PRAYER: LDS Post-and-Present Activity: Turn to Answered Prayers (Scripture Stories Wheel) – Alma, Enos, Joseph Smith, Nephi, King Mosiah, Shadrach

POST-AND-PRESENT. TURN TO ANSWERED PRAYERS scripture stories wheel. Youth can read the story cards and turn to the matching pictures on the wheel to learn stories of WHO in the scriptures, WHAT they prayed about, and HOW their prayers were answered. They were BLESSED because of the promises kept; we too can be blessed in times of need as we turn to prayer.

STORY Matching Visuals Summary: See unmatched visuals (shown): Alma (people sleeping, person tied up), Enos (praying by stars, arms stretched out), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (two fire scenes), Joseph Smith (churches, Heavenly Father and Jesus), Nephi (ship, promised land), King Mosiah (praying, preaching).

TO MOUNT CIRCLES ON POSTER:
1. You will need two pieces of poster paper—one to make the center circle and the 13” middle circle, and one to make the 19” outer circle.

2. To draw a circle, use a pin or tack, a string, and a pencil or marker. Tie the string around the pencil or marker, find a center point, and push the pin or thumbtack through the poster paper. Measure out half the distance (13”—draw 6.5” from the center, and 19”—draw 9.5” from the center). Tie the string for the appropriate measurement around the pin or tack, then draw the circle.

3. Mount illustration for the center, then cut out all three circles. Connect the three circles in the center with a paper fastener, using the pinholes. With the center circle as a guide, draw lines from the center circle through the second and third circles, as shown.

4. Cut out the illustrations for the 13” and 19” circles. Using the visual (preview on the previous page) as a guide, glue- or spray-mount the illustrations in the order they appear. Make sure you do not line up all the stories, since once a story has been “dialed,” you don’t want all the other stories to line up as well. This will ensure that they are already mixed up before the next clue is read.

ACTIVITY:

1. Tell children, “Because Heavenly Father loves us, He allows us to talk with Him. He is as close as a prayer, and we can pray to Him anytime and anywhere. When we pray, we should first thank Him for our blessings, then ask Him for the help we need. But we must choose the right so we can be worthy of His blessings (2 Nephi 32:9). In the scriptures, we learn of honorable people who prayed and how their prayers were answered.“

2. Point to the circles and show youth the story cards that tell WHO in the scriptures prayed (inside circle), WHAT they prayed about (center circle), and HOW their prayers were answered (outside circle).

Option 1: Divide the stories among the classes. Then youth can read the story together as a class and come up to tell the story, turning the circle so the puzzle pieces match for that story.

Option 2: The leader calls a youth up and gives him or her a KEYWORD found on a word-strip (below). If the youth knows the story, he or she can quickly turn the circles to match up the parts of the story (WHO, WHAT, and HOW) with one clue. If not, the leader can give a second clue, then the third clue if necessary. If the child still cannot make the match, he or she forfeits to another child (or the other team), who gets a chance to earn the points missed.

WORD-STRIPS FOR Turn to Answered Prayers POST-AND-PRESENT

(These are included in the pdf download.)

SCRIPTURE STORIES word-strips to match with puzzle pieces (see instructions)

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES are noted in case you want to do a scripture search for these stories later.

STORY CODES for each are noted at the end of the word-strip. CODES: (A1-3) is Alma     (E1-3) is Enos     (SMA1-3) is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego     (N1-3) is Nephi     (JS1-3) is Joseph Smith     (KM1-3) is King Mosiah

WHO in the scriptures?
Alma and his people had an enemy, Amulon. The Lamanite king made Amulon the ruler over Alma’s people. Amulon knew that Alma believed the words spoken by the prophet Abinadi while in King Noah’s court, so Amulon caused that his children should persecute Alma’s children, making them work as their SLAVES. (Mosiah 23:39; 24:8-9)   (A1)

WHAT did they pray about?
Their afflictions were so great that “they began to cry mightily to God,” Amulon commanded them to stop their cries, putting guards around to put to death any who prayed. They did not pray aloud but PRAYED IN THEIR HEARTS, and the Lord heard them in their afflictions. God said, “Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.” He said he would ease their burdens, “that ye may stand as a witness for me hereafter.” The Lord knew they would stand for the right. (Mosiah 23:9-12)   (A-2)

 

HOW were their prayers answered?
God heard their prayers and strengthened them, making their burdens seem light and helping the people to be cheerful and patient. The Lord said, “On the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.” Alma’s people gathered their flocks and grain during the night. In the morning, “the Lord caused a DEEP SLEEP to come upon the Lamanites,” and Alma was able to lead his people into the wilderness to safety. They “poured out their thanks to God because he had been merciful unto them, and eased their burdens, and had delivered them out of bondage.” Twelve days later, Alma and his people arrived in the land of Zarahemla, “and king Mosiah did also receive them with joy.” (Mosiah 24:13-25) (A-3)

WHO in the scriptures?
Enos was the grandson of Lehi, who was the son of Jacob, Nephi’s brother (see Jacob 1:1-2, 8; 7:27). Enos kept the plates and wrote on them after his father died. One day while HUNTING in the forest, Enos thought about his father’s teachings and wanted to be forgiven of his sins (Enos 1:1-3). He knelt and prayed all day and was still praying when night came. (E-1)

