The scriptures teach that “the spirit and the body are the soul of man” (D&C 88:15). Jesus said if we ate of the bread of life, we would never hunger again! Clearly, He was talking about bread for the soul, or for the spirit and body together. “To the souls of all those who partake of it.” When we bless our food or refreshments, we often use the wording “to nourish and strengthen our bodies.” But blessing the sacrament to our souls is different. In this context, it is interesting to remember that the word Bethlehem means “house of bread,” which of course is Jesus’ birthplace. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (see John 6:34–35). I could give you bread that, if you ate it, you would never die.” Their response was, not surprisingly, “Lord, evermore give us this bread. Jesus replied, “Moses didn’t give you the manna.” He continued (my paraphrase), “Your fathers ate manna and they are all dead. They asked Him if He was going to be like Moses, since Moses gave them manna. The next day, Jesus spoke to those who sought Him during the night. “To bless and sanctify this bread.” We may recall that Jesus fed five thousand with loaves and fishes, and many in the multitude followed Him in hopes that He would feed them again. In keeping with the Savior’s instructions, we offer this prayer, and all other prayers, to our Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ. He told the Nephites, “Ye must always pray unto the Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:19). “We ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ.” Jesus is our advocate with the Father. Our first article of faith states, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” In the sacrament prayers, we address the Eternal Father, the Father of the spirits of all men (see Hebrews 12:9), and the Father of Jesus Christ. We believe that God really is our Father in Heaven, that He is eternally our Father, and, in the sacrament prayers, we address Him as such. (The phrase Everlasting Father appears in Isaiah 9:6, but it is referring to Christ.) Interestingly, Eternal Father appears 13 times in the Book of Mormon. “O God, the Eternal Father.”Would you like to hear something interesting? Guess how many times the phrase Eternal Father appears in the King James Bible? Zero. What is in these prayers Moroni recorded that is so important and so timeless? Brother Gary Poll suggested that if Heavenly Father had a favorite scripture, He might arrange it so that His people would hear it often, so that the person uttering the scripture might be kneeling, and so that all listening would have their eyes closed.
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