Scripture Study Tips from Covey

Four Principles that will unlock our capacity to truly profit from the scriptures:

1. Purify your motive

"The highest motive in searching the scriptures is to come to Christ, to receive eternal life"

2. Pray

to for help in understanding and applying.

"True prayer is two-way. You speak, you listen, then you respond."

3. Ponder

"Take time to think, to meditate, to feast, to truly weigh and ponder."

4. Visualize

"See in your mind's eye the characters and events portrayed in the scriptures."

This helps illustrate the power of spiritual creation

Four Principles to overcome temptation:

1. Feast on the words of Christ

2. Pray for a heightened awareness of temptation and tempting environments

3. Promise the Lord that you will immediately turn away and do something worthy

4."See yourself in your mind's eye, confronting the temptation and replacing it with good

Ideas of spicing up scripture study

1. Study a specific subject, theme, index, concordance, cross references

2.Start with a need or problem that you are facing now

3. Read the book of Mormon 3x fast (1st for History, 2nd for References to Christ, 3rd for doctrine)--color pencil for each

4. Read along with the Manual for Sunday school and priesthood

5. Make a list of Inspiring Scriptures

6. Read when you get up to start the day right

7. Read right before you walk in the door to put you in a christ like mood for your family

8. Study short sessions when you dont have time, and longer sessions when you do, change up the approach

Two Quotes from Covey's talk that I loved:

"We need to arrange and manage our time for scripture study so that, as Goethe put it, 'things which matter most are not at the mercy of things which matter least.'"

"I believe in Christ as I believe in the rising sun--not because I can see it, but because by it I can see everything else."

For Covey's complete talk click here

Genesis 3:16. What Is the Significance of the Pronouncement upon Eve?

“The Lord said to the woman: ‘. . . in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.’ I wonder if those who translated the Bible might have used the term distress instead of sorrow. It would mean much the same, except I think there is great gladness in most Latter-day Saint homes when there is to be a child there. As He concludes this statement he says, ‘and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.’ (Gen. 3:16.) I have a question about the word rule. It gives the wrong impression. I would prefer to use the word preside because that’s what he does. A righteous husband presides over his wife and family.” (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Blessings and Responsibilities of Womanhood,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, p. 72.)

A good talk on the Fathers Role which includes a section on what it means to preside = The Father's Role in Family Education: Preside, Provide, and Protect