I Heard Him Come

[KillerDog]

What does it mean to see His "very" face? Does anyone talk like this besides us? Also, what us up with referring to the Lord as "even Jesus" as in "in the name of our Savior, even Jesus Christ." I think just plain Jesus is fine.

Can anyone think of any other odd little emphasis words we use? And, because I really don't know, is that unique to us?

Those two word insertions irritate me beyond all reason. "Our Prophet, even Tommy Monson is the very picture of righteousness." Ugh.

[myboynoah]

My MIL always starts her prayers the exact same way every time....this is over the 12 or 13 years that I have known her: "Our Dearest, Kind, Eternal, Dearest Father in Heaven...." I have never known why she says Dearest twice and my wife never even noticed until I pointed it out to her. Nobody knows and it isn't important enough to ask, but I think we all use phrases that seem familiar to us.

Coward. Just ask.

And then remind her that The Lord does not appreciate vain repititions.

[KillerDog]

What about some weird Mormon phrases?

"Sick and afflicted"
"Bless the hands the prepared this meal" (a lot of the convert members in France will use this phrase because they heard American missionaries use it)
"We thank thee for the MOOOOOISTURE"

Moisture must have something to do with agriculture. I have heard it in the areas of the Church that have agrarian roots far more often. For me, it is rain or snow and I'm almost never thankful for it. I figure giving thanks for moisture comes from the fact that our people were farmers who settled in a desert.

[KillerDog]

I agree. It seems redundant and repetitive.

Technically, the LDS prayer lexicon is friendly to repetitions......no harm or accident, strengthen and nourish, bless and sanctify, etc...

My MIL always starts her prayers the exact same way every time....this is over the 12 or 13 years that I have known her: "Our Dearest, Kind, Eternal, Dearest Father in Heaven...." I have never known why she says Dearest twice and my wife never even noticed until I pointed it out to her. Nobody knows and it isn't important enough to ask, but I think we all use phrases that seem familiar to us.

The prayer reps that I most enjoy are all related to banalities:

Blessing the car that it will function properly
Asking at an sports event that athletes can play to the best of their ability
Asking at an activity that we may all have a good time

For some reason, these have become commonplace in our culture, but I don't know why these ones have survived while others have never surfaced. For example, in a prayer on the food, why do we not ask that the utensils will function properly so that we may eat our food?

Great stuff. When asked to pray in a group, I always try and come up with a new and unusual thing to say or odd way to say it. I then only say that and nothing else. For example, at a family gathering I might ask the Lord to "bless this family that it might resist the temptation to grow apart from each other." I get great comments afterward from the one or two who were listening.

Once I asked the Lord to bless my brother in law so he would "repent of his stubborness." I almost said "and burn the book" afterward. Barely could close without a guffaw.

[TripletDaddy]

Great stuff. When asked to pray in a group, I always try and come up with a new and unusual thing to say or odd way to say it. I then only say that and nothing else. For example, at a family gathering I might ask the Lord to "bless this family that it might resist the temptation to grow apart from each other." I get great comments afterward from the one or two who were listening.

Once I asked the Lord to bless my brother in law so he would "repent of his stubborness." I almost said "and burn the book" afterward. Barely could close without a guffaw.

Ha. Speaking of which, this reminds me of another prayer tactic that I have noticed.....venting to others in the room through public prayer. Again, my MIL does this a lot to my FIL and I can tell it bugs him because he usually leaves the room and fumes somewhere for awhile.

One Sunday back in the day, we were all over at the in-laws for dinner, as was the tradition. We always had a nice time getting together with my wife's family for dinner. They are great folks. This one particular Sunday, a family argument erupted because my wife's sister, a BYU student at the time, was late on her rent. She had taken her actual rent money and used to it buy something else (can't remember what) so she basically needed an entirely new rent check. Her dad was really upset because I guess she had a poor habit of being terrible with her money. Heated discussions ensued.

