Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done - Lesson Outline

Lesson 25: “Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done”," New Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (2002)

1. Introduction

a) We are coming to the most important few hours that have ever occurred or will ever occur.

b) Christ’s Atonement for our sins in Gethsemane and on Calvary

c) Reading 1 - President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “In Gethsemane and on Calvary, He worked out the infinite and eternal atonement. It was the greatest single act of love in recorded history. Thus He became our Redeemer—redeeming all of us from physical death, and redeeming those of us from spiritual death who will obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 14).

d) Important distinction between Gethsemane and Calvary, the garden and the cross

i) Reading 2 – President Joseph Fielding Smith has written: We speak of the passion of Jesus Christ. A great many people have an idea that when he was on the cross, and nails were driven into his hands and feet, that was his great suffering. His great suffering was before he ever was placed upon the cross. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the blood oozed from the pores of his body: "which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit — and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink." (D&C 19:18.)

That was not when he was on the cross; that was in the garden. That is where he bled from every pore in his body.

Now I cannot comprehend that pain. I have suffered pain, you have suffered pain, and sometimes it has been quite severe; but I cannot comprehend pain, which is mental anguish more than physical, that would cause the blood, like sweat, to come out upon the body. It was something terrible, something terrific; so we can understand why he would cry unto his Father: "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (President Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation Vol I, Salt Lake City: Dereret Book Co. p. 130)

ii) Reading 3 – Several years before Elder Orson F. Whitney was ordained an Apostle, he received a vision of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane:

“I seemed to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone. Standing behind a tree in the foreground, I beheld Jesus, with Peter, James and John, as they came through a little … gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer with which all Bible readers are familiar: ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’

“As He prayed the tears streamed down his face, which was toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to him; I loved him with all my soul, and longed to be with him as I longed for nothing else.

“Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or impatience, asked them plaintively if they could not watch with him one hour. There He was, with the awful weight of the world’s sin upon his shoulders, with the pangs of every man, woman and child shooting through his sensitive soul—and they could not watch with him one poor hour!

“Returning to his place, He offered up the same prayer as before; then went back and again found them sleeping. Again he awoke them, readmonished them, and once more returned and prayed. Three times this occurred” (Through Memory’s Halls [1930], 82).

2. The Savior takes upon himself our sins and infirmities.

a) Reading 4 – Matthew 26:36-39

36¶Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

37And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

i) Verse 38 - Note footnote 38b – Watch - GR stay awake.

ii) Verse 39 – fell on his face

(1) Orson Whitney says tears are streaming down His face

iii) Verse 39 - if it be possible

iv) Verse 39 - let this cup pass from me

v) Verse 39 - nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt

vi) Christ was prepared from the foundation of this world for this moment, but it was so much harder than even He could imagine

b) READ – President Marion G. Romney said of this suffering, “The suffering [Christ] undertook to endure, and which he did endure, equaled the combined suffering of all men.” (C.R., Oct. 69, p. 57)

c) Reading 5 - Elder James E. Talmage taught: “Christ’s agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. … He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. … In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world,’ could inflict. … In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 613).

d) READ – Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “Later, in Gethsemane, the suffering Jesus began to be “sore amazed” (Mark 14:33), or, in the Greek, “awestruck” and “astonished.”

Imagine, Jehovah, the Creator of this and other worlds, “astonished”! Jesus knew cognitively what He must do, but not experientially. He had never personally known the exquisite and exacting process of an atonement before. Thus, when the agony came in its fulness, it was so much, much worse than even He with his unique intellect had ever imagined! No wonder an angel appeared to strengthen him! (See Luke 22:43.)

