Prayer

Seven p.m. in the Lion House - time for family prayer:

The smooth tones of a bell floated throughout the house. Everyone left what they were doing and hurried down the hall. The patter of children’s small feet could be heard, skipping from every direction, followed by more-grown up footsteps. The family met in the parlor for prayer.

Eliza R. Snow sat in a place of honor, and sometimes Brigham's brothers, Joseph and Lorenzo, were present.
Brigham Young sat in a large chair, a small leather-bound book lay open in his hands. Candles flamed from brass candle sticks, giving the room a golden glow. Brigham discussed the scriptures, telling his family they should read the scriptures as if they were present in the scene. "Do you read them [the scriptures] as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them?"

Everyone sang a hymn and then knelt. Brigham prayed for his family, the sick and the afflicted, and the Saints.

A discussion of plans and activities and events of the day followed.

"I do not know any other way for the Latter-daySaints than for every breath to be . . . a prayer for God to guide and direct his people."