When it came time to sit down for the meal, my MIL gave the prayer and said something to the effect of, "we are thankful we could all be here together as a fam....please bless the food.....also, please bless any of us in the room that are parents, that we can strive to be more patient and understanding and not quick to judge, etc......." Keep in mind that my wife and I were still in school, no kids. All her siblings were younger and not even married. MIL and FIL were the only parents in the room. Oh, that was classic. He was so mad, he got up, took his food, and went to his bedroom to fume away. After he left, my MIL said, "it is too bad he didnt listen to the prayer..." My MIL is rad.

[KillerDog]

Ha. Speaking of which, this reminds me of another prayer tactic that I have noticed.....venting to others in the room through public prayer. Again, my MIL does this a lot to my FIL and I can tell it bugs him because he usually leaves the room and fumes somewhere for awhile.

One Sunday back in the day, we were all over at the in-laws for dinner, as was the tradition. We always had a nice time getting together with my wife's family for dinner. They are great folks. This one particular Sunday, a family argument erupted because my wife's sister, a BYU student at the time, was late on her rent. She had taken her actual rent money and used to it buy something else (can't remember what) so she basically needed an entirely new rent check. Her dad was really upset because I guess she had a poor habit of being terrible with her money. Heated discussions ensued.

When it came time to sit down for the meal, my MIL gave the prayer and said something to the effect of, "we are thankful we could all be here together as a fam....please bless the food.....also, please bless any of us in the room that are parents, that we can strive to be more patient and understanding and not quick to judge, etc......." Keep in mind that my wife and I were still in school, no kids. All her siblings were younger and not even married. MIL and FIL were the only parents in the room. Oh, that was classic. He was so mad, he got up, took his food, and went to his bedroom to fume away. After he left, my MIL said, "it is too bad he didnt listen to the prayer..." My MIL is rad.

I don't blame him for being angry. I would have been sorely tempted to say a prayer of response. "Please bless those of us who are parents so we will hearken to our responsibility to teach our children even though those lessons may be painful now."

[DrumNFeather]

What does it mean to see His "very" face? Does anyone talk like this besides us? Also, what us up with referring to the Lord as "even Jesus" as in "in the name of our Savior, even Jesus Christ." I think just plain Jesus is fine.

Can anyone think of any other odd little emphasis words we use? And, because I really don't know, is that unique to us?

In my ward, we have a few people that start their prayers with, "Dear heavenly father, hallowed be thy name." I always thought that was more of a catholic thing.

[creekster]

In my ward, we have a few people that start their prayers with, "Dear heavenly father, hallowed be thy name." I always thought that was more of a catholic thing.

You shoudl watch them. It sounds like they may have been reading the bible again.

[TripletDaddy]

You shoudl watch them. It sounds like they may have been reading the bible again.

or listening to Yaz.

[Brian]

I've heard every fiber from people other than Mormons. With that said we abuse it.

Interesting. I guess that's true.
In my experience, we abuse it much more than others.

The 'praise the attending presiding authority in a prayer' is a fine annoyance as well.

The 'We decided to cancel our cable TV' announcement, made in the Bronco voice.

I think I've told this story before, but my HP group in NM had an ultra-mullah who worked at the albucracky temple. One devotional, the temple president took the time to instruct the workers on prayer. He emphasised that we should use Jesus' full name, "In the name of Jesus Christ", else God might not know what Jesus we were talking about. Perhaps Jesus Gonzales. God's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so we've got to be precise.
It was his turn to teach and so he shared this gem with the group one Sunday as his "lesson".
One day after sac mtg, I was talking to a priest in the ward who happened to have given the closing prayer. Brother Prayer comes by and compliments him on his prayer's proper phrasing.
Previously, I had never paid attentention to my Jesus words, but thereafter, it was always "in Jesus' name, Amen." Just to irk him. Childish, but, whatever.

"In the name of 'The' big bro, Amen". Never had the nads for that.

[il Padrino Ute]

or listening to Yaz.

Or Iron Maiden.