The cumulative weight of all mortal sins—past, present, and future—pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic of the Atonement. (See Alma 7:11–12; Isa. 53:3–5; Matt. 8:17.) The anguished Jesus not only pled with the Father that the hour and cup might pass from Him, but with this relevant citation. “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.” (Mark 14:35–36.)

e) Reading 6 – Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19

16For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

17But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

18Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

19Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

3. We need the Atonement of Jesus Christ

a) Why do we need the Atonement?

b) Reading 7 – Alma 34:9

9For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.

i) it is expedient that an atonement should be made

ii) according to the great plan of the Eternal God

iii) there must be an atonement made

iv) or else

v) all mankind must unavoidably perish

vi) Why?

vii) all are hardened

(1) All have sinned

viii) all are fallen and are lost

ix) must perish

x) except

xi) through the atonement

c) READ – Moses 6:48

48And he said unto them: Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe.

d) Effects of the Fall

i) Bodies became mortal

ii) Physical death – mortal bodies die

(1) Subject to temptation through our bodies as well as our spirits

iii) Separated from the presence of God

iv) Spiritual death – those who have sinned cannot be in the presence of God

(1) READ Romans 5:12 - 12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

v) Reading 8 – 2 Nephi 2:5-9

5And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.

6Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

7Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

8Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

9Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.

e) Effects of the Fall and Mortality are Extensive

i) Mortal bodies are not only subject to death, they are subject to physical and mental illness, injury and pain

ii) We are not only afflicted by our own sins, we are also afflicted by the sins of others

(1) Abuse and neglect

(2) Physical and emotional harm

(3) Natural disasters and wars

f) The Atonement remedies all the effects of Mortality

i) READ – Alma 7:11-12

11And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

(1) suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind

(2) he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people

(3) he will take upon him death

(4) that he may loose the bands of death

(5) he will take upon him their infirmities

(6) filled with mercy

(7) according to the flesh

(8) that he may know according to the flesh

(9) how to succor his people

(a) ASK – What does Succor mean?

(b) To provide help, relief, aid, assistance

(10) according to their infirmities

ii) READ Isaiah 53:4-5

4¶Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

(1) he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows

(2) the chastisement of our peace was upon him

(3) with his stripes we are healed

g) Reading 9 – Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has said: This reliance upon the merciful nature of God is at the very center of the gospel Christ taught. I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair. From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, “beyond [his] own.” The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.” Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.

h) READ – Romans 8:35,38-39

35- Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

4. Conclusion

Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done – Scriptures and Quotes

Lesson 25: “Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done” – Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 - President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “In Gethsemane and on Calvary, He worked out the infinite and eternal atonement. It was the greatest single act of love in recorded history. Thus He became our Redeemer—redeeming all of us from physical death, and redeeming those of us from spiritual death who will obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 14).

Reading 2 – President Joseph Fielding Smith has written: We speak of the passion of Jesus Christ. A great many people have an idea that when he was on the cross, and nails were driven into his hands and feet, that was his great suffering. His great suffering was before he ever was placed upon the cross. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the blood oozed from the pores of his body: "which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit — and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink." (D&C 19:18.)

That was not when he was on the cross; that was in the garden. That is where he bled from every pore in his body.

Now I cannot comprehend that pain. I have suffered pain, you have suffered pain, and sometimes it has been quite severe; but I cannot comprehend pain, which is mental anguish more than physical, that would cause the blood, like sweat, to come out upon the body. It was something terrible, something terrific; so we can understand why he would cry unto his Father: "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (President Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation Vol I, Salt Lake City: Dereret Book Co. p. 130)

Reading 3 – Several years before Elder Orson F. Whitney was ordained an Apostle, he received a vision of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane:

“I seemed to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone. Standing behind a tree in the foreground, I beheld Jesus, with Peter, James and John, as they came through a little … gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer with which all Bible readers are familiar: ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’

“As He prayed the tears streamed down his face, which was toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to him; I loved him with all my soul, and longed to be with him as I longed for nothing else.

“Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or impatience, asked them plaintively if they could not watch with him one hour. There He was, with the awful weight of the world’s sin upon his shoulders, with the pangs of every man, woman and child shooting through his sensitive soul—and they could not watch with him one poor hour!

“Returning to his place, He offered up the same prayer as before; then went back and again found them sleeping. Again he awoke them, readmonished them, and once more returned and prayed. Three times this occurred” (Through Memory’s Halls [1930], 82).

