Let my prayer be set forth before thee as
incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening peace. (Psa 141:2)
And another angel came and stood at the
altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that
he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which
was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the
prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. (Rev
8:3-4)
In his book Scientific Aspects of Mormonism (1904),
Nels. L. Nelson offered his opinion about how
God receives our prayers. This is a rare instance of a Latter-day Saint
appealing to the concept of angels literally
bringing our prayers up to God and tying that into a concept of a guardian
angel. As this is rare, at least from my reading of historical and modern
Latter-day Saint theological works, I am reproducing his comments here:
I do not pretend to know how God answers all
the prayers that should be answered; nor has Mormonism spoken definitely on
this point. But the following conclusion may safely be inferred from
well-established premises in our religion: Ninety-nine per cent. of our prayers
are probably passed upon by our guardian angels; the rest by councils of
greater wisdom,--by Jesus Christ, or God himself, if need be. (Nels L. Nelson, Scientific Aspects of Mormonism or Religion
in Terms of Life [New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904], 43-44)
