Last week I got to teach 100 young women aged 11-18 about scripture study and revelation. Leaders at camp divided the girls into four classes based on age and each class length was an hour and a half, providing ample opportunity to really dive into various aspects of the whys and hows of scripture study and revelation.
I assumed the girls had sat through many classes and talks about why you have to study your scriptures (because I have,) so after praying for guidance about how to approach the topic, I felt led to emphasize the promises God Himself gives for studying the scriptures and ways He gave personal revelation to women in scripture.
My Why — Some Whys and Hows of Scripture Study and Revelation
We started by chatting about my personal why. My why stems from knowing that we lived with Heavenly Parents before life on Earth. Becoming like our Heavenly Parents became one of the main reasons we decided to come to Earth—to receive a body and progress along the covenant path culminating, someday, in our exaltation.
For me, the scriptures provide a GPS, so to speak, that shows me not only who our Parents are but how to return to them. Revelation is the voice that gives me advance warning of upcoming turns or obstacles.
Below is an updated version of the “worksheet” the girls and I used to move through aspects of scripture study that I covered.
A Few of the Promises the Lord gives us for Studying the Scriptures.
If looking for motivation to make scriptures a more meaningful part of life, the Lord offers some compelling promises to use as motivation. Below are just a few promises the Lord gives us for studying the scriptures. The young women looked up the promises and then also shared how that promise could look in their life.
Helaman 3:29-30, Book of Mormon, page 374 ______________________________________________________
1 Nephi 15:24, Book of Mormon, page 32 ______________________________________________________
2 Nephi 32:3, Book of Mormon, page 115 ______________________________________________________
Jacob 2:8, Book of Mormon, page 120 ______________________________________________________
Joshua 1:8, Old Testament, page 309 ______________________________________________________
Psalms 119:105, Old Testament, page 796 ______________________________________________________
2 Timothy 3:15, New Testament, page 1515 ______________________________________________________
Doctrine and Covenants 33:16, D&C, page 57 ______________________________________________________
Joseph Smith Matthew 1:37, Pearl of Great Price, 45 _____________________________________________________
Knowing the Character of God
“It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another….” Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 345
What is the Character of God? We can converse with Him!
“When we understand the character of God, and know how to come to Him, He begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it. When we are ready to come to Him, He is ready to come to us.” Joseph Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 40–41.
When does this promise apply to us? We talked about how after baptism, we are immediately instructed to receive the Holy Ghost, a member of the Godhead. As covenant women, do we believe in this promise that God will come to us? Are we ready? If there is a shred of doubt in that promise, what is it and what do we need to eradicate it from our minds and hearts?
“God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as [she] is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, ‘Know ye the Lord;’ for all shall know Him who remain, from the least to the greatest.” Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 149
Everyone. Also, I can’t wait for the day when all shall know Him!
“God is known only by revelation; he stands revealed or remains forever unknown. He cannot be discovered in the laboratory, or by viewing all immensity through giant telescopes, or by cataloging all the laws of nature that do or have existed. A knowledge of his powers and the laws of nature which he has ordained does not reveal his personality and attributes to men in the true gospel sense. Certainly a knowledge of these laws and powers enables man to learn truths which are faith promoting and which help him to understand more about Deity; but saving knowledge of God comes only by revelation from the Holy Ghost as a consequence of obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
Man’s purpose in life is to learn the nature and kind of being that God is, and then, by conformity to his laws and ordinances, to progress to that high state of exaltation wherein man becomes perfect as the Father is perfect.” [Mormon Doctrine, subject “God,” p 318]
God Stands Revealed
Learning how the Holy Ghost speaks to me is still one of the most important and impactful things I’ve ever learned. My experience with revelation will be different than yours because we are different people. However, we can rely on patterns and learn different ways the Lord reveals Himself to various people throughout the scriptures to help us solidify our confidence in how we receive revelation from God.
Doctrine and Covenants 8:2, D&C, page 15 ___________________________________________________
Doctrine and Covenants 9:8-9, D&C, page 16 ___________________________________________________
What was revealed? How did the Lord reveal truth to the woman? What is your takeaway from the story?
