Succeed in School: Lesson 192

Involving the Lord in Your Learning

The Lord Will Magnify and Strengthen Your Efforts

In our schooling, we will face obstacles as we work to increase our knowledge and understanding of truth. We do not have to face these challenges alone. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ care about us and our progress, and They want to help us with our efforts in school. This lesson can help students involve the Lord in their learning.

Student preparation: Invite students to reflect on how they have seen the Lord help them or someone they know learn at school. They could prepare to share this experience with the class.

Possible Learning Activities

Challenges at school

Consider beginning class by inviting a student to the front of the classroom to complete a task that requires the help of others. For example, blindfold the student and ask them to sort candy or beads by color. If the student struggles at first, you could ask a question such as, “how could others in the room help you?”

• How can this demonstration relate to our efforts to learn at school?

• What are some situations in school or with learning that might be challenging for teenagers?

Students’ responses might include things like struggling with a specific subject in school, a learning challenge, or problems managing time. You might list these responses on the board. You could encourage students to write down a challenge they are currently facing in their learning. This list will be helpful to refer to throughout the lesson.

The Lord blesses our righteous efforts

Read the following statement from Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Seventy, looking for where we can turn for help with challenges in our efforts to learn at school.

I know that pursuing your education can be challenging and requires sacrifice. I know how hard you are working and that there are many difficult nights as you stay up late to complete assignments, learn new concepts, and manage other demanding commitments in your life. But hang in there. Keep demonstrating real grit. But also, be prepared to move from grit to grace. Involve the Lord. Pray for His help, and He will magnify your efforts. Know how much we love you. More importantly, know how much the Lord loves you and will strengthen you in all of your righteous efforts to learn and grow and become more like Him. (“From Grit to Grace” [BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional, Sept. 25, 2018], 2, byupathway.edu)

• What did you find that brings you hope or could encourage a teenager in their learning?

  As students share, help them identify a principle like as we involve the Lord in our learning, He will magnify and strengthen our efforts.

• How might the Lord bless, magnify, or strengthen our efforts when we involve Him in our learning?

Students might mention things such as how the Lord could help them remember what they have studied, have patience with teachers and classmates, or feel peace during an exam. You might explain that the Lord will often help us learn through the Holy Ghost, who can fill us with peace, help us know the truth, and enlighten our minds (see Romans 15:13; Moroni 10:5; Doctrine and Covenants 6:15).

How to involve the Lord in your learning

To help students think about different ways we can involve the Lord in our learning at school, you could give them examples from the scriptures. One way to do this is with the handout “Involving the Lord in Our Learning.” You could organize students into smaller groups and assign each group part of the handout. As an alternative, students could select one part of the handout to study and work with other students who selected the same section.

After students complete the handout, consider inviting them to select a spokesperson to share what the group discussed.

• Based on what you have studied, what are some specific things we could do to involve the Lord in our learning?

If students need additional guidance, you could share some or all of the following as ways to involve the Lord in our learning:

1. Notice and be grateful for small or steady improvements (2 Nephi 28:30).

2. In prayer, ask Heavenly Father for specific blessings such as having the courage to raise your hand, ask questions, and get extra help (Ether 2:18–23).

3. Acknowledge your weaknesses and exercise faith in the Lord that He will help you with them (Moses 6:31–34; Moses 7:13).

4. Study the notes from class each day and ask for a priesthood blessing before an important test or assignment (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118).

Consider inviting students to share an experience of how the Lord has magnified and strengthened them or someone they know as they have involved the Lord in their learning.

Involving the Lord in our learning

Give students time to make a plan to involve the Lord in their learning. You could display the following instructions and encourage students to write their plan in their study journal.

Think about the challenge you are currently facing with learning. Complete the following in your study journal.

• What in your schoolwork are you willing to try to involve Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in? Be specific about what you will do.

You might ask willing students to share what they felt inspired to do. Consider sharing your witness of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and how They will bless us as we involve Them in our learning.

Additional Resources

What if I have some challenges that make it hard for me to learn?

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then of the First Presidency, taught:

Though we all have weaknesses, we can overcome them. Indeed it is by the grace of God that, if we humble ourselves and have faith, weak things can become strong.

Throughout our lives, God’s grace bestows temporal blessings and spiritual gifts that magnify our abilities and enrich our lives. His grace refines us. His grace helps us become our best selves. (“The Gift of Grace,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 108)

President Henry B. Eyring taught:

The Lord knows both what He will need you to do and what you will need to know. He is kind and He is all-knowing. So you can with confidence expect that He has prepared opportunities for you to learn in preparation for the service you will give. You will not recognize those opportunities perfectly, as I did not. But when you put the spiritual things first in your life, you will be blessed to feel directed toward certain learning, and you will be motivated to work harder. You will recognize later that your power to serve was increased, and you will be grateful. (“Education for Real Life,” Ensign, Oct. 2002, 18–19)

Why should I turn to God for help with my learning?

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said:

Each of us is precious and loved by the Lord, who cares, who whispers, and who watches over us in ways unique to each of us. He is infinitely wiser and more powerful than mortal men and women. He knows our challenges, our triumphs, and the righteous desires of our hearts. (“By Divine Design,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 56)

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

Dear brothers and sisters, God is the source of all truth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints embraces all truth that God conveys to His children, whether learned in a scientific laboratory or received by direct revelation from Him. (“What Is True?” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 30)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alternate beginning

Instead of inviting a student to complete a task at the beginning of class, you could display pictures of a desert and a garden such as the following two images. You might ask students to share what comes to mind when they think of a desert compared to a garden.

Read Psalm 63:1 and Isaiah 58:11, looking for what these verses teach about the Lord.

• How do these images relate to what you learned about the Lord?

• Why is water a powerful metaphor for the Lord?

Help students recognize how the Lord spiritually nourishes our soul and enables us to grow. You might invite students to consider how the Lord can spiritually nourish their efforts to learn. Then you could transition to the statement from Elder Clark G. Gilbert about education.

A scripture example of involving the Lord

Students might benefit from studying an example from scripture where someone involved the Lord. Consider using the following activity to deepen students’ understanding of the truth from Elder Clark.

You could explain to students that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream that troubled him. He commanded the wise men of his kingdom, including Daniel, to tell him what the dream meant. If they could not, the king said they would be put to death. Daniel asked the king for a little more time, promising to interpret the dream (see Daniel 2:1–16).

Invite students to read Daniel 2:17–23, looking for what we can learn from Daniel that could help us understand how the Lord can be a part of our learning and education. You could ask one or more of the following questions.

• What do you think Daniel may have learned about God from this experience?

• How do you think Daniel’s example could inspire or give hope to a teenager with a difficult challenge with schoolwork?

• In what ways does Daniel’s experience illustrate the truth taught by Elder Gilbert?

An example of involving the Lord from a latter-day prophet

To help students see a modern example of the truth Elder Gilbert taught, students could watch the following example from President Russell M. Nelson’s life (from time code 4:15 to 8:38) (Russell M. Nelson, “Sweet Power of Prayer,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2003, 7–8).

Then you could ask questions such as the following.

• How did President Nelson involve the Lord in his efforts to learn how to perform this unprecedented procedure?

• How did the Lord magnify and strengthen President Nelson’s efforts?

You might acknowledge that although our circumstances are different from President Nelson’s, the Lord cares about our learning in our schooling, workplace, or home. Although the Lord might not diagram an answer in our mind, there are many different ways He will magnify and strengthen our efforts when we involve Him in the process.