e willingly and knowingly think of
something else while saying our prayers. It would be better not to pray
than to pray with disrespect. If there is any time at which we cannot
pray well, we should postpone our prayer: for God does not require us to
say our prayers just at a particular time; but when we do pray, He
requires us to pray with reverence and respect. We would pray well
always if we reflected on the great privilege we enjoy in being allowed
to pray.

Lesson 29
ON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

310 Q. Is it enough to belong to God's Church in order to be saved?
A. It is not enough to belong to the Church in order to be saved, but we
must also keep the Commandments of God and of the Church.

We call some commandments the Commandments of God and others the
commandments of the Church. We do so only to distinguish the
Commandments that God gave to Moses from those that the Church made
afterwards. They are all the commandments of God, for whatever laws or
commandments the Church makes, it makes them under the inspiration of
the Holy Ghost, and by God's authority. It would be a mortal sin to
break the commandments of the Church, just as it would be to break the
Commandments of God. You must remember that the Ten Commandments always
existed from the time of Adam, but they were not written till God gave
them to Moses. You know that it was always a sin to worship false gods,
to blaspheme, to disobey parents, to kill, etc.; for you know Cain was
punished by God for the murder of his brother Abel (Gen. 5), and that
took place while Adam was still alive.

Before the coming of Our Lord the Israelites, or God's chosen people,
had three kinds of laws. They had the civil laws for the government of
their nation--just as we have our laws for the people of the United
States. They had their ceremonial laws for their services in the
temple--as we have our ceremonies for the Church. They had their moral
laws--such as the Commandments--teaching them what they must do to save
their souls. Their civil laws were done away with when they ceased to be
a nation having a government of their own. Their ceremonial laws were
done away with when Our Lord came and established His Church; because
their ceremonies were only the figures of ours. Their moral laws
remained, and Our Lord explained them and made them more perfect.
Therefore we keep the Commandments and moral laws as they were always
kept by man. Fifty days after the Israelites le