Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2: Lesson 22

Abraham 1

“Desiring … to Be a … Follower of Righteousness”

Abraham grew up surrounded by wickedness and idolatry. Despite these circumstances, Abraham desired to follow Jesus Christ, who was known in the premortal life and to Abraham as Jehovah. As Abraham sought after his righteous desires, the Lord blessed him to obtain them. This lesson can help students feel hope that Heavenly Father can help them obtain blessings that He wants them to receive.

Student preparation: Invite students to make a list of what they want most in life and to think about how Heavenly Father feels about what they want most.

Possible Learning Activities

What do you desire?

Begin the lesson by helping students think of situations where they might have trouble believing that the Lord can help them obtain a righteous blessing that they desire. To do this, you could share the following incomplete scenarios and invite students to identify an obstacle that the individual might face.

Samantha has a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ by preaching His gospel to other people. However, right now this seems difficult because …

Yuchen has a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ by paying his tithing. However, right now this seems difficult because …

Carlos has a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ by being baptized. However, right now this seems difficult because …

Invite students to think about their own circumstances and the obstacles they might face to following Jesus Christ. Ask them to complete the following steps in their study journals.

In your study journal:

1. Record some of the blessings you most desire in life.

2. List any obstacles you see to obtaining these blessings.

As students study Abraham 1, invite them to seek Heavenly Father’s help through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can help them feel hope that they can follow Jesus Christ and obtain His blessings no matter the obstacles they may face.

Abraham’s circumstances

In Lesson 3: Abraham 3, students learned the origins of the book of Abraham. If you did not explain this in Lesson 3, you could do it now. If students have questions about the origins of the book of Abraham, you could show the video “The Book of Abraham | Now You Know” from time code 0:00 to 2:43. This video is located at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

It may be helpful to have students create a two-column chart. They could title the first column “Blessings Abraham desired” and the second “Obstacles Abraham faced.” This can help organize what students learn from Abraham 1:1–7.

Blessings Abraham desired	Obstacles Abraham faced
Blessings Abraham desired	Obstacles Abraham faced

Read Abraham 1:1–7, looking for what blessings Abraham desired and what obstacles he faced to receiving those blessings.

• What stands out to you from the blessings Abraham desired?

• Why might these blessings be something you also desire?

• How might Abraham’s desire to follow Jesus Christ have helped him in the difficult circumstances he faced?

Jehovah helped Abraham overcome his obstacles

Read Abraham 1:15–20, looking for how Jehovah helped Abraham overcome the obstacles he faced.

Alternatively, you may choose to show the video “Deliverance of Abraham” (1:38), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

If time allows, you may want to spend some time discussing the miraculous way that Jehovah delivered Abraham. You could compare this deliverance to ways the Lord delivers us from our obstacles to righteous living. The Lord can deliver us from unhealthy habits such as excessive social media or technology use or pornography use. You could testify that Jehovah can deliver us from any obstacle that might otherwise make it difficult to follow Him.

• What do you think Abraham learned about Jehovah from this experience?

• How might Heavenly Father help us overcome obstacles to receiving righteous blessings we desire?

Explain to students that after Abraham was delivered, he eventually went to Canaan. The Lord honored Abraham for acting on his desires by blessing him with the priesthood and other significant blessings. God promised Abraham these blessings as part of what we call the Abrahamic covenant. Students will learn more about this covenant in future lessons.

Later in Abraham’s life, the Lord visited him and promised that He would fulfill all of Abraham’s righteous desires (see Abraham 2:9–11). Read Abraham 2:12–13, looking for what Abraham said after this experience.

• What principles can we learn from Abraham’s experience?

Students may identify a variety of principles including: If we seek to follow Jesus Christ, God will grant us the righteous blessings we desire.

Read the following statement from President Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, or watch the video “A Perfect Brightness of Hope” from time code 11:09 to 11:38. The video is located at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Why should we not hope that righteous desires and Christlike yearnings can still be marvelously, miraculously answered by the God of all hope? We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, someway, somehow yet be ours. (“A Perfect Brightness of Hope,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 83)

Invite students to discuss the following questions in pairs or small groups, or have students record their answers in their study journals. After enough time, willing students could share one or both of their answers with the class.

• How do President Holland’s words and Abraham’s experience give you hope that the Lord can help you overcome obstacles to following Jesus Christ?

• When has Heavenly Father helped you or someone you know overcome obstacles to following Jesus Christ?

Consider sharing your experience of when Heavenly Father has helped you overcome an obstacle to receiving a righteous blessing.

