In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have very few set prayers (the Sacrament prayers are two examples of those we do have). For the most part, we strive to pray from our hearts. We do encourage the use of thee and thine rather than you and your. It makes for a special language of prayer, language we use only in praying and language that shows reverence and respect and closeness. We also have a pattern of prayer in which we address our Heavenly Father, thank Him for things, ask Him for things, and close in the name of Jesus Christ.

Obviously, our Heavenly Father would rather hear from us than not, regardless of the language we use, but it really isn't that difficult to use the special language of prayer. For me, it makes communing with my Father in Heaven appropriately different from ordinary conversation. Two Ensign articles can help you and/or give you some help in teaching your children the language of prayer. They are:

"The Language of Formal Prayer" by Don E. Norton, Jr.

"The Language of Prayer" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks

These articles also talk a bit about the whys and wherefores of using formal language in prayer.

One thing to keep in mind is that we should never allow feelings of unworthiness to keep us from praying to our Heavenly Father. It is through prayer (and scripture study) that we learn to order our lives and make those changes we need to make.


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