Reading 4 – Matthew 26:36-39

President Marion G. Romney said of this suffering, “The suffering [Christ] undertook to endure, and which he did endure, equaled the combined suffering of all men.” (C.R., Oct. 69, p. 57)

Reading 5 - Elder James E. Talmage taught: “Christ’s agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. … He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. … In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world,’ could inflict. … In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 613).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “Later, in Gethsemane, the suffering Jesus began to be “sore amazed” (Mark 14:33), or, in the Greek, “awestruck” and “astonished.”

Imagine, Jehovah, the Creator of this and other worlds, “astonished”! Jesus knew cognitively what He must do, but not experientially. He had never personally known the exquisite and exacting process of an atonement before. Thus, when the agony came in its fulness, it was so much, much worse than even He with his unique intellect had ever imagined! No wonder an angel appeared to strengthen him! (See Luke 22:43.)

The cumulative weight of all mortal sins—past, present, and future—pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic of the Atonement. (See Alma 7:11–12; Isa. 53:3–5; Matt. 8:17.) The anguished Jesus not only pled with the Father that the hour and cup might pass from Him, but with this relevant citation. “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.” (Mark 14:35–36.)

Reading 6 – Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19

Reading 7 – Alma 34:9

Moses 6:48

Romans 5:12

Reading 8 - 2 Nephi 2:5-9

Alma 7:11-12

Isaiah 53:4-5

Reading 9 – Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has said: This reliance upon the merciful nature of God is at the very center of the gospel Christ taught. I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair. From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, “beyond [his] own.” The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.” Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.

Romans 8:35,38-39

The Very Root of Christian Doctrine

[The Atonement of Christ] is the very root of Christian doctrine. You may know much about the gospel as it branches out from there, but if you only know the branches and those branches do not touch that root, if they have been cut free from that truth, there will be no life nor substance nor redemption in them.

Elder Boyd K. Packer

“The Mediator,” Ensign, May 1977, 54

Atonement Defined

From the Bible Dictionary:

Atonement. The word describes the setting “at one” of those who have been estranged, and denotes the reconciliation of man to God. Sin is the cause of the estrangement, and therefore the purpose of atonement is to correct or overcome the consequences of sin. From the time of Adam to the death of Jesus Christ, true believers were instructed to offer animal sacrifices to the Lord. These sacrifices were symbolic of the forthcoming death of Jesus Christ, and were done by faith in him (Moses 5:5–8).

Jesus Christ, as the Only Begotten Son of God and the only sinless person to live on this earth, was the only one capable of making an atonement for mankind. By his selection and foreordination in the Grand Council before the world was formed, his divine Sonship, his sinless life, the shedding of his blood in the garden of Gethsemane, his death on the cross and subsequent bodily resurrection from the grave, he made a perfect atonement for all mankind. All are covered unconditionally as pertaining to the fall of Adam. Hence, all shall rise from the dead with immortal bodies, because of Jesus’ atonement. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22), and all little children are innocent at birth. The atonement is conditional, however, so far as each person’s individual sins are concerned, and touches every one to the degree that he has faith in Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, and obeys the gospel. The services of the Day of Atonement foreshadowed the atoning work of Christ (Lev. 4; 23:26–32; Heb. 9). The scriptures point out that no law, ordinance, or sacrifice would be satisfactory if it were not for the atonement of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:1–9; 2 Ne. 9:5–24; Mosiah 13:27–32).

Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn. 3:4); it is a refusal on men’s part to submit to the law of God (Rom. 8:7). By transgression man loses control over his own will and becomes the slave of sin (Rom. 7:14), and so incurs the penalty of spiritual death, which is alienation from God (Rom. 6:23). The atonement of Jesus Christ redeems all mankind from the fall of Adam and causes all to be answerable for their own manner of life. This means of atonement is provided by the Father (John 3:16–17), and is offered in the life and person of his Son, Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:19). See also Fasts; Sacrifices.

I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone

Several years before Elder Orson F. Whitney was ordained an Apostle, he received a vision of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“I seemed to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone. Standing behind a tree in the foreground, I beheld Jesus, with Peter, James and John, as they came through a little … gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer with which all Bible readers are familiar: ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’

“As He prayed the tears streamed down his face, which was toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to him; I loved him with all my soul, and longed to be with him as I longed for nothing else.

“Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or impatience, asked them plaintively if they could not watch with him one hour. There He was, with the awful weight of the world’s sin upon his shoulders, with the pangs of every man, woman and child shooting through his sensitive soul—and they could not watch with him one poor hour!

“Returning to his place, He offered up the same prayer as before; then went back and again found them sleeping. Again he awoke them, readmonished them, and once more returned and prayed. Three times this occurred” (Through Memory’s Halls [1930], 82).

Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done

"Lesson 25: “Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done”," New Testament Class Member Study Guide, (1997)

Matthew 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–46

• Why was Jesus willing to submit to the great suffering he knew he would experience in the Garden of Gethsemane? (See Matthew 26:39, 42, 44.) What can you learn from the Savior’s prayer in Gethsemane? How have you been blessed as you have submitted to Heavenly Father’s will?
• What did the Savior experience in Gethsemane? (See D&C 19:16–19; Luke 22:44; Mosiah 3:7; Alma 7:11–13.)
• Why do we need the Atonement of Jesus Christ? (See 1 Nephi 10:21; 2 Nephi 2:5–9; Alma 34:9; Moses 6:48.) What blessings are available to us because of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice? (See Mosiah 16:7–8; Alma 7:11–13; D&C 19:23.) How can we receive these blessings? (See Alma 7:14; Articles of Faith 1:3.)

Suggestion for Family Discussion

Display the picture Jesus Praying in Gethsemane (Gospel Art Picture Kit 227). Read the account of Jesus in Gethsemane, as found in Matthew 26:36–46, Luke 22:39–46, or Doctrine and Covenants 19:16–19. Invite each family member to share his or her feelings about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Scripture Chain: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

Luke 22:39–44

D&C 19:15–19

Mosiah 3:7, 9

2 Nephi 9:5–8

Alma 7:11–14

Articles of Faith 1:3

Lesson 24 - This Is Life Eternal

1. Jesus promises his Apostles that they will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

John 16:1–15. Read selected verses.

In the final hours of his mortal ministry, Jesus taught and strengthened his Apostles. Why did the Apostles need to be strengthened at this time? (See John 16:1–6; see also John 15:18–20.)


The Savior told the Apostles that he would send the Comforter (the Holy Ghost) to them (John 16:7). What is the mission of the Holy Ghost? (See John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7–14.)

The Holy Ghost:
a.Comforts (John 14:26).
b.Teaches (John 14:26).
c.Brings truths to our remembrance (John 14:26).
d.Testifies of the Savior (John 15:26).
e.Guides us into all truth (John 16:13).
f.Shows us things to come (John 16:13).
g.Glorifies the Savior (John 16:14).


The Twelve Apostles experienced manifestations of the Holy Ghost during Jesus’ mortal ministry, but they did not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until after his death and resurrection (John 20:22). What is the difference between a manifestation of the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost? How has receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost helped you?

Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught:

“Manifestations of the Holy Ghost are given to lead sincere seekers to gospel truths that will persuade them to repentance and baptism. The gift of the Holy Ghost is more comprehensive. … [It] includes the right to constant companionship, that we may ‘always have his Spirit to be with [us]’ (D&C 20:77).

“A newly baptized member told me what she felt when she received that gift. This was a faithful Christian woman who had spent her life in service to others. She knew and loved the Lord, and she had felt the manifestations of His Spirit. When she received the added light of the restored gospel, she was baptized and the elders placed their hands upon her head and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. She recalled, ‘I felt the influence of the Holy Ghost settle upon me with greater intensity than I had ever felt before. He was like an old friend who had guided me in the past but now had come to stay’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 80; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 60).



After we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, how can we be worthy of the Holy Ghost’s constant companionship? (See Acts 5:32; D&C 6:14; 20:77, 79; 76:116; 121:45–46.) How can we recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost? (See Galatians 5:22–23; D&C 6:15, 23; 11:13.)

President Boyd K. Packer taught: “The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. It is described as a ‘still small voice.’ And while we speak of ‘listening’ to the whisperings of the Spirit, most often one describes a spiritual prompting by saying, ‘I had a feeling …’ … Revelation comes as words we feel more than hear” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 77; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 60).