WHAT did he pray about?
Enos asked Heavenly Father to FORGIVE HIM of his sins. He said his soul hungered for peace. (Enos 1:4)  (E-2)

HOW were his prayers answered?
Enos heard a voice saying: “Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed”(Enos 1:5). Enos knew that God could not lie, and his “GUILT was swept away” (Enos 1:6). God told him, “Because of thy faith in Christ, who thou hast never before heard nor seen . . . thy faith made thee whole” (Enos 1:8). The Lord told him, “I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith” (Enos 1:12)  (E-3)

 

WHO in the scriptures?
In the Bible, we read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who would not pray to the IDOL made of gold. They prayed to the true God instead. The king of Babylon had made the idol and told the people to pray to the idol or they would be burned in a fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:1, 4-6, 13-15)  (SMA-1)

WHAT did they pray about?
The king was angry when someone told him that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were praying to God and not to the idol. He told them they would be burned in the FURNACE, but they were not afraid, because they knew God would save them. The king’s servants built a very hot fire in the furnace. It was so hot that the servants died when they threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego inside. (Daniel 3:16-23)  (SMA-2)

HOW were their prayers answered?
The king looked into the furnace and saw four men walking around in the fire. One of the men was an angel of God that saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego from the flames. The king shouted their names and told them to come out of the furnace. The fire had not hurt them or burned their hair or clothes. They didn’t even smell like SMOKE. The king made a new law that no one could say bad things about the God of Israel—that only the true God could have saved the men from the fire. The king honored these men. (Daniel 3:24-30) (SMA-3)

WHO in the scriptures?
When Joseph Smith was 14 years old, many churches claim to be the true Church of Jesus Christ. Joseph read in the Bible: “If any of you LACK WISDOM, let him ask of God” (James 1:5)
(Joseph Smith History (JSH) 1:11-12) (JS-1)

 

WHAT did he pray about?
He needed to know WHICH CHURCH he should join, so he decided to ask God. He went into the woods near his home to pray. As he knelt in prayer, Satan tried to stop him from praying. So he prayed harder, asking Heavenly Father to help him. (JSH 1:13-16) 
(JS-2)

HOW were his prayers answered?
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in a pillar of light. Heavenly Father pointed to Jesus, saying, “This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!” Joseph asked Them which church to join. Jesus told him not to join any of them, as they were all wrong. (JSH 1:17-20) Three years later, the angel Moroni visited Joseph telling him where GOLD PLATES were hidden that contained a sacred record. Joseph went to the Hill Cumorah and looked at the plates. Four years later, he received the plates and translated them into the Book of Mormon. (JSH 1:59) This book tells about the people who lived in American many years ago and about Jesus Christ. Joseph restored Jesus Christ’s true Church on the earth. (JS-3)

WHO in the scriptures?
Nephi followed his father, the prophet Lehi, when he asked him to LEAVE HIS HOME in Jerusalem and go into the wilderness.
(1 Nephi 1:2-4) Then he did as he was asked and went back to Jerusalem to obtain the sacred records. (1 Nephi 3:24) Then the family camped by the sea. (1 Nephi 17:4-6)  (N-1)

WHAT did he pray about?
Nephi went to the mountain many times to pray for help to know how he could take his family to the PROMISED LAND. (1 Nephi 17:7) (N-2)

 

HOW were his prayers answered?
Nephi was told to BUILD A SHIP to carry his family across the sea to the Promised Land. He was told where to find the metal and tools needed to build the ship. Nephi’s older brothers Laman and Lemuel tried to stop him from building the ship, and they tried to hurt him. The Lord told Nephi to touch them and when he did the Lord shocked them. They repented and helped Nephi and their brother Sam build the ship, a strong ship that would withstand the winds and take them to the Promised Land. (1 Nephi 17:8-19, 44-55; 18:1-2) (N-3)

WHO in the scriptures?
In the Book of Mormon, we read about a Nephite king named Mosiah, who was the son of the righteous King Benjamin. Ammon and King Mosiah’s other sons wanted to go on a mission to preach to the Lamanites, who often wanted to kill the Nephites. The king was worried for their SAFETY. (Mosiah 28:1-5)   (KM-1)

WHAT did he pray about?
“And king Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord if he would LET HIS SONS GO up among the Lamanites to preach the word” (Mosiah 28:6)   (KM-2)

HOW were his prayers answered?
“And the Lord said unto Mosiah: Let them go up, for many shall believe in their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites. And they took their journey into the wilderness to go up to PREACH among the Lamanites” (Mosiah 28:7-9)   (KM-3)

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YOUTH DOCTRINAL CLASS Lesson AUGUST “How Can We Face Adversity with Faith”
Quorum or class members can learn how to faithfully endure adversity by studying some of these examples (see some in “Supporting Resources”). They could each choose one of the scripture passages and summarize that person’s experience for the quorum or class. What insights do we gain about why we have adversity? What do we learn about how to faithfully endure adversity? #YouthDoctrinalClass