcome by your enemies, and for all the rest of the things that you need in your daily lives  Alma 34:18-27 But remember the teaching of Aaron: Prayer must have as a foundation, repentance of sin and faith  Alma 22:16

I refer again to the words of the Savior on that last night. You would do well to read those last chapters of John. Ponder them. They contain so much that is of value to us.

Recall the miracle at the Gate Beautiful performed by Peter, when he said to the beggar who was carried there each morning, lame from his mother's womb: "Look on us." And the beggar looked, expecting alms, and Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." And the man rose up and walked and leaped and went with them into the temple, and then the leaders in Israel had Peter arrested, and he and John were tried, and sentence passed  Acts 3:1-11

But the thing I want to refer to is what Peter said (as has already been quoted here a number of times) to the Sanhedrin, when asked by what name he did this:

" . . . by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth . . . for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"  Acts 4:10,12

I want to add my testimony to those that have already been borne, to the Messiahship of Jesus, the Christ.

I have a spiritual knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. That he lived, moved, preached, acted, performed his miracles, was crucified, laid in the tomb, and on the morning of the third day he rose from the tomb. That he was seen thereafter, first, apparently, by Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils  Mark 16:9 It was remarkable that a woman of that kind should have had the faith to be the first to view the Savior after his resurrection: That he then appeared to the women of Galilee  Matt. 28:9 and then to the two on the way to Emmaus  Luke 24:13-33 and sometime during the day to Peter  Luke 24:34 Then to the ten assembled in the chamber at night  John 20:19-25 and a week later to the eleven  John 20:26-29 Then to the multitudes on the Sea of Galilee  1 Cor. 15:6 and then to James  1 Cor. 15:7 and then to Peter, James and John, Nathanael and Thomas called Didymus, and two others on the Sea of Galilee  John 21:1-2 then to the eleven prior to his ascension  Acts 1:2 That then he appeared on this continent to the Nephites  3 Ne. 11:8 And finally to Joseph in the woods, introduced by the Father, himself, in person  JS—H 1:17 later to Joseph  D&C 110:1-10 and Sidney  D&C 76:22-24 in the temple.

To all of these things I bear witness that the Spirit has borne its witness to me.

Brethren and sisters, pray, pray in humility, pray always, pray in your families, pray in secret; live, keeping the commandments of the Lord, so that your prayers may ascend to our Heavenly Father. So live that when occasion comes, you may go to our Heavenly Father and in faith seek his aid in behalf of your loved ones who are sick. I testify to you that the lord can hear the prayers of his Saints, when they seek him, in humility, in behalf of their sick. I know it.

May the Lord add to the testimony of each of us, build us up and strengthen us, may he give us the spirit of prayer, that we may at all times be able to go to him, and that he at all times will feel able to come to us, in answer to our prayers, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.