Are you telling us that Stephen -- because He prayed DIRECTLY to Jesus and not God the Father -- is to "condemned" & "casted out" at the "last day"???

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen PRAYED, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59)

I see your cherry picking and selective editing skills are as good as ever.

The real scripture:
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

This is not a transcription, the writer wrote this down years after the event had occurred. I only know that Stephen was being stoned to death, I doubt if he could utter a formal prayer while people where beating him in the head with large rocks...He was calling to Jesus whom he could see. I explain more below.

They prayed to him in 3 Nephi 19:7...again in v. 18

And let the selective editing continue...sheesh

Here's the real 3 Nephi 19:

6 And the twelve did teach the multitude; and behold, they did cause that the multitude should kneel down upon the face of the earth, and should pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus.

7 And the disciples did pray unto the Father also in the name of Jesus. And it came to pass that they arose and ministered unto the people.

8 And when they had ministered those same words which Jesus had spoken—nothing varying from the words which Jesus had spoken—behold, they knelt again and prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus.

Jesus Himself praying to the Father...

22 Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them.

Jesus is standing with them and they are communicating with Him. Communicating with deity is called a "prayer". This is why Stephen's cry to Jesus is called a "prayer". He's looking into heaven and seeing Jesus. However, as 3 Nephi 19 states, Jesus taught them that formal prayers are to go to their Father in Heaven.

can claim what your Mormon leaders claim

If anyone would like to see what I would consider the perfect instruction on prayer they can go here

The real scripture: 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. This is not a transcription, the writer wrote this down years after the event had occurred. I only know that Stephen was being stoned to death, I doubt if he could utter a formal prayer while people where beating him in the head with large rocks...He was calling to Jesus whom he could see. I explain more below.

Are you claiming that if somebody whispers upon the name of Jesus, that might be prayer; but if someone openly & publicly & directly calls unto Jesus, well that's somehow clearly not prayer?

(Your parsing is at least humorous...I love getting such prompted smiles)

Perhaps the most literal translation of the word (in context) is: "a calling upon unto"
Westcott & Hort GNT - Literal Translation: Acts 7

The Greek word in question is: epikaleo per lexiconcordance.com

The various contextual usages of this word is simply "call" as it's etymologically tied to the Greek word "kaleo" and it includes to "invoke" (as how the Name of Jesus was invoked/called upon in Acts 9:14) or to "appeal" ... as in Acts 25:21 and 28:19 where it is used to appeal to the highest governmental authority (Caesar).

Prayer or "pray" is simply an overall umbrella word used in the Scriptures for ALL types of communication with God. In the Scriptures, we find various types of prayer...for example (not meant to be exhaustive):
* Confession
* Thanksgiving
* Supplication
* Intercessory (on behalf of others)
* Blessing
* Imprecatory (numerous psalms)

Believe me, if I am a judge in a courtroom, I would eventually receive ALL of these (& other) types of communication from the parties involved...
...confessions of crimes,
...thanksgiving from victims that justice was served,
...intercessory pleas to be lenient on those to be sentenced,
...and just the opposite...others who rein down imprecatory condemnations upon the guilty, asking that I toss the book at 'em...

And guess what? Appeals would be part of that process, too.

And yes, if I was Lord Jesus, somebody calling me, appealing to me, etc. IS talking to me and IS expecting a response based upon authoritative Lordship!

But, hey. A "C+" for "effort" on a legalistic attempt to narrowly define communication with the Lord Jesus!

Jesus Himself praying to the Father...

(Yeah, I know it's Lenten season. I know some Catholics & even some mainline Protestants eat fish, but what does this have to do with the price of fish?)

Of course, Jesus talked with His Father! (Are you somehow thinking someone may actually believe He didn't?)

I see your cherry picking and selective editing skills are as good as ever.

SP, at least your comments are good for laughs. :) [Yet another reason I enjoy talking with you]

Did I cite all of 3 Nephi 19 in the BoM? (No).

