Week 41 is scheduled for study October 7-13, 2024. To sum up this week’s lessons, joy is found through prayer, ministering to others, and the workings of the Spirit.
Day 1
3 Nephi 17; 18:24-25, 30-32 – The Savior is my perfect example of ministering.
As I read through chapter 17 I underlined and wrote notes about what I was learning. Today’s offering is found in a separate article that talks about Ministering As Christ.
Day 2
3 Nephi 17:13-22; 18:15-25; 19:6-9, 15-36 – The Savior taught me how to pray.
I reread today’s verses and looked for examples of what Christ prayed for and what he told us to pray for. Here is one example of what we are to pray for in 3 Nephi 18:19-20.
19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;
20 And ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.
I was pulled up short by the word “whatsoever.” He didn’t tell me to prioritize my prayer content and to only pray for those things that were of greatest importance. He said I was to pray for “whatsoever” I desired. His only stipulations are that it must be right, and that I must believe I will receive an answer. That leaves the question of what I can pray for wide open.
In verse 24 we need to understand what the light is Jesus makes reference to.
24 Therefore, hold up your that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.
Jesus uses the term “your light,” but that is followed with no less than two qualifiers. He is the light, not us, and his light is his example – “that which ye have seen me do.” So the “your light” comment doesn’t refer to us and our glory at all, but to Christ’s example to us. That is what we are holding up for others to see. But it certainly helps if we are keeping his commandments when we hold up his light or example for others to see. I was giving a baptismal interview on my mission and the man I was interviewing was bragging about how he had encouraged the woman he was in bed with to seek out Jesus. While his encouragement was laudable, I could see we had our work cut out for us in helping him understand how to better keep the commandments.
3 Nephi 19:9 repeats what we have already been told.
9 And they did pray for that which they most desired …
This concept that we pray for what we most desire is important, because God desires to listen to what is most important to His children. The whole point of mortality is to prove ourselves ready and worthy to return to live with our Father in Heaven once again. To do that He has given us a Savior to show us how that is done. Our prayers are our only direct communication with our Father. All other communications come from the Savior through his servants the prophets, or through the Holy Spirit.
Finally I make the point that nowhere in these verses does Jesus demand that we speak only certain words or use only printed phrases. God wants us to speak to Him the desires of our heart. While we need to learn the language of prayer, which is a language or method of showing proper respect to our God, I think the most important principle is that we never be afraid of speaking to our Father in Heaven because we don’t feel entitled, prepared, or worthy to do so. No matter what our spiritual state is today He wants to hear from us in all our sincerity. That pleases Him. Any call home is better than no call at all.
Day 3
3 Nephi 18:1-12 – I can be filled with the Spirit as I take the sacrament.
After reading all the lesson material then the reference material, watching the videos, and reading the scriptures, I have noted one thing that never occurred to me before. Coming to the sacrament each week in a spirit of worship is not done by flipping the worship switch while we sit in the pew in Sacrament meeting. The attitude of worship is something that must be started before we come to church then cultivated while in the building before the meeting, and nurtured by reverence during the meeting. In other words, it takes focused effort on our part to stay reverent before the sacrament is served.
There are so many opportunities to be boisterous, flippant, loud, or any other emotion that can detract from the spirit of worship we started at home. We have friends we meet in the lobby, then more we meet in the chapel. Many of us have children we are wrangling and trying to help be quiet in that sacred space called the chapel. It isn’t an easy thing to stay reverent and worshipful. But if our focus needs to remain on the Savior then it is something we must strive for.
Each of us are at different stages of mortality. For some of us coming to church in a spirit of worshipful reverence is more easily obtained and maintained than for others with more distractions to deal with. Some of us conduct a lot of our church business of quorum or group leadership or organization just before our meetings when we are out in the lobby or (heaven forbid) in the chapel. This adds to the noise level in places that should be more sacred and quiet. This tells me that too often I have gone to church with other things on my mind, and not the Savior’s sacrifice and my relationship to him and his sacrifice. I have been too caught up in other matters and haven’t been properly focused on what is more important.
Day 4
3 Nephi 18:22-25 – I can “hold up” the light of Jesus Christ.
I have always been taught, and have understood, that my “light” is my example. I hold up “my” light by setting a good example for others to see or follow. I can’t fault any of this logic or instruction, except that this isn’t what Jesus taught. The light we are to hold up is his example for us, not our example. We are to promote his behavior, not ours. He gets the credit for being a light to all the house or the light that is set on a hill, not me or us. For the first time in my life I am seeing that Christ is telling me that my focus needs to be on him, not me.
I hope I am not being confusing here. It is true that we need to follow Jesus and do as he did. By so doing we are imitating his example, which others see. But we need to give the credit to Jesus for all our good works, for we are following him. We shouldn’t be telling others to do as we do, but to do as he did. This is part of us being meek and lowly of heart. We give all the credit for the good we do to him, for he is the source of all good things.
Day 5
3 Nephi 18:36-37; 19:6-22 – Disciples of Jesus Christ seek the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Several things jump to mind when I read these verses. Let’s address a couple of them.
The people had the Holy Ghost. That much is obvious, but they didn’t have the gift of the Holy Ghost as we understand it. We receive it by Melchizedek priesthood ordinance. There is no indication in the Book of Mormon that the Holy Ghost was given in such a manner. The Holy Ghost still works the same way, but He doesn’t stay as closely involved as when His presence is promised through a holy ordinance. Think of it like when the Spirit enters into a discussion given by the missionaries. The investigators feel it and learn from His influence, but His influence fades within a few days if they haven’t done something to keep inviting Him back into their lives.
Another thing to consider is how powerfully the Spirit’s influence was demonstrated to the people as soon as they were baptized. Fire from heaven and all that. These kinds of demonstrations always follow the introduction of the gospel to a people. We saw this kind of miracle in the New Testament, as well as in the opening of this dispensation. After a time, and the people become accustomed to having the influence of the Spirit in their lives, He tones down His demonstrations of His power and the people have to learn to listen to His whispers. He only shouts as long as we haven’t yet learned to listen to Him in quiet and to feel His promptings in the stillness of our hearts.
There is nothing God has ever given us that is more important to us than the influence the Holy Spirit has on our lives. He guides and leads us to Christ. Through him good things we have learned in the past are brought back into our minds to teach us new applications of truth and to give us answers to prayers. We receive revelations from Him, and receive the witnesses that guide our lives from Him. The only thing more worthwhile to our very eternal souls than the companionship of the Spirit is the Atoning sacrifice of Christ. Small wonder the Spirit’s presence is what the people prayed for.
Personal Study
Allow time to ponder
Becoming better versions of ourselves requires that we take time to consider what we are doing with our lives. We need to consider our personal choices, to understand the doctrines we are trying to embrace and put into practice in our life, and to figure out how to keep all things in balance and still give preference to whichever needs our attention the most at this point in our life. We live in an ever shifting landscape of choices.
Pondering is what comes after we have read the word of God, the scriptures. It is what comes after we have prayed, and can come either before, during, or after we spend time serving others. Reflecting on what Christ desires of us, expects of us, or hopes for us, is important for us to think about. This is part of how we remember Christ so we can always have his Spirit to be with us. Without pondering in our life we have less of the Spirit in our life.
It was when Lehi prayed then pondered that he had his visions. After pondering he would sometimes sleep, because he was exhausted from the mental effort. It was in his dreams that the Lord revealed Himself and gave Lehi instructions. So whether he was awake or asleep when the Lord spoke to him, it was usually after Lehi had spent time pondering the scriptures. I recommend reading this article on pondering for further information – How Do I Ponder?
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