Seminary Lesson D&C 88:118

We talked a little yesterday about the Second Coming of Christ.  After the Lord described some of the events and the warnings we needed to know, he told the Saints in Doctrine and Covenants 88, what they needed to do to prepare.

Read 88: 118-119

When He told the Saints to establish a House of "prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, order, a house of God" (D&C 88:119), He was giving them the mandate to build a temple.  This eventually led to the building of the Kirtland temple.

That's all good and dandy for the first Saints to have the Lord tell them what to do, but you and I aren't going to go out and physically build a temple. So what  what does that mean for us?  Why are we here today studying this scripture and how do we apply it to our lives?

Isn't that why we read the scriptures?  To know what the Lord wants us to do individually?

So let's talk about how we can build this house in our own lives.

Block Attention Activity:  

• Each section is written on a piece block.   build a house as we talk about it.

House of Prayer

In several places in the scriptures the Lord commands us to pray always. 

• How many times a day do we pray?  (music is a prayer)
• Read D&C 88: 126.
• What are some problems that you have in your life?  Make list.

• Quote: "If you want to save the world--say your prayers."
• take out world and add list.
• be as quick to pray about it as you are to text about it

But the amount of times we pray each day is only half the battle.  The quality of those prayers is just as important.

• How do we make our prayers more meaningful?
• Location
• find a location void of distractions
• comfortably kneel without falling asleep
• when you don't want to pray is when you should pray the most
• Speak Up
• pray out loud
• Prayer journal
• think before you start
• write down things to be thankful for
• what blessings do you need?
• are there others who need help?
• Listen and Act
• "The savior testified, 'behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' (Revelations 3:20) The promise is made to everyone. There is no discrimination, no favored few, but the Lord has not promised to crash the door. He stands and knocks. If we do not listen, He will not sup with us nor give answer to our prayers. We must learn how to listen, grasp, interpret, and understand. Th Lord stands knocking. He never retreats. But He will never force himself on us."  (Spencer W. Kimball) (1)
• if you pray for it, then you should work for it.
• We are commanded to pray over everything,but that doesn't mean the Lord expects us to make all the decisions in our lives.
• The Pretzel: in about 610 Ad a very creative Alpine Monk decided to make use of the pieces of dough left over from baking bread. The monk formed them into thin strips folded into a looped twist to represent the folded arms of children in prayer. This treat was given to the children as they learned their prayers. They began calling the treat 'pretiola' which is Latin for little reward.  The secret to making great pretzels is not only in the baking but also in the shaping. We, like pretzels, are made from the best ingredients, by the best hands available, the hands of Heavenly Father. Have you ever seen a broken pretzel, or one that's lost its shape? We, too, can lose our shape when we don't pray always to keep our spirituality intact. Even in the midst of everything, we must remember to call on the Lord. Our 'pertiola' or little rewards are the blessings we receive. Every time you see  pretzel, remember prayer and check to see if your arms are often folded in prayer and have not lost their shape.
• Pretzel Treat

House of Fasting

• Who likes to fast?

Just like praying, we are commanded as church members to fast.  But, you don't have to fast all the time.

"But consider fasting – we abstain from food and water for a set period of time. This goes against our appetites and natural desires. We aren’t expected to fast forever. Once we are finished with our fast, we go back to eating. Fasting is essentially about sequestering the natural man in order to train our spiritual sides.

There are many appetites that influence our behaviors. When we are a “House of fasting” we learn to overcome those appetites and keep them within the bounds that the Lord has set. When we give into our appetite for food during a fast, then we really destroy the fast. When we give into other appetites, say for example taking drugs or being physically intimate with another, we destroy our relationship with the Spirit. Yet, this doesn’t mean that we will never take a drug or be physically intimate with another. It is completely appropriate to have a drug when going into surgery. It is healthy and necessary to be physically intimate with your spouse." (2)

So it's not about the fasting.  It's about conquering our natural man.  Or giving up what we want to do in favor of what the Lord wants us to do.

But the Lord doesn't give us commandments to make us suffer or unhappy.  All "things shall be for our good."

Fasting is about teaching ourselves to keep within the boundaries that the Lord has set.  There's a time and a place for everything.

