“Doctrinal Mastery: Moroni 10:4–5—‘By the Power of the Holy Ghost Ye May Know the Truth of All Things,’” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual (2024)
“Doctrinal Mastery: Moroni 10:4–5,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual
Doctrinal Mastery: Moroni 10:4–5
“By the Power of the Holy Ghost Ye May Know the Truth of All Things”
In your study of Moroni 10:1–7, you learned that if we ask God with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ, we can know that the Book of Mormon is true by the power of the Holy Ghost. This lesson can help you memorize the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase for Moroni 10:4–5, explain the doctrine, and apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in real-life situations.
Help students understand that acquiring spiritual knowledge is a divine pattern. In the scriptures, the Lord consistently invites His children to ask, seek, and knock (for examples, see Matthew 7:7–8; 1 Nephi 15:11; Doctrine and Covenants 18:18, 42:61). As students practice the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge, remind them to be faithful and patient in seeking answers. Testify that we can rely on Heavenly Father to reveal truth to our minds and hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Student preparation: Invite students to memorize the scripture reference and key scripture passage for Moroni 10:4–5: “Ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ. … And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”
Possible Learning Activities
This doctrinal mastery passage lesson is designed to be taught after the lesson “Moroni 10:1–7,” which is the contextual lesson for the doctrinal mastery passage Moroni 10:4–5. If this doctrinal mastery passage lesson needs to be moved to a different week, be sure to teach the corresponding contextual lesson during that week as well.
Memorize and explain
You could begin by inviting those who completed the student preparation activity to recite from memory the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase for Moroni 10:4–5.
The following activity can be used to help students if they did not do this before class. Students could take turns repeating each of the following segments with a partner until they are able to recite the reference and entire key scripture phrase on their own.
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“Ask with a sincere heart,
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With real intent, having faith in Christ. …
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And by the power of the Holy Ghost
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Ye may know the truth of all things.”
Listen carefully to students’ answers to the following question to help you know how well they understand what Moroni taught in this passage.
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What can someone do to gain a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true?
Practice application
Give students an opportunity to review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. One way to do this is to ask students to select one of the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and explain how it is meaningful to them.
Consider using the following scenario or one more relevant to your students to help them practice applying the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.
Other suggestions can be found in the “Supplemental Learning Activity” section at the end of this lesson.
Imagine the following situation is posted in the “Questions and Answers” section of the For the Strength of Youth magazine. To see an example, refer to a recent issue at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
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“I’ve been a member of the Church most of my life. I try to keep the commandments, read my scriptures, pray, and go to Church. I hear other people share their experiences about coming to know the Book of Mormon is true. Why hasn’t God given me that same kind of experience?”
Consider dividing students into small groups. They could discuss how applying the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge could help someone with a concern like the one from the scenario above.
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Which principle of acquiring spiritual knowledge would you recommend this person think about first? Why?
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How could the doctrine taught in Moroni 10:4–5 help you apply the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to this situation?
As students share, make sure they know there are no right or wrong answers. As part of the discussion, if you notice that the class did not bring up all three principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge, you might ask questions about the principles they didn’t mention. You may want to use some of the following questions as part of this discussion.
Seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources
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Which words or phrases in Moroni 10:4–5 would you encourage this person to study and understand better? Why?
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What are some divinely appointed sources that could help this person gain a personal witness of the Book of Mormon’s truthfulness?
Act in faith
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What would it look like to put into practice some of Moroni’s invitations from Moroni 10:4–5 in this situation? How do these relate to acting in faith?
Examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective
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What truths about God, the way He communicates with His children, and His perspective could help someone in this situation?
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How could you use the doctrine taught in Moroni 10:4–5 to help with other questions not related to the Book of Mormon?
Doctrinal mastery review
A review activity like the following should be used in a lesson that will be taught soon after this one.
Remind students of the activity they did to memorize the scripture passage and key scripture phrase “Moroni 10:4–5: Ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ. … And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” Invite any students who still have this memorized to recite it for the class. If others need help, consider displaying the reference and key scripture phrase on the board. Erase a few words at a time and have students recite the phrase until they have it committed to memory.