President Oaks addresses the church concerning the language of prayer. He begins by giving examples of how we address people in different cultures and backgrounds with respect. This respect typically shows recognition of their title or status.

• The use of titles signifies respect for office and authority. The words we use in speaking to someone can identify the nature of our relationship to that person. They can also remind speaker and listener of the responsibilities they owe one another in that relationship. The form of address can also serve as a mark of respect or affection.

As a church, we are taught that there are respectful ways to speak to our Heavenly Father in prayer.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches its members to use special language in addressing prayers to our Father in Heaven.
  

President Oaks talks about a change we go through when we go to worship in the temple and how these changes show respect for the house of the Lord. We also should change to address our Heavenly Father to show respect for Him and his divine role in our lives.

• When we go to worship in a temple or a church, we put aside our working clothes and dress ourselves in something better. This change of clothing is a mark of respect. Similarly, when we address our Heavenly Father, we should put aside our working words and clothe our prayers in special language of reverence and respect. In offering prayers in the English language, members of our Church do not address our Heavenly Father with the same words we use in speaking to a fellow worker, to an employee or employer, or to a merchant in the marketplace. We use special words that have been sanctified by use in inspired communications, words that have been recommended to us and modeled for us by those we sustain as prophets and inspired teachers.
• 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.

We should remember that people of other faiths typically speak to God in the language of their scriptures. Many variation of the scriptures use simple english so that is the way that people are taught to pray. We should not look down upon others that do no understand the language of prayer that has become acceptable in our religious culture.

• Our position on special prayer language in English is based on modern revelations and the teachings and examples of modern prophets. It is not part of the teachings known and accepted by our brothers and sisters of other Christian and Jewish faiths. When leaders or members of other churches or synagogues phrase their prayers in the familiar forms of you or your, this does not signify a lack of reverence or respect in their belief and practice but only a preference for the more modern language. Significantly, this modern language is frequently the language used in the scriptural translations with which they are most familiar.

We should not be concerned if children and recent converts have problems using the language of prayer. We as church members understand that learning and getting use to learning can be a difficult change. But President Oaks says that as they gain experience, they will become more mature in their discussions with God.

• Our earliest efforts will be heard with joy by our Heavenly Father, however they are phrased. They will be heard in the same way by loving members of our church. But as we gain experience as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we need to become more mature in all of our efforts, including our prayers.

If we wish to show respect for our Father in Heaven, we need to learn the language that shows respect for Him. It will take time, but keep trying and it will get easier as you continue to try.

• Men and women who wish to show respect will take the time to learn the special language of prayer. Persons spend many hours mastering communication skills in other mediums, such as poetry or prose, vocal or instrumental music, and even the language of access to computers. My brothers and sisters, the manner of addressing our Heavenly Father in prayer is at least as important as these.

President Oaks conclude with counsel for parents. He encourages us to teach our children to pray using the language of prayer and the easiest way to do that is to have them learn by our example.

• Modern revelation commands parents to “teach their children to pray.” This requires parents to learn and pray with the special language of prayer. We learn our native language simply by listening to those who speak it. This is also true of the language with which we address our Heavenly Father. The language of prayer is easier and sweeter to learn than any other tongue. We should give our children the privilege of learning this language by listening to their parents use it in the various prayers offered daily in our homes.

I was at church last week and asked one of my 12 year old that I teach Sunday School to, to offer a prayer. He was so perfect in his language of prayer. It was obvious that he had been taught well at home to show respect for his Father in Heaven. What it also showed me is that he has a relationship with his Father in Heaven since he has gained that respect. I think we would all gain a better appreciation for our Father in Heaven as we address Him with respect and seek his guidance and counsel through prayer. I am going to do a better job of remembering to not be so casual in my prayers and show more respect for Him.

Elder Ballard speaks to the youth of the church about the covenants they have made.  He speaks about baptism, priesthood covenants, and future covenants that we all need to be worthy of making and keeping.  He shares that one issue he sees with the youth today is that they don't completely grasp how living a morally clean life effects their spiritual life.

• Some of you may not understand our Heavenly Father’s plan well enough to appreciate how important living a morally clean life is if you want to enjoy peace, happiness, and self-esteem. When you understand, the truths of the gospel will give you the guidance you need to be worthy members of the Church. When you accept the basic principles of the gospel and commit to live them, you will have the spiritual insight that will help you to be young men and women of purity, integrity, and faith.
• Unfortunately, we live in a world that is awash in all kinds of moral pollution, including drugs, violence, filthy language, pornography in literature; and videotapes, films, and television shows that promote illicit sex and promiscuity as being normal. A national debate is raging to make elective abortion acceptable.
  

