More Study Helps

Ask Questions

From the student manual:

Before you read it is helpful to ask yourself questions like “Who wrote these verses?” “To whom?” “Why is this teaching included in the scriptures?” “What do I want to know or learn as I read today?” and “What would the Lord want me to learn from these scriptures?” As you read the scriptures, look for answers to your questions. Remember that you can also use the study helps in the Latter-day Saint editions of the scriptures or look for answers in Church manuals and publications.

Scripture Study Challenges......

This is one of the most difficult challenges when it comes to studying the scriptures, but I know from personal experience that when we follow the Prophet's counsel that our faith will be strengthened and our love for the scriptures, the Savior and our Heavenly Father will increase.

(http://www.mormonchic.com/gospel/scripture_study.asp)

"Now that we know what scripture study is, how and when should we do it? In the November 1979 Ensign article, "Reading the Scriptures,"

President Howard W. Hunter

said,

"We should not be haphazard in our reading but rather develop a systematic plan for study. There are some who read to a schedule of a number of pages or a set number of chapters each day or week. This may be perfectly justifiable and may be enjoyable if one is reading for pleasure, but it does not constitute meaningful study. It is better to have a set amount of time to give scriptural study each day than to have a set amount of chapters to read. Sometimes we find that the study of a single verse will occupy the whole time."

If we had the goal to read 10 pages and then stop, we would miss a wealth of knowledge that can only be found when reading footnotes and cross-referencing."

How to Make the Scriptures Your Own

While reading the scriptures:

1) LOOK FOR the principles

(i.e. moral of the story, lesson learned, cause and effect, rules to live by)

2) APPLY them to your life

(I can live this principle by....)

3) Set goals to help you live the principle.

4) LOOK FOR yourself in the scriptures.

(How would I have responded to Jesus' message?)

5) LOOK FOR answers:

a) to questions on doctrine (what should we pray for?)

b) to personal problems (how can I overcome this weakness?)

6) LOOK FOR reasons the author included this story in his writings (why do we need to know about the wars between the Lamanites and the Nephites?)

more to come...

Blessings From Daily Scripture Study

1) It will help us become perfect (like the Savior).
Matthew 5:48

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. "

2) It eases stress and anxiety

3) It brings us closer to our Father in Heaven.