Lesson 37: Doctrine and Covenants 20–22

Doctrine and Covenants 21

Receiving the Prophets’ Words in Patience and Faith

Doctrine and Covenants 21 was received on April 6, 1830, the day The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. In this revelation, the Savior instructed members of His Church to follow the counsel of His prophet. This lesson can help students follow the words of the Lord’s prophets in patience and faith.

Possible Learning Activities

Following counsel

Display the following scenario. You could also create a different scenario that is more relevant to your students’ needs and circumstances.

Imagine that while listening to general conference, you received the following text message from your friend: “Did you hear what the prophet just said? I’m not sure I agree with that!”

• How do you think you would feel if you received a message like this?

• What are some things that would be important for your friend to consider before deciding whether to follow the prophet’s counsel?

Explain to students that today they will study some of the Lord’s teachings about His prophets. Invite them to silently consider how important it is for them to follow the counsel of the prophets. Encourage them to look for truths that can help increase their willingness and ability to follow the Lord’s prophets.

In all patience and faith

On the day The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, April 6, 1830, the Lord gave Joseph Smith a revelation found in Doctrine and Covenants 21. In part of this revelation, the Lord gave important counsel about following the prophet.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 21:1–3, looking for titles the Lord used to refer to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

• Based on these titles, why would it be a blessing for members of the Lord’s newly organized Church to have a prophet called of God?

Doctrine and Covenants 21:4–6 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider inviting students to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so they can locate them easily.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 21:4–5, looking for what counsel the Lord gave to the Saints about how they should receive the Prophet Joseph Smith’s words.

Students may benefit from understanding who the pronouns refer to in verses 4–5. Consider writing the following words and definitions on the board: “thou” (members of the Church); “his,” ”he” (Joseph Smith, the Prophet); “me,” “mine” (Jesus Christ).

• What words or phrases from these verses stood out to you? Why?

• What did you learn from these verses that could help someone who is hesitating to follow the counsel of the Lord’s prophets?

If needed, point out the phrase “in all patience and faith” in verse 5. Before sharing the statement by Elder Neil L. Andersen, it may be helpful to ask the students why it might sometimes require patience or faith to heed the words of the Lord’s prophets.

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught how we can demonstrate patience and faith as we strive to follow the prophet.

Don’t be surprised if at times your personal views are not initially in harmony with the teachings of the Lord’s prophet. These are moments of learning, of humility, when we go to our knees in prayer. We walk forward in faith, trusting in God, knowing that with time we will receive more spiritual clarity from our Heavenly Father. (Neil L. Andersen, “The Prophet of God,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 26)

Invite students to think about counsel from prophets and apostles that could be challenging for them to follow. They could ponder how increasing their patience and faith would help them follow the prophet’s counsel.

Blessings of following the Lord’s prophets

Read Doctrine and Covenants 21:6. Identify three blessings the Lord promised to those who receive His words through the prophet in patience and faith.

• Based on the Lord’s teachings in verse 6, how would you complete the following statement? As we receive the Lord’s words through His prophets in patience and faith …

  Students may complete the statement like this: As we receive the Lord’s words through His prophets in patience and faith, He will disperse the powers of darkness, He will give us blessings from heaven, and we will be protected against the adversary.

• How would you summarize in your own words what you think these promises mean?

  Students may benefit from understanding that one meaning of shake is to dislodge or release something from a support or a container. One interpretation of the verse could be that blessings are released from heaven and given to those who receive the words of the prophet.

• What do these promises help you understand about the Lord?

• How could these promises impact our desire to follow the Lord’s prophets?

Following the Lord’s prophets today

The following activity can help students find modern-day prophetic counsel that they can strive to follow in their lives. Display the following instructions and give students sufficient time to complete the activity.

Find an invitation given by modern-day prophets and apostles that you want to try to apply to your life. Use For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices (2022) or a recent general conference address to find relevant counsel or invitations.

After studying, answer the following questions in your study journal:

• What invitation or counsel did you find?

• How might you need patience and faith to heed this prophetic invitation?

• What blessings from God did you notice you can receive as you follow this counsel?

• What specific actions will you take to follow this counsel in your life?

When the students have finished studying, give them an opportunity to share the answers they recorded in their study journals. As part of this discussion, you could invite a few students to share how they or others have been blessed by heeding the counsel of prophets that is being discussed. You could also share an example from your life.

Encourage the students to act on the goal they have set for themselves and to pay attention to how following the teachings of the prophets impacts their relationship with Jesus Christ. Explain that in an upcoming lesson, they will have an opportunity to assess the progress they have made with their goal.

Memorize

You may want to help students memorize the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase during this lesson and review them in future lessons. The key scripture phrase for Doctrine and Covenants 21:4–6 is “The prophet’s ‘word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth.’” Ideas for memorization activities are in the appendix materials under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”

Additional Resources

What are some blessings of following the prophet?

President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) taught:

The only safety we have as members of this church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was organized. We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through His prophet, “as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; … as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith” (D&C 21:4–5). There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord Himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory” (D&C 21:6). (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee [2000], 84–85)

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

By following [the Lord’s prophets], our lives are happier and less complicated, our difficulties and problems are easier to bear, and we create a spiritual armor around us that will protect us from the attacks of the enemy in our day. (Ulisses Soares, “Prophets Speak by the Power of the Holy Spirit,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 99)

How do prophets receive God’s word?

Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Please be assured that senior Church leaders who preside over the divinely appointed purposes of the Church receive divine assistance. This guidance comes from the Spirit and sometimes directly from the Savior. Both kinds of spiritual guidance are given. I am grateful to have received such assistance. But guidance is given in the Lord’s time, line upon line and precept upon precept, when “an omniscient Lord deliberately chooses to school us.” Guidance for the Church as a whole comes only to His prophet. (Quentin L. Cook, “Prepare to Meet God,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 117)

Why are teachings from prophets sometimes unpopular?

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Our Heavenly Father desires that His children knowingly and willingly choose to become like Him and qualify for the kind of life He enjoys. In doing so, His children fulfill their divine destiny and become heirs to all that He has. For this reason, Church leaders cannot alter God’s commandments or doctrine contrary to His will, to be convenient or popular. (Dale G. Renlund, “Our Good Shepherd,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 30–31)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Seer, translator, prophet, apostle, elder

Consider having students look up the titles the Savior used to describe Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 21:1. Each of these titles can be defined by using the Guide to the Scriptures in the Gospel Library app. (look up “translate” to learn about “translator”)

• How do these titles given to Joseph Smith help you understand his important role in the Restoration as the Lord’s Prophet?

The blessings of following the prophet

To help students understand how following the words of the prophet will help them navigate mortality, consider showing the video “Follow the Prophet” (4:16). As students watch, invite them to ponder how following the Lord’s counsel will bless them in their lives.

Text message

To help students practice explaining what they learned in Doctrine and Covenants 21, consider referring to the scenario from the beginning of the lesson.

Give students time to use what they learned to create a response they could text back to their friend. Invite a few willing students to share their responses.

Prophets are central to the Savior’s Church

Remind the students that the Lord’s teachings from Doctrine and Covenants 21 were revealed on the day the Church was organized. To help the students further recognize the significance of prophets and apostles in the Savior’s Church, consider inviting them to study Ephesians 2:19–20; 4:11–14.

You could have students cross-reference or link these verses to Doctrine and Covenants 21:4–6. Invite the students to discuss why they feel it is important to have prophets in the Savior’s Church.