Mormons have this interesting habit of praying in modern English except for the second person pronouns for some weird mixed up reasons.
What if I spoke to you in French except all the adjectives were in Portuguese? Yeah that would be weird.
We are taught that saying “thee” and “thy” are respectful.
Why is one language more respectful than another? And why would you only show respect when it comes to the pronouns, not the rest of your speech to that person?
I wonder if they think Jesus was respecting the Pharisee when he said “Thou blind Pharisee”?
Shakespeare plays all full of insults using “thou.”
It’s not about respect.
So why do Mormons pray like that? Why do they use the King James Version of the Bible?
If you think about the effect of these pronouns, it does create some formality — not out of respect, but formality as the antonym of familiarity.
It creates distance.
It prevents us from being familiar with God
….and with the Word of God.
The King James Version is more difficult to read. It makes it so the reader is more dependent on a manual or teacher to tell them what it means.
…and so you can easily skip or miss the parts that don’t fit Mormonism.
Interesting how that works.
Some investigators and converts are hesitant to pray because they’re afraid they won’t pray correctly. What if they don’t follow all the right rules of prayer?
And usually I do think they are encouraged and assured that God will receive any prayer from their heart. So I do appreciate that.
I just wish we didn’t have “prayer rules” in the first place. Prayer ought to be the first place you feel comfortable and safe in life.
All I Possess 