Sacrament Prayers Part 2

Having established that the Sacrament Prayers are indeed prayers, one must consider the manner in which they begin. The very first words are an indication of who they are directed toward. Just as all prayers, they are meant for our Heavenly Father's ears. However, something very fundamental can be learned from what follows: "...we ask Thee, in the name of Jesus Christ...". Yes, we address Heavenly Father, but we do it in the name of Jesus Christ. The role of our Savior comes to light here. Christ is our advocate with the Father, and it is through His sacrifice that we obtain blessings from the Father. 

No one can deny the existence of God's law. Adam himself was given this law and put under covenant to obey it. But Adam was not perfect, just as none of us are. And without obedience to the law, there can be no exaltation, no blessings of any kind. In short, we would be damned, or stopped in our progress. We wouldn't be able to become better, or learn new things, because the Spirit would cease to strive with us. Without the Savior's Atonement, this very existence would be utterly wasted. 

But the wonderful, liberating reality is that He did perform the Atonement. He answered the very ends of God's law, He paid the price for when we have our imperfect moments. So that when we have them, we can turn to our Savior and obtain forgiveness once again, and the Spirit back. Anyone who has ever felt the loss of this gift can tell you, life is nothing without it. And once we have it back, we can continue to become more like the Savior.

Thus Jesus Christ becomes our advocate with the Father. This does not mean that God Himself does not hear our prayers, it simply means that we have someone standing next to us, to verify and give validity to our prayers, to say, "I have payed the price for their mistakes. Hear their pleas." So when, through the Priesthood, we ask for the blessings of the Sacrament to rest upon us, we can be assured that God will both hear and answer our prayers, because we ask in the name of Jesus Christ.