Pray to Know the Truth Through the Holy Ghost (PMG Lesson 1 Principle 8)

This message of the Restoration is either true or it is not.  You can know of its truth by the Holy Ghost, as promised in Moroni 10:4-5 (last week's scripture).  No one can know of spiritual truths without sincere prayer.  This is what Joseph Smith learned when he read James 1:5 (this is the scripture of the week).  If you want to know the truth, you must pray.

Do you know how to pray?  Let's review the steps.
1. Address Heavenly Father (Our Father in Heaven, Dear Heavenly Father, etc)
2.  Thank him for blessings
3.  Ask for answers and help.
4.  Close with "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

*(Optional) There is a song in the Children's Songbook that teaches these steps.  If desired, sing the second verse of "I Pray in Faith" (CS p. 14) to learn or review the steps of prayer.

In answer to our prayers, the Holy Ghost will teach us truth through both feelings and thoughts. What does the Holy Ghost feel like to you? (Lead a discussion about how to recognize the Holy Ghost.)

Song: Search, Ponder, and Pray (CS p. 109)

Offer a kneeling prayer at the end of the lesson.

THIS WEEK'S SCRIPTURE STUDY:
--Recite James 1:5
--Sing "Search, Ponder, and Pray" (or one of the other songs I have listed below)
--Study one of the following:

1.  Pres Uchtdorf's Oct 2014 conf address "Receiving a testimony of light and truth"

2.  Elder Craig Christensen's Oct 2014 conf address "I Know these things of myself"

3.  D&C 8:2-3

4.  Alma 5:45-46


5.  John 14:26

6. “Studying the Church … through the eyes of its defectors,” Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, is “like interviewing Judas to understand Jesus. Defectors always tell us more about themselves than about that from which they have departed.”

7.  Sing "I Pray in Faith" (CS pg. 14) if you didn't during your lesson.

8.  Sing "A Child's Prayer" (CS pg. 12)

9.  Sing "Let the Holy Spirit Guide" (Hymn #143)

Seek the Lord Early (CS p.108)

Have you ever played hide and seek?
What does the "seeker" do?
What would happen if the seeker decided to just lay down on the couch and take a nap?
Would the "hider" ever be found?
Seeking is an action word; it requires you to DO something.

This is a song about you being a seeker.  Listen to the first line.  Who are you seeking? (The Lord)  When should you seek Him? (early in your life/ in your youth)

Now as you listen to the song, listen for the things that YOU need to do as a seeker.  (If you have pre-readers, you can use pictures rather than writing out a list. Then use those pictures to help sing the song.)
         Search the scriptures
         Fervent prayer (fervent means really wanting to know and communicate with Heavenly Father)
         Obey the living prophet
         Keep the commandments

If you do these things, the Lord promises three things.  Listen for the Lord's promises.
      He will help me to know the truth (through the Holy Ghost)
      His love will abound (abound means there is so much, it can't be contained)
      He will be found

Remember that the Lord isn't trying to be tricky.  He WANTS to be found.  He's just waiting for you to do the seeking .

Other ideas for discussion:
---Why is it important to seek the Lord EARLY while in your YOUTH?  Can you think of examples of youths in the scriptures? (Samuel, Nephi, Joseph Smith)  Did they follow this same pattern?

---What does it mean to "find" the Lord?  Joseph Smith found Him in a very literal and physical sense.  But that is not usually how He is found.  How can the Lord be found in your life?

---Why is obedience included as an important part of seeking?

Conclusion:
End with a personal experience of a time when you were seeking and were able to experience the Lord's promised blessings.  You can also include a time when you weren't actively seeking (figuratively sleeping on the couch) and the blessings you missed out on.  Bear your testimony of this doctrine.

Sing the song again and afterwards point out the Spirit testifying that what you sang is true.

Optional: You can play this game to practice the song.  Choose a "seeker" to leave the room for a moment.  Have another person hide a small picture of Jesus (pass-along card size) somewhere in the room.  When the seeker returns, begin singing the song.  Sing louder as the seeker gets closer to the hiding spot; sing softer if the seeker gets further away.  Keep singing until the picture is found, then choose a new seeker to play again.