Unlocking the Power of Search, Ponder, and Pray - Week 7 Feb 12-18

Hi, friends! Welcome back to Primarily Scripture. I'm Cindy Young, and this is a beginner's guide to scripture study. If you were asked today, how do you study your scriptures? Would you know what to say?  The very easiest answer is three words, ready?    Search, ponder, and pray. But what does that look like?

How do you actually search, ponder, and pray as you read your scriptures? That's what this show is all about. We follow the Come Follow Me schedule for studying, and this week we are in 2nd Nephi chapters 3 through 5. And as you can see, I don't have a guest here with me today, so it's just me, but we're still gonna talk about  how to make your searching, pondering,  and praying more effective.  

We have two study pages and two journal pages this week, and each of the study pages focuses on feelings. Have you ever  looked for feelings when you read the scriptures before? They're there! And chapter 4 is full of feelings, totally full of feelings!

 Nephi tells us a lot about himself and about some of the feelings he's had,  and we don't really get to see him feeling bad about himself anywhere else. So this is a really good look into what it was like for him when he would have a bad day. 

So when you read these verses... I'm not gonna read them to you this week. We've done that in the past, but we're gonna try something new.  You read them yourself.  The worksheet has verses  17 through 21,  23, 24, and 26 through 30. Or you could just read verses 17 through 30 all the way and not skip any, I only skipped a few so it would fit better on the page!

 Uh, but they're all such great verses!  As you read, will you look for feelings? And as you look for them, mark them, circle them, think about them.  Watch for how things changed, also, because Nephi was feeling one way at first and then it switched and he was feeling a different way by the end of the chapter.

So the activity in column three will guide you through looking for that. How was Nephi feeling at first? What was his new focus? When did it change? He remembers some things. Can you find them? And then after he remembers them, then how is he feeling?

It's such a great activity,  and then after you've done that searching part and you find the feelings and you follow the progression, then the next box says, liken the scriptures, and that is the ponder part. Okay? So then you can spend time thinking about it and you can apply it to yourself- because is it really going to help you to know everything about Nephi if you don't put it in your own life? 

No, it is not. So how does Nephi's experience help you? That's the most important thing that I want you to be looking for. Okay?  So that is the first study page and where it says to go ahead and write down your thoughts about this or that - that's what the journal page is for! The next page is the journal page. It has a few tips on the edges, and it has a general conference quote at the bottom from President Thomas S. Monson. He was the prophet before President Nelson. Such a great chapter. I hope you guys read chapter four! Alright, moving on to chapter 5 of 2nd Nephi.  This is where the Nephites and the Lamanites split up for the very first time. They've been in the same family traveling together this whole time.

Sadly, Lehi has died now, and Laman and Lemuel are ready to kill Nephi. And the Lord warns him that it's time to leave. So now we have Nephites and we have Lamanites.  And then in this chapter, Nephi explains what their community looked like and some of the things that they did.

 And I love this part- super love it! Verse 27 is something that I promise you want in your life.  Can I promise that?  Does everybody want the same thing?  Hmm.  Yes. Yes! I promise you that verse 27 is something you want for yourself!

 I'm not gonna tell you - no spoilers! You have to go find it in the scriptures yourself. It's here on the worksheet, but please don't rely on the worksheet. Once you've studied the worksheet, go back to your actual scriptures. Anything that's important, I want you marking in your scriptures.  Now, I told you that in chapter four we're looking for feelings, and that was the search part.

In chapter five, it's kind of the same thing. We're looking for something and there actually is a feeling in here and a pretty important one. But it's the end result. And so we find that outcome, that end result, and then I want you to work backwards from the end result and find what caused that. How did they get there?

And that's what these lines over here in the third column are. Sorry, podcast friends. You can't see what I'm pointing to, but it's right here on the worksheet. You can go and download it and look at it yourself. 

You can work backwards and fill in these blanks and find all the things that helps them get to that one feeling. That everybody wants. I promise everybody wants it.  That's the searching part. And then for pondering, there are some questions down here to ask yourself- look at your own life and ask some questions, and how can you plan, and it's all here on the worksheet to help you.

On the very last page of the worksheet packet, this is a journal page. One of the tips for this week is  always,  always pray when you study. 

 I notice a huge difference when I am a little more intentional about my prayers.  So maybe think about ways that you can level up your prayers this week as you study. 

Okay? Now, I cannot study the scriptures for you,  so that's why we're doing it this way today. Instead of me reading it to you, can you go find these feelings? Can you find the outcome? Can you find what helped them to get there? Because here's why:

Remember my parable of the snowball. Studying the gospel is like making snowballs. 

Read it and it's like making one snowball. There you go. You've picked it up. It's here in your hand. You have a snowball. But if somebody else talks to you about the scriptures and about the gospel,  it's like they're throwing snowballs at you and you're not going to get the full benefit.   Some snowballs will hit you, but a lot of them are just gonna fly past.

If you really want to learn the gospel, you've gotta pick it up yourself, okay? So  pick up the scriptures, make that snowball for gospel learning yourself. And then if you really want to have a successful study session, you can't just read it and then put it back down. If you put a snowball back in the snow and then roll it around, it's gonna pick up even more snow and it's gonna grow and get bigger and bigger. That's the same with scripture study.  Read it and then search and ponder. Spend a little extra time thinking about it, and your knowledge and testimony of the gospel will grow just like a snowball.

Okay? So will you guys please read your scriptures this week, please, please?!   These worksheets are here to help you. They're not here to replace your scripture study. As you are studying, if you find something else. Will you write it in your journal? Will you tell a study buddy? Will you spend some time thinking about the things that I didn't tell you to think about?  If you find the things that I ask you to find.

That's a great start,  but the point of scripture study is not to find the same thing that everybody else has found. There are gospel truths in there that are so important, and everybody should and can find those gospel truths. But then next level scripture study is finding messages from the Lord to you personally. 

I can't tell you what those are. So you're not gonna get those lessons, you're not gonna get those messages, if you don't open the scriptures and spend time there. Does that make sense?  Don't just look for what I tell you. I mean, it's a good start. Otherwise, I wouldn't tell you, right?  You can find things yourself.

So as you're studying, pay attention to how you're feeling and what the spirit might be whispering to you. The scriptures are amazing and I have a testimony that they contain the fullness of the gospel and they will help you feel the Holy Ghost and build your testimony and come to know Jesus Christ, our Savior. 

I'm Cindy Young. This is Primarily Scripture. Go read! And I'll see you next week. Bye!  

Thanks for tuning in to Primarily Scripture with Cindy Young. Don't forget you can subscribe to the newsletter and download free worksheets on the website PrimarilyScripture.com. And if you like the channel, be sure to subscribe, like, share, and leave a review. See you next time.