Who are the rightious?

I was talking with a lady yesterday about My Favorite Scriptures and I quoted, “It is by the prayers of the righteous ye are spared.” (Alma 10:23)

“Are you saying I'm wicked?”  She asked.

I was stunned and finally answered. “I never thought of that scripture it that way. I have always looked at it as hope for me and my loved ones." It is true that Nephi is talking fire and brim stones in that passage but, I find great comfort in that scripture. Prayers are love. When someone prays for me or you it is because they love us. That is what that scripture means to me. Where would I be now if I hadn’t had the prayers of my Grandmother, and others?

Are we wicked? Well yes, we all are, at times. Anything that takes me away from the Holy Spirit is cause for prayers, and that happens every day. I need to pray and I need the prayers of others. I need your love, I need your caring and I need to pray for you because you also need love and caring. I can feel the effect of having someone pray for me. It feels like love and hope and you need that as much as I do.

Was it because the scripture says the “prayers of the righteous” that she felt that way? To some it might sound like Nephi is making a division there, but again I never thought of it that way. While my grandmother was certainly a righteous woman and did many charitable acts she was not perfect and neither am I. We have to be righteous to some degree or we cannot pray for others.

Who are the righteous anyway?  I think it is all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and call upon his name.