Sharing Time:

Choosing the Right through Study and Prayer

By Karen Ashton

“Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God” (Alma 37:37).

You make many important choices in your life. You can choose to keep the commandments. You can choose to obey your parents. You can choose your friends and the activities you participate in. It will be your choice to accept a call to go on a mission. You can decide how to treat others and whether to obey the law. All these choices are important, and you are accountable for them.

Heavenly Father loves you and wants you to make right choices because they will bless your life and help you be happy. He wants to help, but he will never choose for you or force you to make a choice. He has given you the precious gift of agency, which is the power to make your own choices.

When you have an important choice to make, you can study it out in your mind (see D&C 9:8). Think carefully about your options. Ask your parents and other leaders for their help and guidance. Find out what Heavenly Father has already told you about this choice in the scriptures. Study what the prophets have said about it. Imagine what the consequences of each option might be, and make a list of all the good and bad consequences.

When you feel that you understand what the best choice is, pray to Heavenly Father. Tell him the feelings of your heart and the reasons for your choice. Ask him to help you understand if your choice is a good one for you.

After sincerely praying, think about how you feel. You may have a warm peaceful feeling come into your heart. You may feel as though you should go forward with your choice. If you feel confused or uneasy, you should consider your choice again. These feelings come to you from your Father in Heaven (see D&C 9:8–9).

Instructions

In the starting box of the maze on the following page, write a choice you have to make. Follow the instructions as you go through the maze. Then, in the finish box, write the choice you have made.

Photograph by Jed Clark; Photograph by Welden Andersen

Sharing Time Ideas

1. Discuss with the children some of the difficult choices they will need to make as they grow older—for example, decisions about advanced schooling, dating, mission, marriage, occupation. Discuss the counsel the Lord gave to Oliver Cowdery in D&C 9 and how it can apply in their lives.

2. Show a picture of the First Vision. Discuss Joseph Smith’s desire to join the right church and how Heavenly Father answered his prayer. Divide the children into three groups. Give each group a slip of paper with the name of a prophet and a scripture reference. Have each group read and discuss their story to find out what difficult choice or problem the prophet had and how God answered him through prayer. Examples: Alma (Mosiah 26:1–15, 29, 36–37); Mosiah (Mosiah 28:1–8); Captain Moroni, through the prophet Alma (Alma 43:15–17, 23–24).

3. Explain that many of the songs we sing in Primary are actually prayers. In these songs, we ask Heavenly Father to bless us and help us. Have the pianist play a few measures from one or more of the songs about prayer. Let the children guess what the title of the song is, have them sing it, then mention the blessings they asked for in the song.