Alma 34:39

Yea, and I also exhort you, my brethren, that ye be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the temptation of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that you may not become his subjects at the last day; for behold he rewardeth you no good thing.

What does it mean to be "watchful unto prayer?" In Alma 13:28 it says to "watch and pray." I understand that wording much better than "watchful unto prayer." Now to keep this in context Alma is talking about those two words to help us in the struggle against temptation.

To watch means that we are looking and in this verse it is to be looking to avoid temptation. In James 1:14 we learn that "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed." We know what things tempt us so we know what to watch for. We need to be on the lookout because those opportunities will present themselves and the sooner we recognize temptation the quicker we can avoid it. To watch is one of our first defenses against temptation.

Our other first defense is prayer. We can pray like Mormon suggest in Mormon 9:28, "Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleaness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God." This means we won't be like the Zoramites in Alma 31:10, "Neither would they observe the performances of the church, to continue in prayer and supplication to God daily, that they might not enter into temptation." Prayer is important also because it allows us to be led by the sprit (Alma 13:28).

Now the word unto is what really hung me up in the beginning. The best comparison or substitute I could find was the word until. To be "watchful until prayer" gave me a different impression of the scripture and this is the meaning I got from it. We are asked to pray morning and night, over our meals and whenever we feel the need to pray. There is time between those prayers, however, where we need to be watchful. We need to watch out for temptation until that next prayer when we can supplicate to our Father for more help, more strength to resist temptation.

This is what the phrase "watchful unto prayer" now means to me and we need to, as Alma says, do it continually. I know the Lord will bless us as we heighten our awareness and seek out His Spirit to lead us.