20 Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen; and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of the world.
21 Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in their words.
22 Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them.
23 And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.
When the Savior appeared to the Nephites and Lamanites on the American continent following his death and resurrection, He taught them about baptism, He delivered the Sermon on the Mount, He told them that they were the “other sheep” He had spoken of in Jerusalem, He spoke of the gathering of Israel in the last days, He healed their sick, and He instituted the sacrament among them. That was the first day of His ministry among them.
On the second day, when He appeared to a much larger multitude, all of whom had been baptized and had received the Holy Ghost, the first thing He did was to pray for them. He offered three prayers. The first appears in the passage above. The second follows a similar pattern. The third is not recorded, because “tongue cannot speak the words which he prayed, neither can be written by man the words which he prayed” (verse 19).
The prayer is simple and direct, and it begins with gratitude. “Father, I thank thee” are the first words in both of the recorded prayers. He goes on to ask His Father to bless them, but His first thought is to thank Him for blessings they have already received.
I pray for blessings needed by other people, but I don’t often think to thank my Heavenly Father for the blessings those people have already received. I guess my instinct is to express gratitude for my own blessings and then to ask for blessings on behalf of others.
Today, I will follow the Savior’s example in my prayers. Before asking for blessings for those I love, I will consider the blessings they have already received. I will express gratitude for those blessings before asking for new ones.
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