Did you? (No; you quoted vv. six to eight; 22; & then ignored...or, as you like to put it, "cherry picked" and "selectively edited out" the rest)

(It's always funny to see somebody accuse another of something specific that they turn around & do in the same keyboard breath! :) )

Allow me to remind you of the original context of this discussion: Your comment in #333: The laws of God are not arbitrary. Prayers are to God the Father in the name of Jesus ONLY. So says Jesus Christ, whom will condemn you and cast you out at the last day for praying to anyone but His and our Father in Heaven."

Your point here is that WHO we pray to is a hardfast (nonarbitrary) "law" ... and the "only" target reinforces that ... and then condemnation for anybody departing from that absolute.

Therefore, your citation of selective 3 Nephi 19 portions about praying to the Father are irrelevant.

If I say, Preach to A but not B and we don't disagree about Preaching to A ... but only B ... it's irrelevant to discuss authoritative passages that undergird Preaching to A.

If something is a Law, that law doesn't change.
If something is an absolute, it's not an absolute if exceptions are allowed.

So the issue has never been, "Let's find what the most prominent pattern might be in the Scriptures and agree upon that!" No, the issue is, you claimed something was a spiritual law, an absolute; you claimed "only" status; and you claimed that person would be "condemned" based upon deviating upon that.

Therefore, all anybody has to do is find exceptions...precedents...which disrupt a legalistic notion of a 100 percent "law" reinforced and dismantles your claim to "only" status.

And here it is...

3 Nephi 19:17 to 26

17 And it came to pass that when they had all knelt down upon the earth, he commanded his disciples that they should pray.
18 And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God.
19 And it came to pass that Jesus departed out of the midst of them, and went a little way off from them and bowed himself to the earth, and he said:
20 Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen; and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of the world.
21 Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in their words.
22 Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them.
23 And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.
24 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, he came unto his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him; and they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire.
25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.
26 And Jesus said unto them: Pray on; nevertheless they did not cease to pray.

So, what can we conclude from 3 Nephi 19 verses above & your comments?

#1 While you object to the word "call" in Acts 7:59 being linked to direct prayer to Jesus, here in 3 Nephi 19:18 we have the same English word..."call" being linked with direct prayer to Jesus: and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God. So "calling" directly to Jesus in 3 nephi 19:18 IS prayer but calling directly to Jesus in Acts 7:59 isn't?

Tell us: Which are we to believe? The Book of Mormon? Or you?

#2 How many times did the "Nephite disciples" either pray DIRECTLY to Jesus or are referenced as praying DIRECTLY to Jesus? (Answer: Five times: V. 18, v. 22, v. 22 again, v. 24, v. 25) And the v. 24 reference was no microwave prayer: his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him

#3 The above shows your absolute claims are broken and cannot be maintained with ANY degree of intellectual honesty.

#4 Finally, even the Mormon jesus directly contradicts your claim in post #333: Your claim? Prayers are to God the Father in the name of Jesus only. So says Jesus Christ, whom will condemn you and cast you out at the last day for praying to anyone but His and our Father in Heaven.

Yet did the Mormon jesus even rebuke or warn these Nephites when they prayed DIRECTLY to him..."No, pray ONLY to the Father!" (NOPE!)

In fact, JUST THE OPPOSITE!
25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.
26 And Jesus said unto them: Pray on; nevertheless they did not cease to pray.

ALL: This is what happens when grassroots Mormons are spoonfed "absolute laws" from their "living prophets" ... yet when faced with direct contradictions from their very own "sacred" standard works, we see evasive actions.

Uhhhh...I guess we gotta narrowly define "prayer" by ejecting the "word" "calling"...(Oh...ya mean 3 Nephi 19:18 actually connects the two words? Uh, oh!)

Uhhhh...Perhaps we should next parse a distinction 'tween a "formal" prayer and an "informal" prayer (Oh...ya mean our leaders never divide prayers into these two categories when they instruct others on it? Oh...ya mean, our leaders NEVER give the "a ok" to pray directly to Jesus even in "informal" prayers? Uh, oh!)

What now? (We can't just let the text speak to us at such facevalue!)