So how do we make our fasting more than just a time to be endured?

• fast with a purpose  (start thinking about it Friday, not just as soon as our stomach grumbles)
• we have to do our part before the Lord will do His party 
• Moana clip
• pray while fasting  (without prayer, it's just going hungry)
• study and do things that relate to your purpose

• if praying for health, visit the sick
• if praying for a job, study how to do a better resume
• make it a time that you and the Lord can work together
• when your stomach grumbles, use that time to ponder and pray

House of Faith

To have a house of faith, we must be the type of person who nurtures faith in our lives.   We have to trust that although we can not see the way, Heavenly Father can.

Object Lesson

Blindfold member of the class.  Use verbal cues to walk them around the room.  Give lots of warning cues about danger.  Guide them to a chair (that they don't know is there)  Back them up to the chair without letting them touch to know the chair is there.  Have them sit down.

• How much faith did that take for the student to trust me in sitting down?  He couldn't see the chair to know it was there, but he trusted me to keep him safe and guide him in the right direction.

That is faith.

What are some ways that we can encourage faith in our lives?

• primary answers
• ponder other's testimonies
• faith without works
• daily study, not just on Sundays
• learn of Christ

House of Learning

We talked a lot yesterday about learning.  Why we need to learn and how that helps us to be better people and make the world a better place.

We are a church that encourages learning ALL THE TIME.  We learn in church, we learn at school, and with the new church curriculum, we learn at home.

But to help us learn, we have to keep our minds pure and a fertile ground for the seeds of knowledge and wisdom to grow.  We live in a time when their is so much access to knowledge.  You can get it so easily on the Internet.

But we also can learn things that will harm us if we aren't careful.  What we study matters.  We can't watch videos of violence and pornography and expect our minds to grown and flourish.  These things harm our brains and the ability for us to learn.

• So how do we learn?  
• When I started this lesson, I reminded you that the scriptures are for your benefit.  The authors of the Book of Mormon didn't write it for the people in their time.  They wrote it for us.  Now.  
• So how do we take these words and not just read, but learn from them?
• Think about what you want to learn when you read
• Ponder the problem as you read.
• The scriptures are how the Lord answers our prayers.
• Read the lessons in Come Follow Me ahead of time so you can ask questions and participate
• Family Home Evening

House of Glory

"One of the best ways to understand glory is by reading the experience that Moses has in Moses 1:5-6, 11-15. Moses first communes with God. The whole experience is so glorious that Moses can’t behold God with his own eyes. After the experience, Satan appears to Moses. I’m going to assume that he appeared in a way that was similar to a Heavenly Being, but he had no glory. Moses could tell and was not deceived by Satan. I think that we can become a house of glory by seeking God’s true glory – through virtue and righteousness. So often, the world makes things appear good. Immodesty and sexuality seem to be especially attractive in our world. Yet they lack glory. To be a house of glory, we need to learn to discern between God’s glory and Satan’s counterfeit. Although similar, once we have experienced God’s glory, then Satan’s counterfeit pales in comparison.We can become “houses of Glory” by being righteous and virtuous – even in a world that doesn’t appreciate such characteristics." (2)

To build house of glory in our lives, we need to become more Christlike.  We need to use all the the other characteristics that we've been discussing in our lives.  We need to pray, fast, have faith,  and learn.

House of Order

• What does this mean to you?
• Are your lives house of order?  Are your rooms?  Your school books? Your chores?  Your home responsibilities?
• Look around and see what needs to be done, not just what you are asked to do.
• Make your house a place that you can relax in peace and feel like you want to study, pray, and learn.

House of God

• One of the great questions of life is who are we and why are we here?
• You guys know those answers.
• Our purpose is to grow and have experiences that will enable us to be more like our Father in Heaven and return to Him someday.
• We are literally children of God.
• "It is good to remember that you are always a child of God. This knowledge will carry you through the most difficult times in your life and will inspire you to accomplish remarkable things." (3)

1. Spencer W. Kimball

2. "Holy Places-A List", That Good Part (blog), February 2013

3. "Living the Gospel Joyful", Deiter F. Uchtodorf, October 2014