He shares that these struggles in life are not to be faced alone.  There are people everywhere that understand the temptations and struggles of life and want to help and assist where possible.  Turning to you parent, teachers, and priesthood leaders are great helps in handling the temptations and struggles of life.

• With challenges like these, you need to remember that you do not face them alone. There are people who love you and want you to be happy. We want the very best for you. Most especially, your Father in Heaven loves you and wants you to have joy and happiness. He has made marvelous promises to His faithful children who love Him, who are baptized, and who keep His commandments.
  

Elder Ballard reminds us that Satan wants us to be frustrated, to give into our worldly desires, and to not focus at all on our spiritual development.  But Satan's plan leads us to misery and unhappiness.  There is no other destination except spiritual death if we follow the temptations of Satan.

• Satan will seek to tempt us at times and in ways that exploit our greatest weaknesses or destroy our strengths. But his promises of pleasure are short-lived deceptions. His evil design is to tempt us into sinning, knowing that when we sin we separate ourselves from our Heavenly Father and the Savior, Jesus Christ. We begin to move away from Heavenly Father’s promised blessings toward the misery and anguish in which Satan and his followers languish. By sinning we put ourselves in Satan’s power.

The struggles to keep our covenants is real.  But we have within each of us, a spirit born of heavenly parents.  We have divine DNA and we can rely on that spiritual power to help us make and keep our sacred covenants.  This is a battle that we each can win with the support of people that care about us.

• Now, my dear young friends, I understand the struggles you face every day in keeping the commandments of the Lord. The battle for your souls is increasingly fierce. The adversary is strong and cunning. However, you have within your physical body the powerful spirit of a son or daughter of God. Because He loves you and wants you to come home to Him, our Father in Heaven has given you a conscience that tells your spirit when you are keeping the Lord’s commandments and when you are not. If you will pay more attention to your spiritual self, which is eternal, than to your mortal self, which is temporary, you can always resist the temptations of Satan and conquer his efforts to take you into his power.

Elder Ballard concludes with great advice on how to reflect on our covenants and to keep ourselves focused on the goal of eternal life while spending our days having earthly experiences.

• I encourage you to take time each week to be by yourself, away from television and the crowd. Have your scriptures with you and as you read, ponder, and pray, take an honest look at your life. Evaluate where you stand with the promises you have made with Heavenly Father. If you have a problem, talk it over with the Lord in earnest and humble prayer. Counsel with your parents; they will help you. Your bishop and your Young Men and Young Women adult leaders will help. They love you and want you to be at peace with yourself so you can partake of the sacrament worthily each week. When all is said and done, however, only you know if you are living true to your covenants made with God.
  

Elder Ballard speaks simple truths to the youth of the church.  I appreciate the straightforward nature of his talk.  I got from this that making and keeping covenants will lead us to happiness and joy.  Not keeping the covenants we have made will lead us to misery and pain.  I have seen this in my life.  When I am focused on doing the things that I should be, the Lord blesses me, He helps me, He gives me peace and joy.  That peace that He provides will stay with me through trials and heartaches and His love is real.  I know that keeping our covenants will lead us to happiness and eternal life.  We should all take time to reflect on our spiritual lives daily and determine how we can be better disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Elder Christofferson speaks for the first time in conference in April 1993.  As a newly called Seventy of the Church, he shares a few experiences in his life that have led him to this point.  He speaks of the blessings of serving others and how that helps us keep our covenants:

• I began to learn then, as I have come to understand since, that any call, any service, in our Lord’s cause sanctifies us. Whether it is performed in the glare of the public eye or in a quiet corner known only to God is of no consequence. What matters is that we do serve, for by serving we keep our covenants with Deity, and in those covenants is the promise of salvation.
  

He shares his testimony of multiple things brought to the world through the restoration of the church:

• I readily attest to the reality and greatness of our God, to his goodness and grace, to his justice and mercy, to the truth of his gospel and the power of his priesthood and the authenticity of the calling of his latter-day seers. At the outset of this ministry, I acknowledge that anything I may achieve will be by virtue of the power and the grace and the gift of God.
  

He speaks on the importance of prayer.  He shares his knowledge that God is approachable, that he listens, and that he answers our prayers:

• I am particularly gratified, and it is of great significance to me, that I may at any moment and in any circumstance approach through prayer the throne of grace, that my Heavenly Father will hear my petition, that my Advocate, him who did no sin, whose blood was shed, will plead my cause. (See D&C 45:3–5 .) I rely heavily on that access to God, which he gives to all his children, for he is indeed no respecter of persons, and he that asks shall receive.
  

I am grateful for the encouraging words of Elder Christofferson.  His basic understanding that we are known to God individually is great.  His testimony of the power of prayer encourages me to make prayer a bigger part of my life.  I know that God will answer my prayers as well as yours as we come to Him in faith.