Scripture Study Skills: Lesson 170

Visualizing Stories in the Scriptures

Bringing the Scriptures to Life

Sometimes it can be difficult to relate to scriptural events that happened long ago. Visualizing what we read can help us better understand gospel truths and relate to the people and experiences in the scriptures. This skill helps us learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

This lesson can help students practice visualizing the scriptures that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have given them.

Student preparation: Invite students to choose a favorite story from the New Testament. Ask them to think about how specific details in the story help them learn more about Jesus Christ. They will have an opportunity to share their thoughts with the class.

Possible Learning Activities

Draw the scenario

Consider beginning class by explaining that visualizing a story means creating a mental or physical picture of what is happening in the story. One way to help students practice this skill is by sharing the following story (or one that is more relatable to your students). As you share, invite students to quickly draw in their journals what you describe.

Before answering the question below, students could share their drawing with a partner and explain what they drew and why.

One spring morning, a farmer entered his field with a bag full of seeds. As he began planting, storm clouds appeared, and it began to rain. Lightning flashed across the sky, and wind blew violently through the nearby trees. The man said a prayer and prepared to return to safety.

• How did visualizing help you notice details that you might have missed by simply listening?

• How might visualizing stories help when studying scriptures?

You might explain that visualizing a story can help us better relate to the events, circumstances, and people in the story.

Seeing Jesus in the scriptures

To help students understand the importance of visualizing scripture stories, share the following quote.

Elder Walter F. González of the Seventy shared the following about visualizing scriptures:

[Scripture] stories illuminate the centrality of Jesus Christ. … Visualizing the stories brings insights about the Savior. We learn about Him as a covenant God full of love and patience. (“Illustrated ‘Old Testament Stories’ Completely Refreshed,” newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, Dec. 28, 2021)

• What can we learn about visualizing scriptures from Elder González?

  Among truths students might identify, point out that visualizing stories in the scriptures can help us learn more about Jesus Christ.

• Why might it help to visualize what is happening as we study the scriptures?

You might explain that visualizing scripture stories can help students better understand Jesus Christ and His gospel, mission, character, and attributes. It can also help them recognize His love, power, and mercy and how He can help them in their lives.

If students completed the student preparation activity (located in the overview document), you could invite them to share their thoughts. They could describe how details from the story they chose helped them learn more about Jesus Christ.

To help students assess how frequently they visualize when they study the scriptures, you might invite them to draw the following scale in their study journals. Then display the instructions and chart below.

The following chart includes skills that can help you learn more about the Savior by visualizing scripture stories. Place the number of each skill on the scale in your study journal to represent how often you use this skill when studying the scriptures.

As we seek to learn more about the Savior by visualizing scriptural accounts, the Holy Ghost can help us identify important and helpful details. These details can help us recognize messages Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to learn.

Visualizing scripture stories

To help students practice visualizing stories in the scriptures, provide the handout “Visualizing Scripture Stories.”

To demonstrate this skill for students, complete the first section of the handout as a class. Students will complete the rest of the handout later in the lesson.

The first section of the handout uses Mark 4:36–41. If preferred, you could choose a scripture story from this week’s Come, Follow Me schedule instead. As you work through the handout, encourage students to answer the questions on the handout as a class.

After completing the first section of the handout, you could ask the following questions.

• What did you learn about visualizing the scriptures from this experience?

• What did the Spirit teach you about Jesus Christ? What did the Spirit teach about how you can feel the Savior’s love, power, and mercy in your life?

To help students practice visualizing the scriptures, invite them to complete the second section of the handout with a partner or in small groups. Alternatively, they could work individually. If students work individually, they could write their answers to the questions on the back of the handout.

For the second section, students might choose a favorite New Testament story, an account they recently studied in Come, Follow Me, or one of the following accounts:

• Luke 7:11–17 (Jesus raises the widow of Nain’s son from the dead)

• Mark 8:22–26 (Jesus heals a blind man)

• Acts 12:5–11 (Peter is delivered from prison)

Share what you discovered

After students complete the second section, they could share their drawings with other students or with the class. Encourage them to share what they learned from the Holy Ghost about Jesus Christ or His gospel by visualizing the scriptural account. Invite them to share details that they might have missed without visualizing. If more than one student chose the same story, they could compare drawings and discuss the similarities and differences.

You might invite students to seek revelation from the Lord as they practice this skill in their personal scripture study. You could then follow up in a future class by asking students to share anything they have learned about Jesus Christ or His gospel by visualizing scriptural accounts.

Additional Resources

Why is it important to learn more about Jesus Christ?

President Russell M. Nelson (1924–2025) taught:

The more you learn about the Savior, the easier it will be to trust in His mercy, His infinite love, and His strengthening, healing, and redeeming power. (“Christ Is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains,” Liahona, May 2021, 103)

How can “seeing Jesus” in the scriptures help us know Him better?

Elder Robert M. Daines of the Seventy explained the following about his own journey to “seeing Jesus” in the scriptures:

I … read and reread and reread the four Gospels—this time reading not to extract rules but to see who He is and what He loves. And, in time, I was swept away by the river of love that flowed from Him. …

Open the Gospels at random; on almost every page we see Him caring for people who suffer—socially, spiritually, and physically. He touches people considered polluted and unclean [see Matthew 8:3; Matthew 9:25] and feeds the hungry [see Matthew 14:13–21]. …

As I saw this, my heart leapt in loving recognition, and I began to feel that He might love me. (“Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus,” Liahona, Nov. 2023, 14 [time code 5:41 to 7:11])

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alternative beginning

To prepare students to learn about visualizing stories in the scriptures, you might choose an account from the Savior’s life and show different artists’ depictions or video interpretations of it. For example, you might show the following images of Jesus walking on water and the video “Wherefore Didst Thou Doubt?” (2:10).

Ask students to point out the similarities and differences between the depictions. Then discuss how different details affect what we learn about the Jesus Christ through the events, circumstances, and people in the scripture story.

Examples of visualizing scripture stories

If students would like an example of visualizing the scriptures, you might share one of the following accounts by President Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

• “Lord, I Believe” from time code 0:00 to 3:47. In this account, President Holland visualizes what it might have been like for the man to bring his paralytic son before Jesus to be healed as recounted in Mark 9:14–27.

• “The Laborers in the Vineyard” from time code 0:24 to 4:48. In this account, President Holland visualizes what it might have felt like to be the laborers in the Savior’s parable as recounted in Matthew 20:1–15.

After sharing the account, you could ask students what they learned about Jesus Christ and the other individuals by visualizing the story.