In a dream given to President Brigham Young, the Prophet Joseph Smith instructed him to teach the Saints that “the Spirit of the Lord … will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness and build up the kingdom of God” (Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846–1847, comp. Elden J. Watson [1971], 529).

2. Jesus foretells his death and resurrection.

Read John 16:16–33.

After Jesus taught the Apostles about the Holy Ghost, he told them that he would soon die and be resurrected (John 16:16–20). Then he said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace” (John 16:33). What do you think it means to have peace in him? What can we learn from Jesus’ teachings in John 16 that can help us have peace in him? (See also Philippians 4:7–9; D&C 59:23.)


Jesus said to his Apostles, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). How can the knowledge that Jesus has overcome the world help us be of good cheer when we are faced with tribulation? Why is it important to be of good cheer?

3. Jesus offers the great intercessory prayer.

Read John 17, which contains a prayer that Jesus offered just before his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. This prayer is often called the great intercessory prayer because as Jesus prayed, he interceded, or stood between us and Heavenly Father, to plead for our salvation.

As Jesus began his prayer, how did he describe his mission on earth? (See John 17:1–2; see also Moses 1:39.) How did he accomplish this mission?

In his prayer, the Savior said, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). How is knowing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ different from merely knowing about them? How can we come to know them? (See 1 John 4:7–8; Mosiah 5:10–13; Alma 22:18; D&C 18:33–36; 132:21–24.)

Read Doctrine and Covenants 14:7.

In the first part of his prayer, Jesus described the things he had done toward fulfilling his mission (John 17:4–8). How do we report our efforts to Heavenly Father? How might it affect our actions if each night we included in our prayers a report of our efforts to serve him during that day?

Even though Jesus knew that he was about to suffer intensely, for whom did he pray? (See John 17:6–9, 20.) What can we learn from this?


How can we, like Jesus and his Apostles, live in the world and be “not of the world”? (John 17:14; see also verses John 17:15–16).

Elder M. Russell Ballard said:

“In the Church, we often state the couplet, ‘Be in the world but not of the world.’ As we observe television shows that make profanity, violence, and infidelity commonplace and even glamorous, we often wish we could lock out the world in some way and isolate our families from it all. …

“Perhaps we should state the couplet previously mentioned as two separate admonitions. First, ‘Be in the world.’ Be involved; be informed. Try to be understanding and tolerant and to appreciate diversity. Make meaningful contributions to society through service and involvement. Second, ‘Be not of the world.’ Do not follow wrong paths or bend to accommodate or accept what is not right.

“We should strive to change the corrupt and immoral tendencies in television and in society by keeping things that offend and debase out of our homes. In spite of all of the wickedness in the world, and in spite of all the opposition to good that we find on every hand, we should not try to take ourselves or our children out of the world. Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven,’ or yeast (Matthew 13:33). We are to lift the world and help all to rise above the wickedness that surrounds us. The Savior prayed to the Father:

“‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil’ (John 17:15)” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1989, 101; or Ensign, May 1989, 80).


How are Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ “one,” as stated in John 17:21–22?

Speaking of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “They are distinct beings, but they are one in purpose and effort. They are united as one in bringing to pass the grand, divine plan for the salvation and exaltation of the children of God. … It is that perfect unity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost that binds these three into the oneness of the divine Godhead” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, 69; or Ensign, Nov. 1986, 51).

Why was it important for the Apostles to be one? (See John 17:22–23.) Why do we need unity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? with other Church members? within our families? How can we help increase unity in these relationships? (See John 17:26; Mosiah 18:21; D&C 35:2.)

Conclusion

Think about how you feel when you know someone is praying for you. Ponder how you might have felt if you had been with Jesus when he offered the intercessory prayer. The intercessory prayer can help us appreciate the precious gift of eternal life that the Savior offers us. We will be blessed as we strive to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and become one with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.


Ways of Inviting the Spirit

a.Read a favorite scripture passage.
b.Bear testimony.
c.Sing a hymn or Primary song about the Savior.
d.Express love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
e.Share a spiritual experience (as appropriate).