The Power that I Get Each Time I Read

By Linda Christensen

For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children (2 Nephi 4:15).

Nephi, a Book of Mormon prophet, loved the scriptures. He spent time reading them, thinking about them, and teaching them. Nephi knew that the scriptures would bring happiness.

Alma, another Book of Mormon prophet, learned that the Zoramites were not keeping the commandments. This made Alma sad. He wanted to help. He went on a mission and taught them the gospel. Because of the power of the word of God, many Zoramites repented and began to live the commandments.

Just like Nephi and Alma, you can have the power of the word of God each day by reading the scriptures.

Scripture power keeps me safe from sin.
Scripture power is the power to win.
Scripture power! Ev’ry day I need
The power that I get each time I read.

(“Scripture Power,” 2006 Outline for Sharing Time and the Children’s Sacrament Meeting Presentation, 10–11)

You are blessed to have the scriptures. As you read them, you will learn what the commandments are and how to keep them. You will be reminded that you are a child of God and He loves you.

He wants you to work, pray, and always walk in His way. If you follow His plan, you will be happy on earth and return to live with Him someday.

Activity

Remove page 14, and mount it on heavy paper. Cut out the bookmark on the solid black lines. Fold on the dotted line, and glue the back sides of the bookmark together. Use the bookmark to help you keep your place as you read the scriptures. Mark the chart each day when you read the scriptures.

Scripture Power

February

Scripture power keeps me safe from sin.
Scripture power is the power to win.
Scripture power! Ev’ry day I need
The power that I get each time I read.

Sharing Time Ideas

(Note: All songs are from Children’s Songbook unless otherwise noted; GAK = Gospel Art Picture Kit; TNGC = Teaching, No Greater Call.)

Show a journal, and help the children understand that a journal is a record of the thoughts, feelings, and events we want to remember. Show GAK 122 (Jacob Blessing His Sons), and briefly tell the story of Jacob, including the names of his 12 sons. Ask the children to listen for two of those names as you read Ezekiel 37:16. Explain to the children that Judah and Joseph and their descendants were told to keep records of important events that occurred. Help the children find Ezekiel 37:15–17, and read the scripture together. Explain the meaning of the word stick as found in the footnote. Show GAK 326 (The Bible and Book of Mormon: Two Witnesses), and explain that the Bible is the stick of Judah and the Book of Mormon is the stick of Joseph.

Help the children memorize Ezekiel 37:17. Ask them to think of ways to become more familiar with the scriptures (marking the scriptures, memorizing scriptures, having personal and family scripture study, and so on). Choose one or two scripture study helps to share with the children (see TNGC, 56–57). Provide enough time for the children to practice using these study helps.

Repeat Ezekiel 37:17, and then sing the fourth verse of “This Is My Beloved Son” (p. 76). Testify of the blessing of having the Bible and the Book of Mormon testify of Christ.

For younger children: Prepare examples of scripture study helps on separate pieces of paper. (For example: make an enlarged copy of a map; make an enlarged copy of a page from the scriptures, and highlight the footnotes or chapter heading.) Teach the children about scripture study helps. Then, with their teachers’ help, have them search the scriptures to find examples of the study helps.
Sing “I Want to Live the Gospel” (p. 148). Write Live the Gospel at the top of the chalkboard. Sing the chorus again, and ask the children to listen for two ways we live the gospel (do and say). Make two columns under Live the Gospel. Label one Do, and the other Say.

Share several scripture stories from the Bible (Daniel, Moses, Noah, John the Baptist, and so on). Ask the children to listen for how the people in the scriptures live the gospel by what they do and say. Write responses on the chalkboard.

Review the children’s responses. Create several case studies so the children can apply how they can live the gospel (see TNGC, 161–62). Divide the Primary into groups, and give each group a case study. Provide enough time for each group to discuss it and determine what they would do and say. Then share their ideas with the Primary. Write their ideas on the chalkboard. Reinforce the concept that we live the gospel by what we do and say. Sing “I Want to Live the Gospel.” Bear testimony that Bible stories teach us how to live the gospel.
Using the optional verses of “Book of Mormon Stories” (pp. 118–19), create a guessing game with clues to help the children identify the scripture characters and the gospel principles they lived and taught (see TNGC, 169). (For younger children, you may want to provide pictures to help identify the scripture character. See GAK 308, 310, 313, 314, 322.)

Sing the first two verses of “Book of Mormon Stories.” Explain that the stories in the Book of Mormon teach us how to live the gospel. Play the guessing game. As the children discover the identity of the scripture characters, briefly tell the story, and discuss a gospel principle that each character lived (for instance: Alma the Younger—humility, repentance). Sing the third verse of “Book of Mormon Stories,” and talk about ways to live that principle in our lives. Continue until the scripture characters have all been identified and the corresponding verse has been sung. Testify that Book of Mormon stories teach us how to live the gospel.
Prepare a matching activity using My Gospel Standards and scriptures from the Doctrine and Covenants. (Examples: “I will honor my parents and do my part to strengthen my family” and D&C 88:123; “I will keep my mind and body sacred and pure, and I will not partake of things that are harmful to me” and D&C 89; “I will seek good friends and treat others kindly” and D&C 4:6.) Become familiar with the information found in the Explanatory Introduction of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Write the words Doctrine and Covenant on the chalkboard, and discuss their meanings. Invite the children to turn to the Explanatory Introduction, and read the first sentence together. Talk about the unique characteristics of the Doctrine and Covenants (for example, it is divided into sections, not chapters, and it consists of revelations given in this dispensation).

Write the activity’s scripture references on the chalkboard, and display My Gospel Standards. Assign children to look up the scriptures and match them to one of the standards. When the matching game is finished, invite several children to read a scripture and standard of their choice and share an example of how they can live that standard.

Bear testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the blessing of having the Doctrine and Covenants teach us how to live the gospel.
Song presentation: “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus” (p. 57). Bring a picture of a young child, and ask the children to share what they think a child might ask a parent to do for him or her. Sing the last line of the first verse for the children, and ask, “What is this child asking for?” Take responses from the children. Invite the children to sing that line with you. Say the title of the song, and explain that it is a request to hear the stories of Jesus.

Display the words of the song on a large chart. Sing the first line of the first verse to the children, and ask them to listen for the last four words (“I love to hear”). Discuss why it is important to hear with our ears and our hearts.

Sing the second line to the children, and then sing the line together. Invite the children to share ideas of what they would ask Jesus “if he were here.”

Sing the third line to the children. Show GAK 212 (Sermon on the Mount) and 214 (Stilling the Storm) for the phrases “scenes by the wayside” and “tales of the sea.” Sing the third line together. Help the children understand the meaning of the words.

Sing the first verse together. Remind the children that the stories of Jesus are found in the scriptures. Testify how the stories of Jesus have blessed your life.
Friend references: “We Believe in You!” May 2004, 2; “Randy’s Turn,” Nov. 2004, 32–33; “Hold On,” Sept. 2006, 11; “When I Read the Scriptures,” Aug. 2005, 7; “Samuel’s Scriptures,” Jan. 1998, 3; “Doctrine and Covenants Scripture-Story Grab Bag,” Mar. 2001, 24–25.