Abish Alma 19:16, BoM, page 257 ___________________________________________________
Hannah 1 Samuel 1:11, 17-18, OT, page 382-3 ___________________________________________________
Esther Esther 4:14-16, OT, pages 672-3 ___________________________________________________
Mary Luke 1:28-30, NT, page 1273 ___________________________________________________
Manoah’s wife Judges 13:2-3,6,8-13, OT, page 326 ___________________________________________________
Rebekah Genesis 25:22-24, OT, page 37 ___________________________________________________
Deborah Judges 4:4, 7-9, OT, page 348 ___________________________________________________
Tabitha/Dorcas Acts 9:36-42, NT, page 1382 ___________________________________________________
Four main ways to know: Feeling, Hearing, Seeing, A sudden knowing
1 Samuel 3:10 “And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.”
Samuel heard the Lord. Samuel heard the Lord even though the scripture tells us that the Lord came and stood there! If Samuel received revelation primarily visually, he would have seen the Lord. If Samuel received revelation primarily through feelings, he would have felt the Lord’s instruction. If Samuel received revelation primarily through a sudden knowing, the Lord’s message would have been known rather than heard.
How do you primarily receive revelation? Of course, we can receive revelation through all of these means.
All Things Teach of Christ
One way to approach scripture study is to look for Jesus Christ in every story—His characteristics, His mission.
“Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him.” 2 Nephi 11:4
Doctrine and Covenants 130:22, D&C, page 265 _________________________________
Doctrine and Covenants 131:2, D&C, page 266 _________________________________
Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-18, D&C, page 32 _________________________________
Abraham 4:26-27, Pearl of Great Price, page 40 _________________________________
A Few Symbolic Things Jesus Christ is known as:
John 1:1, 14, New Testament, pages 1324-5 _________________________________
John 1:29, New Testament, page 1326 _________________________________
John 1:7-8, New Testament, page 1325 _________________________________
John 6:51, New Testament, page 1337 _________________________________
John 10:11, 14, New Testament, page 1345 _________________________________
John 15:1-5, New Testament, page 1354 _________________________________
1 Corinthians 10:4, New Testament, page 1449 _________________________________
Hebrews 12:29, New Testament, page 1536 _________________________________
Revelation 5:5, New Testament, page 1570 _________________________________
Matthew 25:1-13, New Testament, page 1232 _________________________________
Symbols
“I make this broad declaration that whenever God gives a vision of an image, or beast, or figure of any kind, He always holds Himself responsible to give a revelation or interpretation of the meaning thereof, otherwise we are not responsible or accountable for our belief in it.” –Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 291
ldsSymbols.com is a great website for ideas of what items can represent. Be sure to find your own meanings too!
Likening the Scriptures to Yourself
Likening scriptures to ourselves is crucial to really internalizing them. But how do you liken archaic words and stories to a modern life?
“Behold, I am God and have spoken it; these are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their , that they might come to .” Doctrine and Covenants 1:24
Write out a scripture according to your “language”
This exercise proved most valuable to the girls. I had more comments about this section than any other, which makes sense because likening scripture to ourselves always bears powerful fruit!
You can write the scripture in a way and with words that help you understand its meaning
You can write the scripture as if it were telling about your life
Write what the Holy Ghost inspires you about the scripture
I suggested they use a favorite scripture, try scripture potluck (where you randomly open the scripture and use the first verse you see), and provided some scriptures to use that I felt would offer a beautiful experience as they likened a scripture to themselves.
1 Nephi 3:7, (God provides a way to accomplish commandments), Book of Mormon, page 6
2 Nephi 31:13 or 20 or 21, (speaking with tongues of angels, press forward, no other way) Book of Mormon, page 113-4
Alma 26:17 (our hearts were depressed), Book of Mormon, page 274
3 Nephi 11:14-15 (Christ appears unto the Nephites), Book of Mormon, page 428
3 Nephi 17:21-24 (Christ blesses the children), Book of Mormon, page 441
Ether 12:27 (weakness to be humble, grace is sufficient), Book of Mormon, page 510
Ether 12:41 (seek Jesus), Book of Mormon, page 511-2
Doctrine and Covenants 84:35-29 (oath and covenant of the priesthood), Doctrine and Covenants, page 156
Joseph Smith History 1:15-17 (attempted to pray, darkness surrounded him, God delivered), Pearl of Great Price, page 49
Hopefully, these whys and hows of scripture study can be helpful to you, too. I’d love to hear your whys and hows of scripture study in the comments!
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