“Lesson 25 Class Preparation Material: Prayer and Personal Revelation,” Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon Teacher Material (2021)
“Lesson 25 Class Preparation Material,” Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon Teacher Material
Lesson 25 Class Preparation Material
Prayer and Personal Revelation
Jesus Christ promised, “Every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened” (3 Nephi 14:8). President Russell M. Nelson said of this promise: “This timeless offer to provide personal revelation is extended to all of His children. It almost sounds too good to be true. But it is true!” (“Ask, Seek, Knock,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 81). As you study this material, consider the effectiveness of your prayers and what you can do to increase your capacity to receive personal revelation.
Section 1
What can I do to make prayer a more meaningful part of my life?
When Alma and Amulek led a group of missionaries to reclaim the apostate Zoramites, they were astonished as they witnessed how the Zoramites worshipped and prayed in their synagogues. Standing on the top of a platform they called the Rameumptom, individuals took turns reciting a prescribed prayer, proclaiming that there would be no Christ and that God had chosen them to be saved. After the worship service ended, the Zoramites went home, “never speaking of their God” until they returned the next week. (See Alma 31:12–24.) Later, Alma and Amulek were able to teach the gospel, including the true meaning and purpose of prayer, to a group of humble Zoramites (see Alma 32–34).
Study in Preparation for Class
Read Alma 34:17–28, and identify principles Amulek taught the Zoramites about prayer.
Record Your Thoughts
Select one or two verses from Alma 34:17–28, and rewrite the verse or verses as though Amulek were speaking in today’s language to someone your age. For example, think about the counsel to pray “over the flocks of your fields” (verse 25), and apply the same idea to our modern circumstances. Be prepared to share your revised verses in class. Consider how you might apply Amulek’s teachings to improve the sincerity and frequency of your own prayers.
Section 2
What can I do to receive personal revelation?
Near the beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi recorded his desire to understand and have a personal witness of his father’s dream of the tree of life and his other teachings (see 1 Nephi 10:17).
Study in Preparation for Class
Read 1 Nephi 10:17–19, and look for what we can learn from Nephi about obtaining personal revelation. (Note: “Mysteries of God are spiritual truths known only by revelation” [Guide to the Scriptures, “Mysteries of God,” scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org]. For example, a mystery of God has been revealed to us when we receive a witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true.)
While Nephi pondered Lehi’s teachings, he was “caught away in the Spirit of the Lord” and received his own vision (1 Nephi 11:1). In this vision Nephi received additional knowledge about his father’s dream of the tree of life, the Savior’s mortal ministry, the future of his posterity, and the Restoration of the gospel in the last days (see 1 Nephi 11–14).
Ponder in Preparation for Class
What did Nephi trust and believe about God that increased his capacity to receive personal revelation?
After this revelatory experience, Nephi returned to his father’s tent and found his brothers “disputing one with another concerning the things which [Lehi] had spoken unto them” (1 Nephi 15:2).
Study in Preparation for Class
Read 1 Nephi 15:3–4, 8–11, and consider why Laman and Lemuel struggled to understand Lehi’s teachings.
Ponder in Preparation for Class
What question or questions have you taken to the Lord, and what was your experience? Are there concerns or questions you could take to the Lord in prayer but have not? If so, what is preventing you from praying about them?
Later in the Book of Mormon, we read about a lawyer named Zeezrom who tried to undermine the teachings of Alma and Amulek. After Amulek caught Zeezrom in his lies, Zeezrom became humble and began asking Alma sincere questions about the gospel. Alma taught Zeezrom that the mysteries of God, or revelation, can be given only to those who are humble and faithful. (See Alma 11:21–13:31.)
Study in Preparation for Class
Read Alma 12:9–10, and consider how your current attitude and actions might be increasing or decreasing your capacity to receive revelation.
Addressing what we can do to increase our capacity to receive revelation, President Nelson taught:
Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.
Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation” [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 132]. …
Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon [see 2 Nephi 32:3], and regular time committed to temple and family history work. …
… I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. (“Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 95, 96)
Ponder in Preparation for Class
What have you done in the past that has most helped you to receive revelation? What additional steps could you take to increase your capacity to receive revelation?