Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are taught to pray and communicate with Heavenly Father, but students at BYU-Hawaii shared how they speak to God in each of their respective cultures. They added no matter the type of language used, God hears people’s prayers.Elder Dallin H. Oaks said in an April 1993 General Conference talk on prayer, “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.”Israel Bowers, a junior in pre-medicine from New Jersey, shared in the Spanish language, people speak to God like they would speak to their father, considering he everyone’s eternal father. “There’s formal and there’s informal in Spanish,” said Bowers. “Generally when you talk to your elders or you talk to your boss, you use the formal, but in Spanish when you pray you don’t. You use the informal.”In most Spanish cultures, people speak informally to one another, unless they are speaking to a complete stranger or someone of higher authority, such as a bishop or president. But according to Bowers, in some Spanish cultures, they don’t use any formal language. However, he said LDS missionaries are required to speak formally regardless of the culture they are in unless they are speaking to God. “It’s kind of the reverse of English where we speak more formally,” said Bowers, when people pray. “But I guess we treat him more as a family member rather than a boss or someone who is in charge of us.” In contrast to the Spanish language, Fotu Jr. Misa, a senior in political science from Samoa, shared how in the Samoan language people speak to God in the most formal way. “There are polite words that you use only when you’re talking to the chiefs, in the Matai language, and then there’s words you use when you converse with your friends or your homies,” said Misa. “You don’t talk to the chiefs the way you talk to your homies. It’s the same thing with prayer. In the Fa’a Samoa, you don’t talk to God in the way you talk to your friends.”In Samoa, there are government leaders and then there are various chiefs in the “matai system,” said Misa. A matai is a chief, or a wise leader, full of deep knowledge and is well respected in the Samoan culture. The highest of the matai is known as the paramount chief, and Misa explained that Heavenly Father is addressed in the same way as the paramount chief. In the English language, the words thee, thou and thy are used when addressing God. Misa explained as a child, it’s understandable for people to say things such as “Thank you,” as opposed to “Thank thee,” when they pray, but that as people get older, they should change this. “You can really tell where someone is mature enough to say thee, thou, and thine.” Misa said. Megan Thomas, a freshman in graphic design from Chicago, said she prays using formal language. “To me, in English, we should use thee thou and thy, just because it shows respect, and shows that he has all power.” However, Thomas emphasized regardless of what language people speak or which culturally formal or informal prayer they give, there is a special spirit when people pray and God hears people regardless. In his talk, Elder Oaks also said, “I am sure that our Heavenly Father, who loves all of his children, hears and answers all prayers, however phrased. If he is offended in connection with prayers, it is likely to be by their absence, not their phraseology.”
Writer: Makaila Bergeson ~ Multimedia Journalist
