Most Formal Word Choice in Prayer Pleaseth God

[_moksha]

Those in the English speaking LDS Church know that we should emulate the language of the King James Bible as being the proper and most reverential way to address prayers to God. Using modern English pronouns is not the way to go. Good LDS prayers in other languages should also use the most formalistic wording it there is a choice.

But, what if those jaunty translators of the King James Bible threw in some jazzy hepcat talk from the first years of the 1600's? Think how this would seem disrespectful to God who may still have been used to Middle English as the correct form of prayer.

O ye souerens þat sytt and ye brothern þat stonde ryght wppe,
Pryke not yowr felycytes in thyngys transytorye.
Beholde not þe erth, but lyfte yowr ey wppe.
Se how þe hede þe members dayly do magnyfye.
Who ys þe hede forsoth I xall yow certyfye:
I mene Owr Sauyowr, þat was lykynnyde to a lambe;
Ande hys sayntys be þe members þat dayly he doth satysfye
Wyth þe precyose reuer þat runnyth from hys wombe.
Ther ys non such foode, be water nor by londe,
So precyouse, so gloryouse, so nedefull to owr entent,
For YouTube hath dyssoluyde mankynde...

I was wondering if perhaps this older form of English could be tried out at BYU devotionals as the language of prayer choice. Let's see empirically if the quests for moisture and finding lost car keys shows significance with a battery of statistical tests.

by the way, what do other churches do in terms of using pleasing words in their prayers?

[Guest]

...

[_PrickKicker]

I challenge anyone who still goes and takes part to do a prayer in PIRATE!!!

Something along the lines of...

"Dear heavenly father, we know ye be the most powerful being in the universe.
Arrr! We wish to humbly serve thee, and make all mankind thy sheep so thou mayest lead them to slaughter.

Aye! Blesseth us as we feasteth upon the flesh of thine immortal son and drinketh of his blood.
even though in the Old testament you commandeth us not to eat or drink blood,
and now claim he has no blood just celestial fluid.

We thank the for the confusion ye assure, so that our faith mayest abound.
Thy mysteries are so beyond our childlike understanding.

Ahoy! Protect us from the prevailing winds that mayst besiege us on our journey.
we pleadeth with thee dearest father, to Protect us from the kraken.
and his mer-men that lay in wait to ensnare us with their nets.

Ye don't mind if we call ye God, do ye? as 'ylhym' is a bit of a mouthful.

We asketh these things in the name of thy only begotten hybrid son who was half God, but whom we are suppose to relate and sympathise with on a human level.
'Yshwh' who we renamed Jesus, for convenience sake.

Let it be so!

Or in other words, Amen.

[_Chap]

How Old would you like the English to be?

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum;
Si þin nama gehalgod
to becume þin rice
gewurþe ðin willa
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg
and forgyf us ure gyltas
swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge
ac alys us of yfele soþlice

If you want to say it right, look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blDM-ibezJQ

God will be really impressed by your fluency.

[_Albion]

In answer to Maksha's question, most churches, certainly here in the US, use modern English...why on earth would they use anything else? Who on earth ordained that thee and thine have more built in respect than you and yours?

[_Quasimodo]

Who on earth ordained that thee and thine have more built in respect than you and yours?

Joseph Smith.

[_Albion]

Well I was thinking of a more rational person...but you are right, of course.

[_moksha]

Since I wrote this, I've learned that Thee and Thine are actually the familiar usage, which would be proper in addressing a loving God.

Your and Your are the formal usage, which would be most proper with a God demanding obedience and fealty through his earthly church representatives. Somewhere along the way, this LDS usage meaning got switched, so for you NOMS out there - count it as a blessing to use Thee and Thine with the knowledge the prayer is directed at a loving God.

by the way, before there was Old English there was Old Saxon. Here is the Lord's Prayer in Old Saxon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8H9NIhd92Y&feature=related

Going back really far there is Adamic (first language spoken on the Serengeti), which perhaps could be considered Proto-French if you've already had your first glass of Chablis for the evening.

[_subgenius]

In answer to Maksha's question, most churches, certainly here in the US, use modern English...why on earth would they use anything else? Who on earth ordained that thee and thine have more built in respect than you and yours?

I believe it is an occasion of context. The deliberate use and focused grammar utilizes as aspect of the mind that is beneficial in that moment.
Just as when you speak to someone with whom you hold in regard you tend to be polite and better spoken, just as you tend to show respect by caring for your appearance, just as you speak with deliberate poetic when trying to catch an ear.....perhaps you should re-visit exactly what you mean by "respect" and discover for yourself.

[_Quasimodo]

I believe it is an occasion of context. The deliberate use and focused grammar utilizes as aspect of the mind that is beneficial in that moment.

Exactly! The use of King James grammar and syntax is especially beneficial if you're trying to sell a fraudulent testament to a mostly uneducated crowd. It sounds biblical to those who know no better.