Invite students to record what they learned today in their study journals.

Consider inviting willing students to share what they wrote. Conclude by sharing your testimony of these truths.

Additional Resources

Where can I learn more about the book of Abraham?

The Church has published a number of resources about the book of Abraham, such as:

• The chapter “The Book of Abraham” in The Pearl of Great Price Student Manual (2017).

• The Church History Topic “Book of Abraham Translation.”

• The Gospel Topics essay “Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham.”

On July 5, 1835, Joseph Smith wrote of the coming forth of the book of Abraham and the importance of these ancient Egyptian writings:

I, with W[illiam] W. Phelps and O[liver] Cowdery as scribes, commenced the translation of some of the characters or hieroglyphics and, much to our joy, found that one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham. … Truly can we say the Lord is beginning to reveal the abundance of peace and truth. (Joseph Smith, in History, 1838–1856 [Manuscript History of the Church], volume B-1, 596, josephsmithpapers.org; punctuation standardized)

As we study the book of Abraham, it is important to note the following, found in the Church History Topic “Book of Abraham Translation”:

The book’s status as scripture lies in the eternal truths it teaches and the powerful spirit it conveys. The truth of the book of Abraham is ultimately found through careful study of its teachings coupled with sincere prayer and the confirmation of the Spirit. (Church History Topics, “Book of Abraham Translation,” Gospel Library)

How do my desires influence my life?

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught:

Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming. …

… When we have a vision of what we can become, our desire and our power to act increase enormously. (“Desire,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 42, 44)

What if our righteous desires seem unfulfilled?

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

As the Lord’s servant, I promise you that as you are faithful to Jesus Christ and your covenants, you will receive compensating blessings in this life and your righteous desires in the eternal time line of the Lord. There can be happiness in the journey of mortality even when all of our righteous hopes are not realized. (“The Personal Journey of a Child of God,” Liahona, May 2021, 47)

How do we develop righteous desires?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

We come to know the Savior as we do our best to go where He wants us to go, as we strive to say what He wants us to say, and as we become what He wants us to become. As we submissively acknowledge our total dependence upon Him, He enlarges our capacity to serve ever more effectively. Gradually, our desires align more completely with His desires, and His purposes become our purposes, such that we would “not ask that which is contrary to [His] will.” (“If Ye Had Known Me,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2016, 104)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Abraham 1:11. The example of virtuous young women

The examples of the three righteous virgins can be used to help students understand that we sometimes do not receive our righteous desires in the ways we expect.

Read Abraham 1:11 and compare Abraham’s deliverance with the story of these three young women.

You could also refer to Elder Andersen’s statement in Additional Resources about unfulfilled righteous desires.

Invite students to imagine a friend sent them a text message. This friend is frustrated because God hasn’t yet blessed them with strength to resist a specific temptation (or another righteous desire they have been seeking). Invite students to consider how they might respond to their friend. The following questions can help:

• Why do you think some people’s righteous desires are granted while others do not appear to be?

• How can we maintain our faith in Jesus Christ even when our righteous desires seem unfulfilled?

Other examples of seeking righteous desires

To deepen students’ understanding of obtaining righteous desires, they could compare Abraham to other individuals in the scriptures.

Invite students to choose one of the following individuals or another they choose. Have them look for what the person’s desire was and what the account teaches about obtaining our desires.

• Nephi: 1 Nephi 10:17; 11:1

• Enos: Enos 1:2–8

• Alma and Amulek: Alma 14:9–13

• Hyrum Smith: Doctrine and Covenants 11:8, 15–17, 21–22

Aligning with the Lord’s will

Students may benefit from further discussion about righteous desires sometimes not being answered in the way we want or expect. If so, consider showing the video “Ask in Faith” from time code 10:47 to 13:03.

Consider asking the following questions:

• What do you learn about aligning our righteous desires with the Lord’s will?

• What advice would you offer someone who feels like the Lord is not blessing them with a righteous desire?

The importance of scriptures

To help students see the importance of the scriptures in our lives, consider asking the following questions:

• What does it mean to preserve something?

• How might you preserve a photograph or a letter from a loved one?

Invite students to read Abraham 1:28, looking for what Abraham received. After students report what they find, invite them to read verse 31, and ask the following:

• What was preserved in the records Abraham kept?

• How might we benefit because we know these truths?

Help students see that the Lord has called prophets to preserve the scriptures because of His love for us. Invite students to share important truths from the scriptures that they are grateful have been preserved.