“Sharing Time: Promises in the Scriptures,” Liahona, Jan. 2006, F4–F5
Sharing Time:
Promises in the Scriptures
“For he will fulfil all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers” (Alma 37:17).
There once was a young boy who had a very important question. He wanted to know which church was right so he could join it. He read a promise in the Bible in James 1:5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” The boy believed that promise. He believed that if he sincerely asked Heavenly Father which church was right, he would get an answer.
You have probably guessed that the boy’s name was Joseph Smith. He studied the scriptures and believed in the promise. He prayed and was given a wonderful answer—Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared and told him not to join any of the churches. Joseph learned for himself that the promise in James is true, that a person who lacks wisdom can pray to Heavenly Father and receive an answer. Many answers will come not from a heavenly appearance but through the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
There are many stories in the scriptures about Heavenly Father making promises. The scriptures also teach us that Heavenly Father always keeps His promises. When we study the scriptures, we learn about His promises to us.
Scripture Bookmarks
To make the bookmarks on page F4, cut on the solid black lines and fold along the dotted lines. Read each scripture, and write on the blank lines the promise made. Keep these bookmarks in your scriptures as a reminder to read every day.
Illustrated by Dilleen Marsh
Promises in the Scriptures
Note: If you do not wish to remove pages from the magazine, this activity may be copied, traced, or printed from the Internet at www.lds.org. For English, click on “Gospel Library.” For other languages, click on the world map.
Sharing Time Ideas
1. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ made promises to the children of Israel. Tell the story of the children of Israel in Egypt (see Ex. 5). The Lord promised to bring them out of bondage (see Ex. 6:6–7) and told Moses and Aaron to ask Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go. The Lord promised to send plagues until Pharaoh agreed. Divide the children into small groups. Give each group a slip of paper with one of the following scriptures written on it: (1) Ex. 7:20–21; (2) Ex. 8:6; (3) Ex. 8:17; (4) Ex. 8:24; (5) Ex. 9:6; (6) Ex. 9:10; (7) Ex. 9:23; (8) Ex. 10:14–15; (9) Ex. 10:22. Have each group read the scripture together, determine which plague was sent, and draw a picture representing it. Gather the pictures, and present the story of the plagues to the group. Explain that Pharaoh hardened his heart until the 10th plague, the death of the firstborn of all the Egyptians. The children of Israel were spared as the angel of death “passed over” their homes and they passed through the Red Sea on dry ground (see Ex. 12–14). Testify that Heavenly Father kept His promise to bring them out of bondage.
2. Make a copy of the bookmarks on page F4 for each child, or write the scripture references on the board. Divide the children into groups, and have each group look up a scripture, read it, and find the promise. Have each group report by reading or summarizing the scripture and telling how we are all blessed because of the promise. As each group reports, have the children fill in the promise on the blank lines on their bookmarks. Encourage them to keep the bookmarks in their scriptures as a reminder to read every day. Testify of Heavenly Father and Jesus’s love for us. Their promises bless all of us.