The Language of Prayer

The Language of Prayer

Dallin H. Oaks: “The special language of prayer follows different forms in different languages, but the principle is always the same. We should address prayers to our Heavenly Father in words which speakers of that language associate with love and respect and reverence and closeness. The application of this principle will, of course, vary according to the nature of a particular language, including the forms that were used when the scriptures were translated into that language. Some languages have intimate or familiar pronouns and verbs used only in addressing family and very close friends. Other languages have honorific forms of address that signify great respect, such as words used only when speaking to a king or other person of high rank. Both of these kinds of special words are appropriately used in offering prayers in other languages because they communicate the desired feelings of love, respect, reverence, or closeness.”[1]

Pronouns

1    1.   Subject—Thou instead of You: “Thou art merciful”

2.     Object—Thee instead of You “We thank thee”

3.     Possessive—Thy/Thine instead of You/Yours “Thy bounteous blessings; thine arm is upon us; all that I have is thine”

Verbs

The auxiliary verbs, to have and to be are conjugated as follows:

To be

            Present           Past                 Future

Thou    art                    wast                 wilt

To have

            Present           Past                 Future

Thou    hast                 hadst                 wilt have

You can use a variation of individual verbs for the past tense, like hast given, or gavest.

Modal auxiliary verbs: can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, have a t or an st added to them: Thou canst, couldst, wilt, wouldst, shalt, shouldst, mayst, mightest,

“Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen. …

“Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in their words.” (3 Ne. 19:20–21.)

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[1] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1993/04/the-language-of-prayer?lang=eng.